Alexis Agrafiotis (born 1970) is a German-Greek composer, conductor and pianist.

Life

Alexis Agrafiotis was born the son of conductor Dimitris Agrafiotis and Evangelia Syngelakis. Soon after his birth in Salzburg, the family moved to Reutlingen, where his father became principal conductor of the . In 1978, the family moved to

Ettlingen Ettlingen (; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Eddlinge'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about south of the city of Karlsruhe and approximately from the German-French border, border with Lauterbourg, in France's Bas-Rhin, ...

, where he attended primary school and the Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium Ettlingen. He attended the last two years of secondary school at the

German School of Athens The German School of Athens (, DSA; , ΓΣΑ), also known as the Dörpfeld Gymnasium, is a coeducational independent, kindergarten, elementary school and high school in Marousi, Athens, Greece. The school has been in operation since 1896 and was ...

(Abitur 1989). He graduated in piano at the Athens Conservatory "Athenaeum" and studied Orchestra Conducting with Uros Lajovic and Composition with

Erich Urbanner Erich Urbanner (born 26 March 1936) is an Austrian composer and teacher. Biography Born in Innsbruck, Urbanner studied from 1955 to 1961 at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, in the composition classes of Karl Schiske and Han ...

(magister artium 1995 and 1996) at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

. He attended courses with

Roland Seiffarth Roland Seiffarth (born 1940 in Drebach) is a German opera conductor. He studied at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig and was engaged in 1963 as Solo repetitor, later as ''Kapellmeister'' at the Leipzig Opera. He made his conducting deb ...

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös (, ; 2 January 194424 March 2024) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and academic teacher. After studies of composition in Budapest and Cologne, Eötvös composed film music in Hungary from 1962. He played with the Stockhaus ...

and

Karl Österreicher Karl Österreicher (3 January 1923 – 11 March 1995) was an Austrian conductor and music teacher. Life Born in Rohrbach an der Gölsen, Lower Austria, Austrian studied clarinet as well as conducting with Hans Swarowsky, later also with Alfre ...

and was assistant to

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

Rüdiger Bohn Rüdiger Bohn (born 1960) is a German conductor and professor. Biography Born in Lübeck in 1960, Bohn studied piano and conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Köln and the Hochschule für Musik "Robert Schumann" in Düsseldorf. He also a ...

and

Hans Drewanz Hans Drewanz (2 December 1929 – 22 June 2021) was a German conductor and academic teacher. He was the Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of Darmstadt for more than three decades, shaping musical life in the town especially at the Staatstheater Darmstad ...

. Stations as a solo répétiteur and conductor took him to the theatres in

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, the Zeitgenössische Oper Berlin and the

Theater Bielefeld The Bielefeld Opera is the venue of Städtische Bühnen Bielefeld (Municipal stages Bielefeld) in Bielefeld, Germany. It is a ''Dreisparten Haus'' (three-department house), offering plays, music (opera, musical theatre), and ballet. The main pe ...

. From 2011 to 2017 he was engaged as director of studies and ''

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

'' at the

Mainfranken Theater Würzburg Mainfranken Theater Würzburg is a theatre in Würzburg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. ...

. Since December 2017, he has been engaged as solo répétiteur and conductor at the

Staatstheater Braunschweig The is a theatre company and opera house in Braunschweig, Germany, presenting and producing music theatre (opera, operetta, musical), Tanztheater, theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences and concerts. The is owned by the State of Lower Saxony. ...

. As a guest conductor, he has worked with the

Tonkünstler Orchestra The Tonkunstler Orchestra (German: ''Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich'', ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna and Sankt Pölten, Lower Austria. Origin of the name The orchestra's name has its origins in the ''Tonkünstler-Soziet ...

of Lower Austria, the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra (Czech Republic), the Philharmonic Orchestra of Győr (Hungary), the Prussian Chamber Orchestra of Prenzlau and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Cities of Ulm and Lübeck, and is guest conductor of all the major orchestras in Greece: Thessaloniki City Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Orchestra, Athens State Orchestra, Athens Radio Orchestra and Athens National Opera. From 2006 to 2007 he was chief conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the city of

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

in Greece. He is also active in teaching: from 2004 to 2006 he held teaching posts at the conservatoires in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

(vocal department) and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

(opera studio), again in Bremen from 2007 to 2011 and from WS 2012/13 at the

Hochschule für Musik Würzburg The Hochschule für Musik Würzburg (University of Music Würzburg) was founded in 1797 by Franz Joseph Fröhlich as Collegium musicum academicum (Academic college of music). From 1921 to 1973, it was named Bayerisches Staatskonservatorium der M ...

. Αs a pianist he has performed concertos by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, scientific transliteration: ''Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin''; also transliterated variously as Skriabin, Skryabin, and (in French) Scriabine. The composer himselused the French spelling "Scriabine" which was a ...

and

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

''(Burleske)'', among others. He has simultaneously conducted the piano concertos of

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

and

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

''(Concertino)'' from the piano. He is also active as a

Lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

accompanist. His oeuvre includes

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, vocal music, works for orchestra (including two piano concertos) and theatre music. In Baden-Baden he had a working residency at the Brahmshaus. He is a member of the Greek Composers' Association. One focus of his work is contemporary music. As a conductor, he has repeatedly conducted concerts exclusively of

Neue Musik Neue Musik (English ''new music'', French ''nouvelle musique'') is the collective term for a wealth of different currents in composed Western art music from around 1910 to the present. Its focus is on compositions of 20th century music. It is char ...

with the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, the Athens Radio Orchestra, the Greek Ensemble of Contemporary Music, the Ensemble of the

University of the Arts Bern __NOTOC__ The Bern Academy of Arts () is an art school with locations in Bern and Biel/Bienne. It was created in 2003 from the merger of the University of Music and Theatre and the School of Design, Art and Conservation. The educational institution ...

and the German-Polish Ensemble in Schloss Trebnitz under the auspices of the German Music Council. He had the musical and scenic direction in productions with works by

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer and academic teacher. Life and career Early life and education Mauricio Raúl Kagel was born on 24 December 1931 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an ...

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but lived in exile from 1937. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dadaism, Constructivism (a ...

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

and

Jani Christou Jani Christou (, ''Giánnīs Chrī́stou''; 8 or 9 January 1926 – 8 January 1970) was a Greek composer. Biography There is some disagreement about Christou's birth, the date of which is given by some authorities as 8 January; while others stat ...

. Agrafiotis was responsible for the musical rehearsal of important works of the new music theatre, including compositions by

Salvatore Sciarrino Salvatore Sciarrino (born 4 April 1947) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. Described as "the best-known and most performed Italian composer" of the present day, his works include ''Quaderno di strada'' (2003) and ''La porta d ...

, Sir

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

Hans Zender Johannes Wolfgang Zender (22 November 1936 – 22 October 2019) was a German conductor and composer. He was the chief conductor of several opera houses, and his compositions, many of them vocal music, have been performed at international festival ...

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (; 13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as "one of the most original and independent mus ...

Aulis Sallinen Aulis Heikki Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". ...

, Christian Jost,

Reinhard Febel Reinhard Febel (born 3 July 1952) is a German composer, notable for his operas. He is also a music theorist and a university professor at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover and the Mozarteum. Career Febel was born in Metzinge ...

Anno Schreier Anno Schreier (born 1979 Aachen) is a German composer. Works * ''Der Herr Gevatter'' (2004). * ''Kein Ort. Nirgends'' (2006). Opera after Christa Wolf. * ''Wunderhorn'' (2008). Song cycle * ''Hinter Masken'' (2008) * ''Die Stadt der Blinden'' (2 ...

and Alois Bröder.

Work

* Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1994), commissioned by Athens Radio. * Chamber Concerto for Piano and 12 Players (1995), commissioned by the Megaron Mousikis, Athens * Symphony in one movement (1999) * Music for violoncello and 7 players (2000) * 5 Greek Dances for orchestra (2000) * 5 Songs for Tenor and Piano after Poems by

Paul Celan Paul Celan (; ; born Paul Antschel; 23 November 1920 – c. 20 April 1970) was a German-speaking Romanian poet, Holocaust survivor, and literary translation, literary translator. He adopted his pen name (an anagram of the Romanian spelling Ancel ...

(2002) * 8 Etudes for solo violin and CD (2003) * Trio for violoncello, flute and piano (2004) * String Quartet (2006) * "In Orientes Brand" for mixed choir a cappella after a poem by Christian Filips (2006) * "Erinnerung I" for 2 pianos (2007) * Erinnerung II" for ensemble (2008) * 3 Lieder für Mezzosopran und Ensemble3 Lieder für Mezzosopran und Ensemble
on Snaccooperative * 2 songs for baritone and piano after poems by Amal al-Jubouri (2008) * Salve Regina for four-part children's choir (2009) * 4 songs for soprano and piano after poems by

Kim Chi-ha Kim Jiha or Kim Chi-ha (; born Kim Yeongil (); 4 February 1941 – 8 May 2022) was a South Korean poet and playwright.LTI Korea Author Database: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do# Biography Kim Jiha was born Kim Yeongil () on 4 February 1941 ...

(2010) * 4 songs for tenor, clarinet and string quartet after poems by Dimitra Ch. Christodoulou (2012) * 4 songs for bass, oboe, clarinet, violoncello and double bass after poems by Dimitris Agrafiotis (2014)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Agrafiotis, Alexis German male classical composers Greek classical composers 20th-century German classical composers 21st-century German conductors (music) Greek conductors (music) 20th-century German male classical pianists 20th-century German classical pianists Greek classical pianists 1970 births Living people Musicians from Salzburg 21st-century German male classical pianists 21st-century German classical pianists Musicians from Athens People from Karlsruhe (district) People from Reutlingen German School of Athens alumni German male conductors (music)