Yannis Kyriakides (Greek: Γιάννης Κυριακίδης, born 1 August 1969) is a Cypriot

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

, and

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary Time-based media, time-based Artistic medium, medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in Cross-genr ...

. His music explores new forms and hybrids of media, synthesizing disparate sound sources and highlighting the sensorial space of music. He has focused in the majority of his work on ways of combining traditional performance practices with digital media, particularly in the use of live electronics. The relation between music and language has been explored in many pieces that utilize text films as a multimedia element.

Biography

Yannis Kyriakides was born in

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and emigrated to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

when he was five years of age. He studied music at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, and later moved to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to study composition at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire (, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherlands. Since September 2021, t ...

with composers

Louis Andriessen Louis Joseph Andriessen (; 6 June 1939 – 1 July 2021) was a Dutch composer, pianist and academic teacher. Considered the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, he was a central proponent of The Hague school of composition. Although ...

and Dick Raaijmakers. He is co-founder of the record label UNSOUNDS, and teaches composition at the

. He has been associated with ensembles such as the

Asko Ensemble Asko or ASKO may refer to: * Asko (name), a male given name common in Finland and Estonia * Askø, a Danish island * Asko Cylinda or Asko Appliances AB, a Swedish company producing household appliances * AskoSchönberg, a Dutch chamber orchestra * ...

musikFabrik The Ensemble Musikfabrik (music factory ensemble) is an ensemble for contemporary classical music located in Cologne. Their official name is Ensemble Musikfabrik Landesensemble NRW e.V. (Ensemble Musikfabrik of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

, Ensemble MAE,

Icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

Seattle Chamber Players The Seattle Chamber Players are a chamber ensemble focused on contemporary music, founded in 1989 in Seattle, Washington, U.S. In January 2004, the group was awarded the ASCAP/Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming. , the core mem ...

, and Ensemble Integrales and musicians such as Andy Moor from the Ex and trumpeter

Marco Blaauw Marco Blaauw is a Dutch trumpet soloist known for his work in the field of new music and with Eau de Cologne, Cologne-based contemporary music group Ensemble Musikfabrik. He plays a double bell trumpet, an invention that has allowed for numerous n ...

. He also regularly collaborates with visual artists and filmmakers HC Gilje, Joost Rekveld and Stefanos Tsivopoulos, as well as choreographers Leine & Roebana, Guy & Roni, and theatre maker Paul Koek. In 2007 he was featured composer at the

Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (also known by the acronym HCMF, stylised since 2006 as the lowercase hcmf//) is a new music festival held annually in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since its foundation in 1978, it has featu ...

and in 2011 at November Music in The Netherlands. His opera ''An Ocean of Rain'' opened the

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

in 2008, and two of his sound installations were shown in the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2011.

Prizes

*The Johan Wagenaar Prize in December 2020 *The

International Music Council The International Music Council (IMC) was created in 1949 as UNESCO's advisory body on matters of music. The original request of the foundation of the IMC was under the Director of the UNESCO. It is based at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France, ...

International Rostrum of Composers The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music. It is funded by c ...

prize in 2014 for "Words and Song Without Words" *Willem Pijper Prize in 2011 for "Dreams of the Blind" *Netherlands Toonzetters prize for best composition in 2011 for "Paramyth" *Best experimental CD at the

Qwartz Electronic Music Awards The Qwartz Electronic Music Awards recognize new and electronic music with awards and grants in music and technologies categories. An annual event takes place in Paris. The Qwartz Awards are presided by the pioneer Pierre Henry. Besides the award ...

for "Antichamber" in 2011 *Honorable mention for the CD 'Wordless' at the

Prix Ars Electronica The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria ...

in 2006 *

Gaudeamus International Composers Award The Gaudeamus International Composers Award is made by the Gaudeamus Foundation. The prize is awarded yearly, to a young composer at Dutch music concert, ''Gaudeamus Muziekweek''. The Gaudeamus Foundation had held an annual music week of Dutch ...

in 2000 for ''a conSPIracy cantata''

Selected works

* ''Oneiricon'' (2014) interactive score * ''Music for Viola'' (2014) viola solo * ''Lunch Music'' (2013) voices, percussion, electronics 0'* ''Words and Song Without Words'' (2012) cello, electronics, video * ''Wavespace'' (2011) Octet with live electronics

5′ Directionality, in molecular biology and biochemistry, is the end-to-end chemical orientation of a single strand of nucleic acid. In a single strand of DNA or RNA, the chemical convention of naming carbon atoms in the nucleotide pentose-sugar-ri ...

* ''Paramyth'' (2010) violin, clarinet, piano, computer 5'* ''Memoryscape'' (2010) ensemble, soundtrack, text video 2'for musikFabrik * ''Disco Debris'' (2010) interactive sound installation * ''Satellites'' (2009) ensemble and soundtrack 0'for Seattle Chamber Players * ''An Ocean of Rain'' (2008) opera 5'with Theatre Cryptic for the Aldeburgh Festival * ''The Queen Is the Supreme Power in the Realm'' (2007) ensemble, live electronics, video 5'with hc Gilje for musikFabrik/Koln Triennale * ''Dreams of the Blind'' (2005) ensemble, soundtrack, text video 3'for Ensemble MAE * ''Escamotage'' (2005) music theatre 0'for FNM Staatsoper Stuttgart * ''Wordless'' (2005) sound installation 0'for Argos Festival * ''Slow Wave Sleep'' (2004) string quartet, trombone quartet and electronics 5'for Doelen Quartet and New Trombone Collective/ Gaudeamus Festival * ''The Buffer Zone'' (2004) music theatre 0'for Festival aan de Werf * ''Subliminal: The Lucretian Picnic'' (2003) ensemble, soundtrack, video 5'for ASKO ensemble / Festival in de Branding * ''Lab Fly Dreams'' (2003) ensemble, electronics, video 0'with hc Gilje, Icebreaker Ensemble / Orkest de Volharding/ BBC commission * ''Spinoza'' (2002) music theatre 0'with Paul Koek, ZT Hollandia * ''Scape'' (2001) ensemble, soundtrack, video 5'with Isabelle Vigier, Joost Rekveld for Orkest de Volharding * ''Strobo'' (2001) 6 amplified glass panes, stroboscopes, electronics 0'* ''a conSPIracy cantata'' (2000) 2 voices, piano, electronics 5'* ''Four Maggots'' for viola and double bass (1992)

Selected discography

* "a conSPIracy cantata" (CD, UNSOUNDS, 01U, 2001) * "The Thing Like Us", on Spinoza (CD, UNSOUNDS, 09U, 2003) * "The Buffer Zone", audio theatre (CD, UNSOUNDS, 11U, 2005) * "Wordless", 12 sound portraits (CD, UNSOUNDS, 13U, 2006) * "Antichamber", Double CD of electroacoustic chamber music (UNSOUNDS, 21U, 2010) * ''Resorts and Ruins'' (CD, UNSOUNDS, 33U, 2013) * ''Rebetika'' (with Andy Moor, 2010, CD, Unsounds) * "Folia" collaboration with guitarist Andy Moor (CD, UNSOUNDS, 19U, 2010) * ''A life is a Billion Heartbeats'' (with Andy Moor, 2014, CD, Unsounds)

References

Sources

*Jason van Eyk, Musicworks, Issue 106 spring 2010

*Andy Beckett, The Spying Game - Guardian Interview - Friday May 31, 200

*Rob Young, The Wire, Jan 2006 - Unsound Thinker *Peter Bruyn, Gonzo, de stem de taal en het muzikale verhaa

*Frits van der Waa, 'Elektronica toont innerlijke wereld', de Volkskrant, 9 October 200

*Stefano Isidoro Bianchi, Interview in Italian Music Magazine, BLOW UP #143, April 201

External links

Yannis Kyriakides websiteUNSOUNDS RecordsMCN information from publisher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyriakides, Yannis 1969 births Living people 21st-century classical composers Cypriot composers Male composers Dutch male classical composers Dutch classical composers Gaudeamus Composition Competition prize-winners International Rostrum of Composers prize-winners Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni People from Limassol Alumni of the University of York Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague Pupils of Louis Andriessen 21st-century male musicians