Photo: Courtesy of Onassis Stegi and the Onassis Foundation.

FREE admission with entry tickets: distribution starts one hour before the concert.

I am honored to be one of this year’s commissioned artists by the Onassis Foundation for this tribute to composer Maurice Ohana, in the realm of the “Music Connects The Onassis Stegi and the Panteion University” Concert Series.

Niki Harlafti (1987-): doRon eauTomb for violin and cello* (2023), commissioned by Onassis Stegi

Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013): Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher for solo cello (1976)

Maurice Ohana: Syrtes for cello and piano** (1970)

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946): Concerto for harpsichord (or piano) and 5 instruments (1923-1926)

Oros Ensemble

Eirini Krikoni: violin

Dimitris Karagiannakidis: cello

and Marilena Souri: piano

With: Vangelis Stathopoulos (flute), Ioannis Tselikas (oboe), Andonis Tsachtanis (clarinet / member of Oros Ensemble)

“Routes of the sea, routes of music. In this year’s concerts, we listen to fragments of primordial music in works of the last decades that narrate journeys and stories of our times. For the ninth year, the collaboration between Onassis Stegi and the Panteion University forges a music bridge above Syngrou Avenue, having as a starting point the contemporary music of pioneering composer Maurice Ohana.

The point of departure is the Iberian Peninsula and the last part of the tribute to traveler-composer Maurice Ohana (1913-1992), which we didn’t have the chance to listen to in 2023. Maurice Ohana was recognized as one of the leading composers of his generation in France as early as the 1960s, bearing a music work that remains as intricate as his musical language.

In this year’s iteration, we cross the oceans through three concerts. From the Iberian Peninsula centuries ago began the ship routes of the transatlantic slave trade to the shores of Central Africa and South America or the Cape of Good Hope and Southeastern Asia. With the Bridge’s program as our vehicle, we pass through the same routes and listen to the music of today from Central African countries, Brazil, Argentina, and Japan, as a counterpoint to some of the music that was born out of these very first journeys. With our thoughts on the sea routes that many people are forced to undergo in our times.”

Poster by: Michalis Paraskakis

The aesthetic revolution of music theater: new compositional and performative practices

Five artists-researchers approach music theatre within a broader context. They shall speak about contemporary trends in music theatre from a compositional perspective, as well as through the lens of an aesthetic, historical and social framework, the central issues being authorship, collective composition, the democratization of art making, and audience reception in today’s musical and social affairs. The audience is welcome to participate with questions and opinions in the roundtable discussion led by panel speakers.

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Σας προσκαλούμε ημερίδας καλλιτεχνικής έρευνας με θέμα «H αισθητική επανάσταση του μουσικού θεάτρου: σύγχρονες συνθετικές και εκτελεστικές πρακτικές».

Η ημερίδα φιλοξενεί τέσσερις καλλιτέχνες-ερευνητές, που προσεγγίζουν τον ευρύτερο χώρο του μουσικού θεάτρου από διαφορετικές οπτικές, ενώ στη συνέχεια θα ακολουθήσει πάνελ-στρογγυλή τράπεζα με σκοπό να διευρυνθεί η συζήτηση. Θα μιλήσουν: η Σταματία Γεροθανάση, επίκουρη καθηγήτρια Ιστορικής Μουσικολογίας (ΑΠΘ, Θεσσαλονίκη), ο Ζήσης Σέγκλιας, συνθέτης, διδάκτορας και μεταδιδακτορικός ερευνητής (ΑΠΘ, Θεσσαλονίκη) η Νίκη Χαρλαύτη, συνθέτρια και διδάκτορας (Northwestern University, Chicago) ο Μιχάλης Παρασκάκης, συνθέτης και υποψήφιος διδάκτορας (ΑΠΘ, Θεσσαλονίκη) και η Κατερίνα Μανιού, vocal performer και μεταδιδακτορική ερευνήτρια (ΠΘ, Βόλος). Στο πάνελ, εκτός από τις ομιλήτριες και τους ομιλητές μπορούν να συμμετάσχουν άτομα από το κοινό με ερωτήσεις και τοποθετήσεις.

Γενικός σκοπός της ημερίδας είναι να αναδειχθούν οι σύγχρονες τάσεις στο μουσικό θέατρο, τόσο από συνθετική οπτική όσο και από την αισθητική, ιστορική και κοινωνική πλαισίωσή τους στο είδος και τις παραστατικές τέχνες γενικότερα. Επιπλέον στόχοι έχουν να κάνουν με την συνθετική διαδικασία ως ερευνητική πρακτική και τα ερωτήματα που προκύπτουν από αυτή τη σχέση. Θέματα όπως αυθεντία, συμμετοχική σύνθεση, εκδημοκρατισμός της δημιουργίας, πρόσληψη από το κοινό στο σύγχρονο μουσικό και κοινωνικό γίγνεσθαι θα επιδιωχθεί να αναδειχθούν μέσα από τις ατομικές ομιλίες και να αναπτυχθούν κατά την τελική συζήτηση. 

Poster: Courtesy of Onassis Stegi and the Onassis Foundation.

I am honored to be one of this year’s commissioned artists by the Onassis Foundation for this tribute to composer Maurice Ohana, in the realm of the “Music Connects The Onassis Stegi and the Panteion University” Concert Series.

Join us at the presentation of my compositional work, including doRon eauTomb as a tribute to Ohana. Presentations by Eirini Krikoni (violin), Dimitris Karagiannakidis (cello) and Marilena Souri (piano) will follow, on the topic of performing Ohana, collaborating on commissioned works for this tribute, and making music as members of Oros Ensemble.

Details about the March 7, 2024 concert HERE.

ABOUT the tribute to Maurice Ohana:

“This year’s edition serves as a tribute to a double anniversary – 110 years since the birth, and 30 since the death of Maurice Ohana (1913-1992), a composer whose work is deeply rooted in the music traditions of the Mediterranean. Arab-Andalusian music, flamenco, the poetry of Lorca, Greek mythology, jazz, and African percussion all feed into and inspire his compositions, as does the music of Claude Debussy, Manuel de Falla, Béla Bartók, and Olivier Messiaen. Works for solo piano and ensemble chamber music will feature across four concerts, set alongside music drawn from his personal universe.”

Painting by Oπυ Ζούνη, Κύκλοι - Τομές (1970).

For details about the concert and all programmed events on Dec 1 & 2, see HERE. Περισσότερα για αυτήν και όλες τις συναυλίες του διημέρου, δείτε ΕΔΩ και κάτωθι.

Free Entry. Είσοδος Ελεύθερη.

*Η ελληνική εκδοχή ακολουθεί την αγγλική, με περισσότερες λεπτομέρειες.

The Contemporary Music Research Center [CMRC] is hosting two days of exciting events at the Athens Conservatory, on Friday, December 1 and Saturday, December 2. On the first day, Ioanna Vrakatseli (mezzo) and Aliki Diamanti (piano) will be performing music by contemporary Greek composers, including my very own When I Too Long. See you on December 1st, at 8:30pm, Aris Garoufallis Hall, Athens Conservatory.

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Το Κέντρο Σύγχρονης Μουσικής Έρευνας διοργανώνει, όπως κάθε χρόνο ένα φεστιβάλ με έργα σύγχρονης μουσικής την Παρασκευή 1 και το Σάββατο 2 Δεκεμβρίου 2023 στο Ωδείο Αθηνών. Το φετινό πρόγραμμα περιλαμβάνει έργα Ελλήνων και ξένων συνθετών.

Την πρώτη μέρα θα παρουσιαστούν έργα για φωνή και πιάνο με την μέτζο Ιωάννα Βρακατσέλη την οποία θα συνοδεύσει στο πιάνο η Αλίκη Διαμαντή. Επίσης θα παρουσιαστούν έργα των σπουδαστών σύνθεσης της τάξης του συνθέτη και καθηγητή σύνθεσης στο Ωδείο Αθηνών Φίλιππου Τσαλαχούρη καθώς και έργα για σόλο φλάουτο και σόλο κλαρινέτο με σπουδαστές των τάξεων της Ναταλίας Γεράκη και του Άγγελου Πολίτη. Οι εκδηλώσεις της πρώτης μέρας θα πραγματοποιηθούν στην Αίθουσα Άρης Γαρουφαλής.

Την δεύτερη μέρα θα πραγματοποιηθούν 4 συναυλίες στο Εργαστήρι του ΚΣΥΜΕ (Κ3). Στις δύο πρώτες θα ακουστούν έργα ηλεκτροακουστικής μουσικής, στην τρίτη θα παρουσιαστούν έργα για όργανα και ηλεκτρονικά ενώ η βραδιά θα τελειώσει με μια συναυλία live electronics. Στις συναυλίες συμμετέχουν και σπουδαστές της Τάξης Σύνθεσης Ηλεκτροακουστικής Μουσικής του ΚΣΥΜΕ στο Ωδείο Αθηνών (καθηγητές Στέλιος Γιαννουλάκης και Νίκος Χαριζάνος).

Το διήμερο αφιερώνεται στην αγαπημένη μνήμη του Χάρη Ξανθουδάκη ο οποίος υπήρξε και ιδρυτικό μέλος του ΚΣΥΜΕ.

Θα παρουσιαστούν έργα των:

Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Ian Clarke, Alexandre Delgado, Χάρη Ξανθουδάκη, Άκη Δαούτη, Φίλιππου Τσαλαχούρη, Δημήτρη Μαρωνίδη, Μηνά Μπορμπουδάκη, Κώστα Μαντζώρου, Γιάννη Σφυρή, Νίκου Χαριζάνου, Στέλιου Γιαννουλάκη, Γεωργίας Καλοδίκη, Νίκης Χαρλαύτη, Γιώργου Βάβουλα, Αθανάσιου Ζαχαρόπουλου, Ευθύμη Ναούμη, Μαρίας Ρέις, Γιώργου Μαρουλή, Γιάννη Μυγδάνη, Βασίλη Χωματάς, Άννας Μαρίας Ράμμου, Θέμη Πέλλα, Διομήδη Κολοβού, Γιάννη Μαντασά, Λουίζας Στεφανιδάκη, Γιώργου Γαλάνη, Πέτρου Χοχλακάκη.

Συμμετέχουν οι:

Ιωάννα Βρακατσέλη,  Αλίκη Διαμαντή, Μαρία Ρέις, Γιώργος Σκορδίλης, Μυρτώ Μαρή, Στράτος Πογκοσιάν, Τζωρτζίνα Σκιαδοπούλου, Στέλιος Γιαννουλάκης, Αθανάσιος Ζαχαρόπουλος.

Photo: Courtesy of Thomas Giles.

Get tickets HERE. The concert will be livestreamed.

New York City-based saxophonist Thomas Giles presents an intensely focused solo set featuring brand new works by Chicago-based composers Yi-Ting Lu, Niki Harlafti, as well as premieres by Cole Reyes, Mika Pelo, Euna Joh and Chris Dench. Giles explores immersive, virtuosic compositions, honing his fascination with simultaneity and the multilimbic capacities of a single wind performer. This concert is co-curated by Niki Harlafti.

We are honored that Migdal is an official selection of this year’s Cyprus Dance Film Festival in Limassol, in the Foreign Film Category. Get your tickets [BLOCK B] to watch the breathtaking dance film by Anima Libera Dance Company, to which I composed and co-produced the original soundtrack, alongside Konstantinos Baras.

Get your tickets HERE.

Andanza Contemporary Dance Company of Puerto Rico is excited to launch its first Festival Video[An]Danza Internacional to take place 16-19 March 2023 in collaboration with the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico (MAPR) and the Tourism Company of Puerto Rico (CTPR).

The festival emerges from Andanza’s track record of excellence in developing all aspects of dance in Puerto Rico. The festival extends the mission of the company into the creative possibilities of dance on screen and digital platforms. The Festival Video[An]danza is rooted in Andanza’s commitment to developing the art of dance as a tool for social development and transformation.

The curatorial team is led by choreographer and festival director Ana Sánchez-Colberg, with an international review panel of experts in the field of videodance and dance film including award winning UK choreographer and film director Javier de Frutos and Pioneer Winter, Artistic Director of Miami Screen Dance.

This concert is free and open to the public.

Photo courtesy of The Collection Events.

Join Guildhall School musicians at lunchtime (12:30pm-1:15pm) for a wonderful program which includes my piece "When I Too Long" for voice and piano (U.K. Premiere), to be performed by soprano Theano Papadaki. More details about the program will be announced soon.

P.S. The piece was recently turned into a short dance film by Anima Libera Dance Company. Enjoy!

Duo Vocialo present a recital for voice (Ioanna Vrakatseli, mezzo) and piano (Christos Marinos) with works by Greek composers of different generations, from all over the world. Works by: Leonidas Zoras, Aspasia Nasopoulou, Alekos Xenos, Yorgos Sicilianos, DImitris Terzakis, Niki Harlafti, and Ianni Christou.

Where: Lecture Hall of the Society’s Music Library.

Free Admission. A brief reception will follow; meet the composer, musicians and dancers.

If I must speak now:

I’ll speak with cries and otherworldly tongues of the subconscious (SKEPTOMENOS, with countertenor Carl Alexander).

I’ll put a ribbon on desperate screams through the writings of Laura Mullen; raw and devastating, drenched in black humor; a soprano will speak of war, swallowed by electronics (Enduring Freedom, with soprano Jessie Lyons and live/fixed electronics).

I’ll embellish pain with lyrical poetry, as heart-wrenching as Edna Millay’s sonnets; a soprano will sing about desire, beauty, and existence; dancers will dance (When I Too Long, soundtrack to the homonymous dance film, details below).

I’ll speak like a Prophet on Earth, but words will matter little (Migdal, for fixed media; collaboration with composer/producer Konstantinos Baras for the dance film Migdal, by Mikaela Kanzafiri and Christos Kapatos, courtesy of Anima Libera Dance Company).

And then, when I’ll have nothing more to say, bodies will speak:

When I Too Long: Dance Film (World Premiere)

Choreography: Mikaela Kanzafiri | Performance: Anima Libera Dance Company

Cinematography: Christos Kapatos

Soundtrack: When I Too Long, for voice and piano (recording by soprano Bahareh Poureslami and pianist Jonathan Hannau, 2018)

Kintsugi: Contemporary Dance Performance (World Premiere)

Choreography & Performance: Eugenia Ventris, Semiramis Mamata, Elena Faki

Soundtrack: Kintsugi, for eleven saxophones (recording by The Megalopolis Saxophone Orchestra, 2021)

Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Kundler.

You are invited to experience Dr.Kundler’s unmatched versatility on euphonium, in repertoire including his very own euphonium rendition of my song When I Too Long, originally for voice and piano. I can’t wait to hear what the voice part sounds like on the euphonium. Come listen to music by Samantha Owens, Bracha Bdil, Niki Harlafti and Henriette Bosmans.

Matthew Kundler is a Miraphone Performing Artist.

Join the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble as they premiere exciting new compositions for chamber choir, directed by Donald Nally, Grammy-winning Director of The Crossing. Everyone is welcome to this open reading and recording session. Admission is free.

Program:

Kevin Zhang: Torso, air

Niki Harlafti: (Demilitarized Zone) , poetry by Sun Yung Shin

Benjamin Penwell: skin, echo, memory, marrow

Jaco Wong: Psithaura

Get your tickets here: $15 General Admission | $5 Students

We are excited to be back in New York City for our FIFTH season, performing live and in person! Join us at Roulette Intermedium on Sunday, October 10. Featuring all Megalopolis commissions, hear new works by Nicola LeFanu, Niki Harlafti, and Josiah Catalan alongside prize-winning works from our annual Call for Scores presented by the MANA Quartet. This concert is made possible in part by support from the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.

Program:

Gleb Kanasevich: Impedance (MSO Commission)

Nicola LeFanu: In the Forests of the Night (MSO Commission)

Luis Miguel Delgado Grande: Estudio de la Luz (NY Premiere)

Josiah Catalan: In Bloom (MSO Commission)

Niki Harlafti: Kintsugi - extended and revised (MSO Commission)

Get your tickets here: $15 General Admission | $5 Students

We are excited to be back in New York City for our FIFTH season, performing live and in person! Join us at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music for our season opening concert on Saturday, October 9, 2021. Featuring all Megalopolis commissions, hear new works by Nicola LeFanu, Niki Harlafti, and Josiah Catalan, alongside prize-winning works from our annual Call for Scores presented by the MANA Quartet. This concert is made possible in part by support from the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.

Program:

Gleb Kanasevich: Impedance (MSO Commission)

Nicola LeFanu: In the Forests of the Night (MSO Commission/World Premiere)

Yuting Tan: points, lines, angles, planes (NY Premiere)

Josiah Catalan: In Bloom (MSO Commission/World Premiere)

Niki Harlafti: Kintsugi - extended and revised (MSO Commission/World Premiere)

Photo: Courtesy of Deaf Rabbit.

Get your tickets here: $15 + $3.98 fee.

Joining forces for the first time in concert, Liza (soprano/composer) and Jonathan (pianist/composer) have curated a program of music focused around George Crumb's haunting song cycle, Apparition, in celebration of his 90th birthday. Both Jonathan and Liza will include their own original songs. They will perform Jonathan's "Humility," and the world premiere of an aria from Liza's opera, I DID, DID I?. In addition, the concert will feature vocal music by Chicago based composers, including Niki Harlafti's song "When I too long…" and “Juarez” by Carlos Jaquez Gonzalez.

In the second half, Rachel Peters (violin) and Autumn Selover (harp) together as Deaf Rabbit will be showcasing new works for violin and harp by American composers. Opening the program is the official premiere of Glass Shards, written for Deaf Rabbit by Vietnamese-American composer Oswald Huynh. Journeying into the memory of a melancholy lullaby, Glass Shards recalls and shatters the melody of a traditional Southern Vietnamese song. Exploring the space occupied by both sound and music, is Nico Muhly's Drones & Violin. An attempt at "stylized noise", Drones & Violin invites the listener to playfully and thoughtfully process the constant noise with which we surround ourselves, an act not unlike "singing along with one's vacuum cleaner." Rounding out the program is Freya's Tears, a companion of Robert Paterson's larger work, The Book of Goddesses. A triptych embodying the female deities of Iris, Freya, and Sekhmet, and celebrating global influences inspired by the respective Greece, Norse, and Egyptian mythologies.

Note - Constellation requires that all staff, performers, and audience members present proof of COVID vaccination upon entry to a show. Please see this link for Constellation's COVID policy.

Photo: Courtesy of Nick Zoulek.

*Join the “Online Album Release Party Is This Nois” via the Facebook Online Event*

The award-winning, Chicago-based saxophone quartet ~Nois will release its debut album titled Is This Nois on June 26, 2020. The album features the music of composers who have strong ties to Chicago and Northwestern University, the quartet’s alma mater. Produced by Nois and the Grammy Award-winning Dan Nichols, the album will be available for purchase through the quartet’s website, Bandcamp, and will also be streamable on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, and others.

The album features existing pieces by Hans Thomalla, professor of composition at Northwestern, as well as Marcos Balter and David Reminick, graduates of the composition department. […]

In addition to these existing works, Nois commissioned friends whom they met while in graduate school for new works that would stretch the limits of the saxophone quartet. Craig David Pinson’s Dismantle treats the quartet, this time composed of four alto saxophones, like a percussion quartet. The piece is an exciting tour of the many different percussive sounds of the saxophone and the joy of cross rhythms.

Niki Harlafti’s Vaisseau Fantôme uses 7 saxophones between the four members and takes its inspiration from a portion of Ornette Coleman’s album Free Jazz. Bits of Coleman’s theme are passed around the group until it explodes in a fugual climax. […]

Mathew Arrellin’s Apertures flips the traditional roles of the group on their heads. The piece often sees each member of the quartet singing in the stratosphere of their range while the soprano might hold down the bass. These sinuous melodies are juxtaposed against the raw power of violent multiphonic sounds. […]

Photo: Courtesy of the MSO.

New York City premiere of works by composer-in-residence Niki Harlafti and works by Lara Poe and Frank Martin, as well as Jeremey Rapaport-Stein's prize-winning quartet, Fuzzy Assemblages. This is a FREE event.

You can make a donation in lieu of a ticket fee here.

By the Megalopolis Saxophone Orchestra

Photo: Courtesy of the MSO .

World premiere of works by Lara Poe and MSO Composer-in-Residence Niki Harlafti, as well as the world premiere of Frank Martin's Passacaille adapted for saxophone orchestra by Michael Brinzer. This concert will include Jacob Walls prize-winning quartet, Tachygenesis.

By the Megalopolis Saxophone Orchestra

Do you love saxophone? Do you have questions for the MSO's first-ever Composer-in-Residence? Are you curious about contemporary techniques and how these can emerge from the Baroque tradition? What does Bach have to do with the Japanese kintsugi tradition?
Niki will answer all your questions and more, in anticipation of the world premiere of her piece “Kintsugi,” commissioned by the MSO! Hear Niki's thoughts as well as live demonstrations by members of Megalopolis at this FREE event.

Photo: Christos Marinos and Maria Devitzáki in Thessaloniki, 6.6.2017.

From Schubert songs based on Greek-themed poems, to Greek Art Song repertoire and premieres by Greek composers, pianist and vocal coach Christos Marinos is guaranteed to perform a stunning recital with singers Rebecca Blackwell, Chul Young Kim, Sarah Stein, Alyssa Becker, and Sophia Prasinos. The program also includes songs by Jani Christou, Vivien Lambelet, Rena Kyriakou, Linda Kouvaras, and the world premiere of “When I Too Long” by Niki Harlafti, dedicated to Christos Marinos.

By the University of Minnesota, School of Music

Photo: Courtesy of Nick Guttridge. Rambert Dance.

Rambert dancer, and The Playground co-founder, Nancy Nerantzi is joining us as a choreographer this Friday.

Nancy will explore the relationship between dancer, observer and content. Through task-based exercises, improvisation, constructed material and dialogue with the participants, together they will create under a specific dramaturgical line.

Nancy will be collaborating with native Greek, Chicago-based composer and educator Niki Harlafti.

By The Playground at Rambert Dance

Massachusetts premiere of works by Hayes Biggs, Mark Taggart, and John Worley. This concert will feature the first-prize quartet from the MSO's Call for Scores, Vaisseau Fantôme, by MSO Composer-in-Residence Niki Harlafti.

By the Megalopolis Saxophone Orchestra

New music guitarist Ruben Mattia Santorsa performs a short, solo recital with miniature pieces for classical guitar by G.Kurtág, C.Milliken, N.Harlafti (WP), and S.Sciarrino.

A short discussion session with the audience will follow.

This performance is supported in part by the Harry N. and Ruth F. Wyatt Fund, a grant awarded to Ms.Harlafti.

At Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt