Georgia Spiropoulos
Encyclopedia
Georgia Spiropoulos (born in Greece
, 1965) is a composer
, who studied piano
, harmony
, counterpoint
and fugue
in Athens
. At the same time she studied jazz piano
and worked as an instrumentalist and arranger
of Hellenic traditional music
of oral transmission
for ten years.
Since 1996 she has lived in Paris
and studied composition, electro-acoustic
and computer music
with Philippe Leroux
, form Analysis with Michael Levinas
, composition with Jacques Charpentier. She also worked with George Crumb
and Günter Kahowez in France
, Austria
and Greece.
's Composition and Musical Computing Annual Course and worked with Jonathan Harvey
, Brian Ferneyhough
, Tristan Murail
, Marco Stroppa, Philippe Hurel
and Ivan Fedele.
-Centre Pompidou, the Ensemble Intercontemporain
, the French Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Culture of Baden-Württemberg & GegenWelten Festival of Heidelberg, Radio France
, the Sacem
, La Muse En Circuit, the Itineraire
ensemble, the Nikos Skalkotas Orchestra, the Accentus Choir, Le Jeune Choeur de Paris, the Cries de Paris vocal ensemble, the Habanera saxophone quartet, the Diffraction ensemble, and the saxophone player Claude Delangle.
, Louvre
Auditorum, Duo Dijon, Symphony Space
(New York), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
(San Francisco), Ooizumi-gakuen Yumeria Center (Tokyo
), Shizuoka Concert Hall (Shizuoka), Hiroshimashi Nishikumin Bunka Center (Hiroshima), Radial System V (Berlin
), Elisabeth-Schneider-Stiftung (Freiburg), Kulturhaus Karlstorbahnhof (Heidelberg), Hessisches Staats Theater (Wiesbaden), Alte Schmiede (Vienna), Music Akademie of Krakow, CNSM de Paris, Forum Culturel de Blanc-Mesnil, Goethe Institut of Athens, Ionio University (Corfu). She participated at festival such as Agora Festival, Tenso Days Berlin, Gegenwelten Festival Neue Musik, Futura, WhyNote, Aujourd'hui Musiques, La Muse en Festival, Musiques de Notre Temps, ICEM, Electroacoustic Music Days.
, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
, 2E2M, L'Itineraire, Ensemble Aventure, Octopus Ensemble, Prism saxophone quartet, Habanera saxophone quartet, Accentus Choir, Les Cris de Paris Choir, Le Jeune Choeur de Paris Choir), soloists (Claude Delangle
, Vincent David, Erwan Fagant, Valerie Joly, Katerina Xirou, Athanassios Zervas) and conductors (Laurence Equilbey
, David Milnes, Mark Foster, Pierre Roulier, Guillaume Bourgogne, Geoffroy Jourdain, Nicolas Krüger).
, Boston & Cambridge, 2004) on the interactive interfaces for the conductor's gesture capture.
In 2004 she participated in the IRCAM reading panel 2004 for the Composition & Computer Music Programs (cursus, stage).
transformations and computer tools for live performance".
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, 1965) is a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, who studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
, counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
and fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. At the same time she studied jazz piano
Jazz piano
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities...
and worked as an instrumentalist and arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
of Hellenic traditional music
Music of Greece
The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek traditional music and Byzantine music, with more eastern sounds...
of oral transmission
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
for ten years.
Since 1996 she has lived in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and studied composition, electro-acoustic
Electroacoustic music
Electroacoustic music originated in Western art music during its modern era following the incorporation of electric sound production into compositional practice. The initial developments in electroacoustic music composition during the mid-20th century are associated with the activities of composers...
and computer music
Computer music
Computer music is a term that was originally used within academia to describe a field of study relating to the applications of computing technology in music composition; particularly that stemming from the Western art music tradition...
with Philippe Leroux
Spectral music
Spectral music is a musical composition practice where compositional decisions are often informed by the analysis of sound spectra. Computer-based sound spectrum analysis using tools like DFT, FFT, and spectrograms...
, form Analysis with Michael Levinas
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
, composition with Jacques Charpentier. She also worked with George Crumb
George Crumb
George Crumb is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres, alternative forms of notation, and extended instrumental and vocal techniques. Examples include seagull effect for the cello , metallic vibrato for the piano George Crumb (born...
and Günter Kahowez in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Greece.
IRCAM
In the year 2000-01 she was one of the ten selected composers (among 400) to participate to the IRCAMIRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
's Composition and Musical Computing Annual Course and worked with Jonathan Harvey
Jonathan Harvey (composer)
Jonathan Harvey is a British composer. He has held teaching positions at universities and music conservatories in Europe and the USA and is frequently invited to teach in summer schools around the world.-Life:...
, Brian Ferneyhough
Brian Ferneyhough
Brian John Peter Ferneyhough is an English composer. His music is characterized by the extensive use of complex rhythmic tuplet notation which features in all his works...
, Tristan Murail
Tristan Murail
Tristan Murail is a French composer. His father, Gérard Murail, is a poet and his mother, Marie-Thérèse Barrois, a journalist. One of his brothers, Lorris Murail, and his younger sister Elvire Murail, aka Moka, also write, and his younger sister Marie-Aude Murail is a French children's writer...
, Marco Stroppa, Philippe Hurel
Spectral music
Spectral music is a musical composition practice where compositional decisions are often informed by the analysis of sound spectra. Computer-based sound spectrum analysis using tools like DFT, FFT, and spectrograms...
and Ivan Fedele.
Commissions
She received commissions from IRCAMIRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
-Centre Pompidou, the Ensemble Intercontemporain
Ensemble InterContemporain
The Ensemble InterContemporain is a French chamber orchestra, based in Paris at the Cité de la musique and IRCAM, which specialises in contemporary classical music....
, the French Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Culture of Baden-Württemberg & GegenWelten Festival of Heidelberg, Radio France
Radio France
Radio France is a French public service radio broadcaster.-Mission:Radio France's two principal missions are:* To create and expand the programming on all of their stations; and...
, the Sacem
Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique
Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique is a French professional association collecting payments of artists’ rights and distributing the rights to the original songwriters, composers and music publishers.-History:...
, La Muse En Circuit, the Itineraire
Ensemble l'Itinéraire
The Ensemble l'Itinéraire is one of the main European ensemble of contemporary music, known in particular in spectral music. Spectral music alters "timbres by assembling orchestral masses." It was founded in January 1973 by Michaël Lévinas, Tristan Murail, Hugues Dufourt, Gérard Grisey and Roger...
ensemble, the Nikos Skalkotas Orchestra, the Accentus Choir, Le Jeune Choeur de Paris, the Cries de Paris vocal ensemble, the Habanera saxophone quartet, the Diffraction ensemble, and the saxophone player Claude Delangle.
Performances
Her works are performed internationally, in France, USA, Germany, Austria, Japan, Greece and Poland at IRCAM, Centre Pompidou, Cité de la MusiqueCité de la Musique
The Cité de la Musique is a group of institutions dedicated to music and situated in the La Villette quarter, 19th arrondissement, Paris, France. It was designed by the architect Christian de Portzamparc and opened in 1995...
, Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
Auditorum, Duo Dijon, Symphony Space
Symphony Space
Symphony Space is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre or the 160-seat Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater. Programs include music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings...
(New York), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is a multi-disiplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, national, and international artists and the Bay Area's diverse...
(San Francisco), Ooizumi-gakuen Yumeria Center (Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
), Shizuoka Concert Hall (Shizuoka), Hiroshimashi Nishikumin Bunka Center (Hiroshima), Radial System V (Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
), Elisabeth-Schneider-Stiftung (Freiburg), Kulturhaus Karlstorbahnhof (Heidelberg), Hessisches Staats Theater (Wiesbaden), Alte Schmiede (Vienna), Music Akademie of Krakow, CNSM de Paris, Forum Culturel de Blanc-Mesnil, Goethe Institut of Athens, Ionio University (Corfu). She participated at festival such as Agora Festival, Tenso Days Berlin, Gegenwelten Festival Neue Musik, Futura, WhyNote, Aujourd'hui Musiques, La Muse en Festival, Musiques de Notre Temps, ICEM, Electroacoustic Music Days.
Collaborations
She collaborates with many ensembles (Ensemble IntercontemporainEnsemble InterContemporain
The Ensemble InterContemporain is a French chamber orchestra, based in Paris at the Cité de la musique and IRCAM, which specialises in contemporary classical music....
, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players is an ensemble of classically trained instrumentalists that commissions, performs, and records innovative new music, including music that integrates electronic and acoustic sounds.-History:...
, 2E2M, L'Itineraire, Ensemble Aventure, Octopus Ensemble, Prism saxophone quartet, Habanera saxophone quartet, Accentus Choir, Les Cris de Paris Choir, Le Jeune Choeur de Paris Choir), soloists (Claude Delangle
Claude Delangle
Claude Delangle is a French classical saxophonist. He teaches saxophone at the National Superior Conservatory of Music of Paris since 1988. He played in the famous "Quatuor Adolphe Sax Paris" with Jacques Baguet, Bruno Totaro an Jean-Paul Fouchécourt. Very implicated during the 80's in developing...
, Vincent David, Erwan Fagant, Valerie Joly, Katerina Xirou, Athanassios Zervas) and conductors (Laurence Equilbey
Laurence Equilbey
Laurence Equilbey is a French conductor, particularly noted for her work in the choral repertoire.Equilbey studied piano and flute as a youth. She undertook formal music education in Paris, Vienna, London and Scandinavia...
, David Milnes, Mark Foster, Pierre Roulier, Guillaume Bourgogne, Geoffroy Jourdain, Nicolas Krüger).
Awards
Georgia Spiropoulos was the winner of the Villa Medicis Hors-les-Murs Award in 2002 of the AFAA & the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs; she worked as a composer-in-residence in the USA (New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Boston & Cambridge, 2004) on the interactive interfaces for the conductor's gesture capture.
In 2004 she participated in the IRCAM reading panel 2004 for the Composition & Computer Music Programs (cursus, stage).
Current work
On 2008-10 she will work as a composer-in-research at IRCAM with the project "Mask: VoiceHuman voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
transformations and computer tools for live performance".