:: Archive 2023 ::
May 13, 2023 :: Sachsen Komponiert Concert with musica viva
New compositions for the chamber orchestra musica viva e.V. from a two-week workshop at forum thomanum with the esteemed composer colleagues Sarvenaz Safari and Gregor Forbes will be premiered on May 13. The concert with premieres as well as Mozart's 40th symphony and Strongylis' Equilibrium will take place on Saturday, May 13 at 4 p.m. in the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.
The rector of the HMT Leipzig, Prof. Gerald Fauth, is the patron.
:: Archive 2022 ::
September 14, 2022 :: Rote, verlassene Erde - Premiere with MDR Symphony Orchestra
MDR-Clara, the youth music network of MDR KLASSIK, commissioned Aristides Strongylis to compose a piece for schoolchildren and orchestra on the subject of earth, for a concert series inspired by the four elements water, air, earth and fire. The resulting work Rote, verlassene Erde (Red, abandoned earth) is premiered by students of grades 7-10 of Christopherus School Droyßig with MDR Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday, September 14th, 2022 at 11 a.m. in the Capitol Zeitz.
The students then go on tour with the MDR Symphony Orchestra:
September 14, 11 a.m. concert in the Capitol Zeitz
September 15, 2022, concert in the town hall of Eisenberg
September 16th, 2022, concert in the Goethe Gymnasium Auerbach.
Shortlisted :: Judith Project competing for FEDORA Opera Prize 2023
The Judth Project with mezzo soprano Leonora Gaitanou is shortlisted with twelve other productions for the renowned FEDORA Prize 2023! FEDORA, The European Circle of Philanthropists of Opera and Ballet, awards this prize to "cutting-edge artistic projects that promote international collaboration, creativity, social integration and intercultural dialogue, as well as digital innovation on and beyond the stage." (FEDORA). Our fingers are firmly crossed!
Recorded :: The Seven Open Chakras of Dionysus in sound and vision
Silke Peterson (piano) and Stefan Kaminsky (speaker) recorded Aristides' The Seven Open Chakras of Dionysus in audio and visual form with funds from the GVL New Start Culture grant. The result can be seen on Youtube in prime recording quality. Sound engineer was Steffen Seifarth; camera, editing, production and post-production: Frohsinn Productions. Composition, lyrics and text selection are by Aristides Strongylis.
The complete recording on Youtube in HQ
Upcoming :: Bluebeard's Castle with and by Leonora Gaitanou
Since September 2021 Aristides has been working on an arrangement of Béla Bartók's opera "Bluebeard's Castle" commissioned by the opera singer Leonora Gaitanou. Gaitanou's perspective on the Bluebeard myth will be from the point of view of Judith and feature an ensemble of 27 artists, with King Bluebeard as a speaker role. Gaitanou herself is in charge of concept and direction, as well as singing the main part of Judith. Watch the trailer of the project below, to be premiered in summer 2022.
More on the"Judith Project" on the website of Leonora Gaitanou
Judith or the Blaubarts Burg/trailer from LEONORA GAITANOU on Vimeo.
Premiere of 2020 in Koblenz :: Video
The wonderul premiere of Aristides Strongylis' 2020 for chamber orchestra on Mai 29, 2021 is now online at the Youtube channel of Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie.
Orchestral work 2020 for Rheinische Philharmonie :: Interview
On May 29, 2021, the Koblenz Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie under Garry Walker premiered the orchestral work 2020 by Aristides Strongylis, commissioned by the orchstra. An interview with Aristides on this occasion is now available on the Facebook page of Rheinische Philharmonie.
March 25, 2022 :: Family concert at Gewandhaus with the Klangschmiede
In this family concert, last year's composition course "Klangschmiede" (2022) presents its three pieces on the main stage of Leipzig's famous concert hall, together with Gewandhaus organists Michael Schönheit and Malte Arkona. Six students have created three compositions for their own and for Orff instruments and will perform them accompanied by the organ.
Family Concert in the Gewandhaus programme
:: Archive 2021 ::
From November 2, 2021 :: Klangwerkraum – Composition workshop for adults
On November 2nd, "Klangwerkraum" begins, a composition workshop for adults that will run for a whole season. The group meets on Tuesdays and works on new compositions. The results will be presented in late spring following a major concert by the Gewandhaus Orchestra.
Oktober 25-30, 2021 :: Klangschmiede – Composition workshop for children
From October 25th to 30th the composition workshop "Klangschmiede" for pupils from 1st to 6th grade takes place in the Gewandhaus. For one week, Aristides and six children work on three wonderful compositions.The results will be premiered in a private event in the Mendelssohn Hall.
Oktober 24, 2021 :: Come on in! Day of the Open Door at the Gewandhaus
On October 24th Aristides will be at the Tag der offenen Tür at Leipzig's Gewandhaus with two composition workshops for adults and present the "Klangwerkraum" workshop for the current season. Young and old are invited to make music themselves, to experiment, to do handicrafts and to immerse themselves in the 40-year history of the famous concert hall.
September 25, 2021 :: Classic for Children - winners' concert
On September 25th Aristides plays the children and youth award winners concert of the 16th music festival „Klassik für Kinder“ with his musica viva Orchestra. Actor and puppeteer Christian Fux, children's choir director Matthias Schubotz with the children's choir of the forum thomanum elementary school and the orchestra will play the "Peters Wolf" award-winners and discoverers' concert. You can hear and see excerpts from Mussorgski's "Pictures at an Exhibition" arranged for wind instruments, Samuel Barber's "Adagio" for strings, and parts of Dvořák's 9th Symphony. The award-winning pieces will of course also be premiered: "Kammerstück 1" for orchestra by Nona Maaß and a piece for wind instruments by Antoine Eden. We congratulate all the winners!
May 29, 2021 :: MORE MUSIC / BRIGHT LIGHT :: Premiere of work commissioned by Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie
New work, commissioned by Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie - Aristides Strongylis' piece for orchestra entitled 2020 will be premiered on May 29, 2021 at Rhein Mosel Hall Koblenz, performed by its musical initiator Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie under the magnificent Garry Walker; violin: Jack Liebeck. The concert entitled MEHR MUSIK / HELLES LICHT (More Music / Bright Light) will feauture Aristides Strongylis' 2020 (world premiere), Richard Strauss' concerto op. 8 for violin and orchestra, and Felix Mendelssohn's symphony A major no. 4 op. 90 "Italian". The performance wil be recorded by SWR2 and broadcast at a later date.
This premiere was postponed to May 2021 from the original October 2020 due to Covid.
Mosaik 2020 initiative by Calmus Ensemble :: Y and micro compositions from all over the world
The Calmus Ensemble has launched Mosaik 2020: Numerous international composers are called upon to compose a unanimous piece, a miniature for vocal ensemble about how musicians are doing in Corona times. For this purpose, Aristides Strongylis has composed a micro-composition called "Y". The project will be presented online or in person in March 2021.
New piece for MDR school project
For a school music project of MDR, Aristides has composed a work for orchestra and a school class. Schools within the MDR broadcasting area can apply, then one class per state will be chosen. Aristides' piece, entitled rote, verlassene Erde (Red, Abandoned Earth), will be performed as part of the Earth program, alongside pieces from various eras. The school class will be on equal footing with the orchestra; students will play alongside professional musicians and learn to interact with other voices and follow the conductor. School workshops and the premiere are planned for fall 2021.
musica viva :: New program keeping the distance
The chamber orchestra musica viva is preparing its new season, which due to Covid will include some works separated into strings and winds, but also some for tutti instrumentation. The program includes pieces like as Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto (soloist Prof. Frank Peter), Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition in a shorter version for winds, Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings and Aristides Strongylis' Equilibrium for chamber orchestra. Stay tuned for concert dates!
:: Archive 2020 ::
August 16, 2020 :: Zwischen Tier und Gott in Sievershausen
As part of a vernissage, violist Ulrich von Wrochem will perform Aristides Strongylis' Zwischen Tier und Gott (Between Beast and God) on Sunday August 16, 2020, at 4pm at the Antikriegshaus in Sievershausen (near Hanover). The exhibition will feature sculptures by artist Getrud Schmidt. More on the website of the venue.
September 2020 :: 15th Music Festival Classic for Children
Leipzig's Join-in Festival of Classical Music for Children is starting on September 25 for its 15th anniversary, including a composition competition for young people. Located in the Evangelical Reformed Church on Tröndlinring, we will of course keep a safe distance and follow hygiene rules. Children and young people up to the age of 19 are invited to compose a three- to five-minute piece. Submissions by young composers are accepted until September 4. The winning works will be premiered on 26 September 2020. The festival will also feature various workshops for children and young people, such as stage design and stage construction.
As part of the festival, Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio (shortened version) is on the programme on 25 September and the final concert on King David on 27 September. Performers are members of the Komische Oper and the chamber orchestra musica viva.
More info on the website of the competition and of the festival.
7. März 2020 :: Adonai! Kyrie! Lord! Herr! at Kurt Weill Fest Dessau
As part of the Kurt Weill Fest 2020, entitled "What are borders?", and commemorating the bombing of the city of Dessau (Weill's birth place) 75 years ago, Aristides Strongylis work for choir Adonai! Kyrie! Lord! Herr! will pe performed at the Petrus Church Dessau on March 7, 2020, by Anja Pöche (soprano), Tilmann Löser (organ/ piano) and the Leipzig Synagogalchor under Ludwig Böhme. This concert is a joint effort by Kurt Weill Fest and the protestant parish Dessau-Nord.
21. Juni 2020 :: Adonai! Kyrie! Lord! Herr! at 8th Dorsten Choir Festival
At the 8th Dorsten Choir Festival, the Leipzig Synagogalchor under Ludwig Böhme is performing on Sunday June 21st, 2020, together with the chamber choir Cantus Dorsten. The concert entitled "Adonai! Herr! Meisterwerke aus Synagogen und Kirchen" at St. Agatha church will feature Aristides Strongylis' piece Adonai! Kyrie! Lord! Herr!, among others.
Beethoven Experiment :: Classroom goes Symphony Orchestra
In an experimental project of MDR Clara Network, highschool students write their own music - for symphony orchestra! Class 9/1 of Goethe Gymnasiums Bischofswerda develop their own musical composition in six workshops with Aristides Strongylis. Based on this, Aristides then writes a work for symphony orchestra. The piece entitled "Equality" will be premiered on January 26, 2020, at the Leipzig Gewandhaus by MDR Symphony Orchestra under Kerem Hasan. As part of the concert series "Magic of Music", the concert will be broadcast live by MDR Kultur and MDR Klassik radio. This very special cooperation is part of the German national broadcaster ARD's Beethoven Experiment, commemorating the composer's 250th anniversary.
UPDATE: There is now a lovely feature on the MDR project website:
Feauture on MDR Artour program
More on the project at the website of MDR.
Broadcasting date at MDR Klassik radio
March 1st, 2020 :: Presentation at Halle/Saale Academic Conference
As part of the adacemic conference XIV. Mitteldeutschen Tagung Musiktheorie und Hörerziehung, Aristides Strongylis is giving a presentation on March 1st, 2020 at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg on "Composing for children, composing with children". Among other things, he will talk about the Beethoven Experiment by German public broadcaster ARD.
Conference schedule (pdf)
:: Archive 2019 ::
November 10 :: Premiere of "Adonai! Kyrie! Lord! Herr!" :: Leipzig Synagogal Choir
Commissioned by Reinhard Riedel, Aristides composed a piece for the Leipzig Synagogalchor based on Psalm 92, praising the Lord. The work entitlel "Adonai! Kyrie! Lord! Herr!" (the Lord's praise in Hebrew, Greek, English and German) will be premiered on November 10, 2019, in a service commemorating the November pogroms of 1938. November 10, Leipzig Church of St. Thomas, 6pm, free entrance, doors open at 5:15pm.
November 9 :: Musica Viva at J.S. Bach Conservatoire
The chamber orchestra Musica Viva invites the audience to its anniversary concert at the Kurt-Masur-Concert hall of J.S. Bach Conservatory Leipzig. The orchestra will perform Beethoven's Coriolan Ouverture, Mozart's 21st piano concerto in C Major, and Haydn's 99th symphony in B flat Major. Solo piano Prof. Frank Peter, direction Aristides Strongylis.
May & June 2019 :: Premiere of PNOE :: Commissioned by MDR Klassik
The piece entitled PNOE, commissioned by broadcaster MDR Klassik, is premiered in a school tour by MDR symphony orchestra under Leipzig University musical director David Timm. Each school class gets its own part within the orchestra, partly composed and partly improvised. Classes from several Saxon cities were involved in this project.
Watch the short and lively video with MDR broadcaster.
:: Directing Chamber Orchestra Musica Viva ::
Since December 2018, Aristides has been directing the chamber orchestra Musica Viva. The lay orchestra of 25 members meets weekly at the Leipzig Buddehaus (Thu 8:30pm-10pm). On March 16, a first concerts performance took place, featuring works by Rossini, Grieg, Bizet and Isaac Albeniz. In fall 2019, the 25th anniversary of the orchestra will be celebreated with a big concert. Stay tuned for more!
New members welcome: Musica Viva's website.
May 23rd :: KLANGRADAR :: National Competition of netzwerk junge ohren
Within the project Klangradar (sound radar) by network junge ohren, Aristides is directing a compositorial workshop, this year taking place on a national scale for the first time. In the 5th grade of Leipzig's Montessori school center, 26 students of music teacher Klaudia Löffler will work on their own sound scapes with Aristides. On May 23rd, the results will be performed in Berlin with four other schools. The audience can look forward to experimental sounds and amazing community compositions!
May 12 :: Premiere of KlangWerkRaum :: Gewandhaus
A new format in musical outreach is happening at the Leipzig Gewandhaus this season. The workshop called KlangWerkRaum includes musical enthusiasts from ages 18 to 99 who try their talents at composing music! The three resulting pieces of music are premiered on May 12 at the Gewandhaus by seven participants and three Gewandhaus musicians, right after Bruckner's fifth symphony at around 11am. A short presentatio nof the project will follow at 12.30pm (In the photo: KlangWerkRaum members and Maestro Andris Nelsons).
March 2019 :: Invent Your Own Music :: Bildungscampus forum thomanum
This compositorial workshop for children and young music enthusiasts ages 9 to 19 will take place from March 15 to 17, 2019 (for the fifth time!). Professional musicians and composers will introduce the children to composing their own music. In several workshops, ideas and musical sketches will be sung, discussed, modified and re-interpreted. The participants will learn technical details and how to develop a musical composition - this time for soprano, baritone, bass clarinet and piano.
Youtube Channel
Aristides' Youtube channel features works, concerts and projects. You can even subscribe to the channel and keep up with all the news. Come visit!
Mentoring program of the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre
The Leipzig University of Music and Theatre has started a mentoring program, m-Arts, offering students individual coaching to enhance their professional careers, including a workshop program. Within this program, Aristides will mentor the pianist, composer and répétiteuse Elena Postumi this year.
Music goes graphic in Saxony-Anhalt
To introduce children playfully to the world of musical composition is the goal of workshops under supervision of Aristides and Susanne Zeh-Voß at the Pestalozzi elementary school in Zschornewitz and the elementary school Prinzess Ilse at Isenburg/ Harz. Pupils could first hear and see, then improvise and design how graphic art may sound and how music can be notated graphically. More on the project by Musikalisches Kompetenzzentrum Sachsen-Anhalt in the project's brochure (German, pdf).
:: Archive 2018 ::
Commissioned work for Gewandhaus at Leipzig :: First performance March 3rd, 2018
In 2018, the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra is celebrating it's 275th season. To commemorate this occasion, Aristides Stronglyis was invited to compose a piece for orchestra. The work entitled "Angels of Hope" will be premiered on March 3rd, 2018, by the Gewandhaus orchestra under Andris Nelsons. The concert is scheduled for 4pm at the grand concert hall.
More at the Gewandhaus concert schedule.
The Leipziger Volkszeitung (LVZ) on the world premiere:
Strongylis has the big breath for storytelling in sound. His sound-poem (after Rilke) is complex but understandable, full of feeling and sensual, shimmering and exotic yet romantically grounded. It provides the large orchestral gesture of understandable material, is rhythmically thrilling and exceptionally orchestrated. It's easy to compare music with “grand gestures“ to film scores, but Strongylis' sounds need no screen. They make the pictures move in your mind.Nelsons... takes the score serious, develops magnificent sounds with the orchestra, marvelous melodies, liturgical incantations, gentle sweeps and provocative dances. The score doesn’t care about schools or dogmas but, rather blatantly, aims straight at the listener's heart and soul, and not just of the children. And there is enough for the mind, too.
Full concert critique by Peter Korfmacher (pdf file)
October 30 :: Guest Lecture at Leipzig University
On 30th of October Aristides will talk about his own compositions at the Department of Musicology of Leipzig University. The guest lecture begins at 3pm at Städtisches Kaufhaus (room 302).
"Adonai! Kyrie! Lord! Herr!" :: Composition for Leipzig Synagogalchor
Comissioned by Reinhard Riedel for the Leipziger Synagogalchor (the Leipzig Synagogue Choir), Aristides newest composition entitled "Adonai! Kyrie! Lord! Herr!" is inspired by Psalm 92, lauding the Lord on a Sabbath. The piece will most likely be premiered on Nov 9, 2019, at St Thomas church in Leipzig.
Youtube Channel
Aristides' Youtube channel features works, concerts and projects. You can even subscribe to the channel and keep up with all the news. Come visit!
New Agent & Artist of the Month April 2018 :: Konzertbüro Andreas Braun
As of April 2018, the agent for Aristides Strongylis' compositorial work is Cologne-based Konzertbüro Andreas Braun, who has just made him 'artist of the month'. Please find all their details on our → contact page.
Teaching at the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre
Starting in summer semester 2018, Aristides will be lecturer at the Music Conservatory HMT Leipzig "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy", teaching elementary composition and composing for elementary schools at the Institut für Musikpädagogik - Fakultät III.
May 3rd at MDR TV :: Händel Workshop with MDR Sinfonieorchester
In early 2018, Leipzig pupils from Gymnasium Telemannstraße and Neue Nikolaischule joined in a compositorial experiment. Inspired by the subject "water", the pieces "Soda Water" (6th grade Telemann Gymnasium) and "Energy Water" (7th grade Neue Nikolaischule) premieder alongside the MDR Symphony Orchestra at the Augustsplatz concert hall on February 7th and 8th, 2018. On May 3rd, MDR television will broadcast two short features on the workshops with Aristides, also available on the network's website.
Sign up until June 30 :: KlangWerkRaum - Gewandhaus
A new format in musical outreach will start a
t the Leipzig Gewandhaus next season. The workshop called KlangWerkRaum invites musical enthusiasts from ages 18 to 99 to try their talents at composing music! A weekly group workshop (90 minutes) starting in October 2018 will cover the subjects of making music yourself, elementary composition, and a public presentation of the results at the Gewandhaus. You can register until June 30 with
Marina Dietze, impuls@gewandhaus.de. More information in the project flyer (German).
Mentoring program of the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre
The Leipzig University of Music and Theatre has started a mentoring program, m-Arts, offering students individual coaching to enhance their professional careers, including a workshop program. Within this program, Aristides will mentor the Italian pianist and teacher Francesco Pulga this year.
June 16 & September 15 :: How to Make Wood Happy - Workshop & Concert
In this Gewandhaus project, young people from Leipzig's neighborhood Grünau work with Aristides on creating their own compositions on Orffian and regular musical instruments. Two groups from the Montessori school and the youth centre Grünau each work on a piece that the composer then arranges for Gewandhaus musicians to perform in the final concert. The two pieces will be the finishing part of "How to Make Wood Happy", representing modernity in a series on the history of music, to be performed on June 16, 2018, at the auditorium of the Montessori Schulzentrum, and at the Mendelssohn hall of the Gewandhaus on September 15, 2018.
Music goes graphic in Saxony-Anhalt
To introduce children playfully to the world of musical composition is the goal of workshops under supervision of Aristides and Susanne Zeh-Voß at the Pestalozzi elementary school in Zschornewitz and the elementary school Prinzess Ilse at Isenburg/ Harz. Pupils could first hear and see, then improvise and design how graphic art may sound and how music can be notated graphically. More on the project by Musikalisches Kompetenzzentrum Sachsen-Anhalt in the project's brochure (German, pdf).
:: Archive 2017 ::
September 22-24, 2017 :: Composition Competion - 12th Festival Classic for Kids
In the twelveth year of the festival Classic for Kids (Klassik für Kinder), young composers were again called upon to hand in own compositions. This year's specification asked for songs or pieces for baritone, violin, violincello or piano, to lyrics of or inspired by German romanticism. On September 23rd, the winning compositions were premiered in a concert, together with the narration "Der geheimnisvolle Koffer" (the mysterious suitcase) by Detlef Gohlke, with the children's choir of forum thomanum elementary school and the children's circus group Cirque de l' Èglise. Congratulations to all winners!
WANTED: Kids and Teens for Composition Workshop in March 2017
Young composers wanted! Invent Your Own Music on the Education Campus of forum thomanum. This composition workshop is aimed at children and young people ages nine to nineteen who are interested in music. It will be held in Leipzig for the fourth time from March 17 to 19, 2017. Professional musicians and composers are going to introduce the children to composing their own music, this time for piano, violin, violinvcello and baritone voice.
Watch our video presenting this unique approach (in German):
Interested Kids and their parents can fill in the application form and send it to forum thomanum Leipzig e.V. before March 3rd, 2017. Participation is free, but the number of participants is limited to twelve.
:: Archive 2016 ::
December 17, 2016 :: Viola concert with Ulrich von Wrochem in Athens/ Greece
On December 17, .2016 the violist Ulrich von Wrochem is going to perform a solo concert at the Protestant Church of Athens, Greece. The concert will begin at 8pm and will feature, among other pieces, Aristides Strongylis' composition Zwischen Tier und Gott for solo viola.
For details, see the concert program (pdf, German only).
September 23-25, 2016: Composition Competition at Classic for Kids
Also in the eleventh year of the festival Classic for Kids (Klassik für Kinder), young composers were called upon to hand in own composition for a competition. This year's specification asked for composing a piece of three to eight minutes for voice and clarinet or piano. On Saturday 24 September, the young composers could rehearse their pieces before the final concert, together with puppet theater. More information can be found on the website of website of the competition. Congratulations to all winners!
August 1-15, 2016: Summer Academy of Early Music Studies (IFF) Hanover
At the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, children who are gifted for music can start studying music in a university environment even before graduating from high school - at the Institute for Early Support of the Musically Gifted (Institut zur Früh-Förderung musikalisch Hochbegabter, IFF). The Summer Academy is the highlight of this study programme, and Aristides Strongylis will again be teaching composition there this year. The young students, aged fourteen to nineteen, are going to try their hands at composition, improvisation, voice/singing, body work and Qigong at the Schloss Landestrost retreat, located in the countryside near Neustadt am Rübenberge, in mid-August.
WANTED: Participants for Composition Workshop in March 2016
Young composers wanted! Invent Your Own Music on the Education Campus of forum thomanum. This composition workshop is aimed at children and young people ages eight to eighteen who are interested in music and will be held in Leipzig for the third time from March 11 to 13, 2016. Professional musicians and composers will introduce the children to composing their own music. Watch a video presenting this unique approach:
The resulting compositions will be presented live of stage of March 18, 2016 (details tba).
Please contact forum thomanum Leipzig e.V. if you or your children are interested in participating.
January 20, 2016 :: European Premiere of 125 Party Pieces
125 prominent contemporary composers, among them Aristides Strongylis, were invited by Forum Zeitgenössischer Musik Leipzig (FZML) to compose a collective work called Party Pieces. The resulting piece, the largest ever composed collective musical work, will see its European premiere in Leipzig on January 20, 2016.
:: Archive 2015 ::
September 25- 27, 2015: Composition Competition at Classic for Kids
Also in the tenth year of the festival Classic for Kids (Klassik für Kinder), young composers were called upon to hand in own composition for a competition. This year's specification asked for composing a piece of three to eight minutes for chamber choir. On Saturday 26 September, children and teenagers partaking in the competition attended a composition workshop lead by Aristides Strongylis, who was also head of the jury. The names of the five young laureates, aged ten to seventeen, can be found on the website of website of the competition. Congratulations to all!
April 24-26, 2015: Inventing Music Yourself 2015
Children and young people from ages 10 to 19 have the chance to playfully experiment with composing and inventing music themselves in a weekend workshop at Leipzig's forum thomanum. The workshop, lead by experienced composers and teachers of improvisation, takes places for the second time this year. Thanks to our sponsors, it is entirely free. The works created can be heard and seen in a workshop concert open to the public on April 26 at 2:30m at the villa thomana.
Registration and more in the flyer (pdf, German) and with forum thomanum.
:: Archive 2014 ::
"Everyone's an Artist" with project Grenzenlos (2013/14)
Grenzenlos is an international creative culture project bringing together artists from the twin cities of Leipzig and Travnik, Bosnia. The project's kick-off in 2013 will include talented people of all generations from Leipzig and Bosnia, irrespective of physical or mental abilities. Within the project frame, sustainable workshops for cultural education will be set up in Travnik, Leipzig's twin city for exactly ten years now. Phase II of the project is going to start in 2014, preparing and performing an integrative and intercultural play (working title Grenzenlos) to be staged in Leipzig, Travnik, and Sarajevo.
Participants will delve into various arts: composition, dance, voice and language, applied arts such as sculpture, comstume and stage design - true to the motto "Everyone's an artist". After the first year, they can apply for the art they feel most inclined to and want to pursue for the final play. The audience will be able to see the result on stage in 2014.
Partnering institutions:
Leipzig Ballett - Gewandhaus zu Leipzig -
Förderschule für Körperbehinderte "Albert Schweitzer" Leipzig -
Petrischule Leipzig
Various Artists (for composition: Aristides Strongylis)
Februar 24-28, 2014: Grenzenlos in England
The Grenzenlos project goes to England: From February 24 to 28, Rémy Fichet of the Leipzig Ballett, Ulrike Bernard, head of Leipzig's Haus Steinstraße, and Aristides Strongylis were guests of the Oasis Academy, an inclusive academy for children aged between 11 and 19 with roughly 2,000 pupils on the Isle of Sheppey. As part of the project, there was a composition and a dance workshop for the pupils. The highlight was the public performance of a piece that the pupils had composed and choreographed themselves, to be seen live at the academy's theatre under the direction of Rémy Fichet and Aristides Strongylis. Everyone involved can be very proud of this fine achievement!
April 11-13, 2014: Composition workshop at forum thomanum
Coached by Christoph Göbel, Christian FP Kram, Manuel Schubrow, and Aristides Strongylis, children and teenagers aged eight to eighteen have been creating and inventing their own music. Playful and spontaneous, they sung, instrumented, and ultimately also performed the resulting composition on Sunday the 13th at the villa thomana. For some participants, the workshop was was also a good preparation for the 9th composition competition for children and youth which will take place as part of the Leipzig music festival Klassik für Kinder.
More at the forum thomanum.
June 20 and 23, 2014: Finale of Project Grenzenlos
The month of June sees the finale of Project Grenzenlos (see above): The intercultural play developed and composed together by Leipzig and Bosnian youth and artists within the project will be performed at the Leipzig opera on June 20th and 23rd, 2014 (and in Sarajevo on September 29 and October 4). The entrance is free for all under 18 years; adults pay 3 Euro.
More at the website of Leipzig Opera.
:: Archive 2013 ::
February 3-8, 2013 :: 7th TheaterLab for Kids
In Search of Growth is the motto of the 7th TheaterLab for kids ages ten to twelve at the Leipzig Theater der Jungen Welt, this time in co-operation with the Botanical Garden of Leipzig University. How is a musical play devised? How to plot out a story? What kind of fuel does a drama scene need? And how do plants manage growing, actually? These and other questions will be tackled by the kids in this workshop together with actor and director Pierre Niemann, composer Aristides Strongylis, the Hamburg drama author Carsten Brandau, and an expert gardner of the Botanical Garden. On top of it all, there will be a rallye through the theater buildling of Theater der Jungen Welt, including watching a performance of "The Shoes that were Danced to Pieces" („Die zertanzten Schuhe“).
More at the website of Theater der Jungen Welt
February 8-10, 2013 :: Winter Academy of Early Music Studies
At the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, children who are gifted for music can start studying music in a university environment even before graduating from high school - at the Institute for Early Support of the Musically Gifted (Institut zur Früh-Förderung musikalisch Hochbegabter, IFF). After the IFF Summer Academy at Schloß Landestrost, there will now be the VIFF-Winter Academy 2013 at Landesmusikakademie Niedersachsen in Wolfenbüttel. VIFF is the very early studies program that allows gifted children ages nine to thirteen to get into an early university studies' program. At the Winter Academy, they can try their hands at composition, improvisation, voice/singing, rhythm/dance, and chamber music.
June 13-14, 2013 :: 6th Conference "Kinder zum Olymp!" at Hanover
Kinder zum Olymp! (Children to Olympus!), the educational action group of the German Endowment for Culture (Kulturstiftung der Länder), will hold its sixth annual conference at Hanover, entitled "Perfect? Discussing the Quality of Cultural Education of Children and Youth". Aristides Strongylis will be on the panel "Either Or? Artists as Cultural Mediators" (Forum 7, June 13, 2:30pm-6:30h). The conference is a platform for exchanging ideas on method and content in practical work in cultural education. The estimated over 500 attendants will be professionals from kindergartens and schools, from federal and national institutions, as well as artists, professionals from cultural centers, universites, and music academies.
More at the website of the initiative "Kinder zum Olymp!"
July 5, 2013 :: Project shows Ways to Wagner
In 2011, the city of Leipzig founded the sustainable network Kultur und Schule together with six Leipzig cultural venues and secondary schools. A newcomer to the project is Nachbarschaftsschule Leipzig, which will now co-operate with Leipzig Opera in the project Paths to Wagner (Wege zu Wagner), the composer born in Leipzig 200 years ago. The opera's drama teacher Dr. Heidi Zippel and composer Aristides Strongylis will guide the children on this interesting venture. The result will be staged at Leipzig City Hall on July 5th, 2013.
Documentation of Netzwerk Kultur und Schule 2012 as pdf file (German)
August 21 - September 22, 2013 :: Party Pieces - Exhibition at Leipzig
Under the title Party Pieces Project, the festival Cage100 started a unique composition project: over 125 composers from Germany and the US - one of them Aristides Strongylis - composed five bars for the piece. Yet each knew only the last bar before his and the piece's instrumentation. The scores of the collaborative work that thus ensued are on display at the Leipzig Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst (GfzK) until September 22nd, when they will continue on to New York. More on the website of GfzK.
September 28, 2013 :: Studio concert of children's compositions
As part of the festival Klassik für Kinder (Classics for Kids), there will again be a composition competition for children and young people. The best pieces will be premiered at the festival. This year, also the other pieces will be performed before the main concerts, with the young composers present! The concerts are a co-operation with German broadcaster MDR's youth program CLARA, and the broadcaster's brass ensemble will act as "artist in residence" of the festival. The full program - in German - can be found on the festival's website. Venue is the "Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche" at Leipzig, Tröndlinring 7.
All young composers are very much looking forward to see you!
October 2, 2013 :: Vernissage and performance
At the October 2nd opening of a Leipzig exhibition with works of Swiss artist Beat Toniolo, composer Aristides Strongylis and violincellist Rebekka Riedel wird be present for an unusual musical performance inspired by art and vinyl records. Come and see!
"Kopfzentrum", Fichtestr. 9, Leipzig, from 6pm.
October 11-13, 2013 :: Thomana composing
The world famous St. Thomas boys' choir, the Thomaner, invite children of all ages to a weekend workshop on composition and music-inventing. Aristides Strongylis and four other expert instructors will show kids how to put musical ideas into real music in various workshops and concerts. The workshop is free of charge, but registration required. For more, see the website of forum thomanum.
Villa Thomana, Bachstr. 3, Leipzig.
October 17, 2013 :: Party Pieces - World premiere at New York
The fascinating production Party Pieces, dating back to an idea by John Cage himself, will be premiered at the New York City Miller Theatre on 17th of October, 2013. Conductor: Richard Carrick, ensemble: Either/Or. More on their website.
November 16, 2013 :: World premiere of Playback Play
On November 16, Aristides Strongylis' piece playpack play for organ and viola will be premiered at the Leipzig Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche by Christiane Bräutigam, organ, and Matthias Sannemüller, viola. The concert, scheduled to begin at 7pm, will also feature the Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein and Igor Strawinsky's Symphony of Psalms.
The History of Contemporary Greek Music
Already last year, the magazine NeaFoni published an article on the history of Greek contemporary music by Aristides Strongylis. Now the article is available online as well [German only] - enjoy and share!
:: Archive 2012 ::
April 2012: News for the Ears
New in the audio section of this website: excerpts from Aristides Strongylis' second string quartet, Troisième Hymne Delphique à Apollon - performed by Apollon Musagète Quartet in a recording for Bayrischer Rundfunk. Listen here.
June 8-9, 2012 :: Leipzig Opera I: On Gods and Heroes
In 2010, the cutting-edge music project Monsieur Matthieu, was wird? was awarded the junge ohren preis. Now the Leipzig Opera has started a new music education project together with Aristides Strongylis. Entitled “On Gods and Heroes", this programme has been tailor-made for the students of the Leipzig Filatow-School for the Blind and Vision-Impaired. The promising results and compositions will be performed at the Leipzig opera house, as part of the introduction to Classical Greek subjects in opera:
Friday, June 8, 2012, 7.30pm - Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alkestis
Saturday, June 9, 2012, 7pm - Christoph Willibald Gluck: Iphigenie in Aulis
June 22, 2012 :: Leipzig Opera II: Über-Macht
In June 2011, the city of Leipzig, six major Leipzig cultural institutions, and six secondary schools together created the Sustainable Network Culture and School. One team of this network are the Leipzig opera and the Leipzig Sports Middle School - a unique co-operation under guidance of Aristides Strongylis. The results will be shown under the heading "Über-Macht" in the opera houses' Kellertheater on Friday June 22nd, at 5pm.
July 6th, 2012 :: Cage100 kicks off world-wide
CAGE100: Commemorating the 100th anniversary of American artist and composer John Cage, the Forum Zeitgenössischer Musik Leipzig [FZML] starts a unique festival project, comprising 100 events world-wide, under the patronage of Pierre Boulez.
As part of the festival, 100 composers from Germany and the US will create a one-of-a-kind composition entitled Party Pieces, and Aristides Strongylis will be one of them. Each composer will contribute five measures (or bars), knowing only the immediate part before his section and the instrumentation of the piece. This inspiring production goes back to an idea by Maestro Cage himself and will see its world premiere in Leipzig and New York simultaneously in summer 2013.
August 27-30, 2012 :: Summer Academy of Early Music Studies
At the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, children who are gifted for music can start studying music in a university environment even before graduating from high school - at the Institute for Early Support of the Musically Gifted (Institut zur Früh-Förderung musikalisch Hochbegabter, IFF). Aristides Strongylis will teach composition at this year's Summer Academy, the yearly highlight of the course. 26 early students aged 14 to 19 will take their first compositional steps at Schloss Landestrost in Neustadt am Rübenberge, and dip into improvisation, classical voice, bodywork, and Qigong.
September 28-30, 2012 :: The 7the Festival Klassik for Kids
This year's Leipzig festival Klassik für Kinder (classical music for children) again hosted a children's competition for composing a piece of music. The best pieces will be premiered at the festival. This year not only these will be performed live before every regular concert, but there will also be a studio concert that will see the performance of all music entered in the competition! The young composers will be present to answer the audience's questions. The program can be found on the website, the festival's venue is the Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche at Leipzig, Tröndlinring 7. The young composers are waiting for you!
And here are the winners:
1st price: Maximilian Otto (14 yrs)
2nd price: Svenja Reis (12 yrs)
3rd price: Florian Schieder (10) and Paula Schwetzler (15 yrs)
:: Archive 2011 ::
January 2011 :: Listen to Looking for Apollo
On September 23rd, 2010, German radio station BR-Klassik aired a one-hour programme on and by Aristides Strongylis, "Around Apollo's Temple at Delphi - A Search for Musical Traces", illuminating the origins of his second string quartet. A full-length recording of this programme can now be listend to in our audio section, thanks to the kind permission of Bayerischer Rundfunk.
January 7, 2011 :: playback play at MDR-Figaro's "Night of Contemporary Music"
The German radio station MDR-Figaro will broadcast Aristides Strongylis' piece playback play for viola and organ (with Mathias Sannemüller, viola, and David Timm, organ) in its programme "The Night of Contemporary Music" in the early morning hours of January 7, 2011. Listeners can tune in at approximately 3:45am to enjoy the recording.
March 18, 2011 :: MDR music project BABEL at Leipzig Book Fair
In German broadcaster MDR's music project for schools, BABEL, young students playfully learn about foreign countries' music and culture as an inspiring source for their own creative projects. Around 100 students are going to present their projects' outcome at this year's Leipzig Book Fair, giving a great glimpse into their musical journey around the world in dance, music, and theater. Live on stage on March 18th at 11am, hall no. 1, Congress Centers Leipzig. Aristides Strongylis will be present with his 6th grade project at Montessori School Leipzig.
Update: Award for BABEL! In October 2011, BABEL was awarded first prize in the category "Klangfarben" of the Deutsche Musikrat competition - read more on the website of MDR-Schul-Musik network.
April 9, 2011 :: Fresh views on Fighting the Tiger
The Chinese fairy tale "Fighting the Tiger" that inspired Aristides Strongylis homonymous work for narrator, wind instruments, and percussion, will be re-interpreted by Leipzig highschool students in an interesting musical project in co-operation with Haus Steinstraße e.V. Children of Reclam Gymnasium and the youth theater group "Fallobst" are going to perform their fresh views on the Chinese tale in music, acting, and dance, and contrast it with the composer's original version. The concert at Leipzig Gewandhaus on April 9th, 2011 promises some great musical encounters. Follow the project's blog for up-to-date infos!
© Gewandhaus zu Leipzig
May 7, 2011 :: Fighting the Tiger at Haus Steinstraße
The music theater project "Fighting the Tiger", based on a Chinese tale, will be staged again at Leipzig's Haus Steinstrasse "DachTheater" on May 7, 2011. Children and teens from Leipzig schools will play music and perform in a joint effort of Haus Steinstraße e.V., Aristides Strongylis, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus. The performance is going to start at 4pm.
May 27-29, 2011 :: HEPTA - Acoustic Movement Concert - Premiere
HEPTA - Acoustic Movement Concert is an interactive encounter of contemporary music and dance. The contemporary dance company ellaH, under the direction of Anett Paschke, takes Aristides Strongylis' "The seven open Chakras of Dionysus" for solo piano as a starting point for an unusual concert performance: "The dancers will turn into compositional elements of the music, the composer and his piano will become a dancing instrument." Watch the trailer to get a glimpse of the project:
HEPTA will be premiered on May 27th, 2011, at the Theatrale at Waisenhausring 2, Halle. Further dates at the same venue are May 28th at 8pm and May 29th at 3pm. Tickets can be ordered by calling 0345-21379551 (leave a message; no recall).
Sept 9, 2011 :: Fighting the Tiger twice at "Schille" theater
The award-winning project "Der Kampf mit dem Tiger" will be staged twice at the Leipzig theater "Schille" on September 9th - at 10 and at 12am -, performed by the "music children" of Leipzig Reclam Gymnasium and the theater company Fallobst of Haus Steinstraße e.V. Tickets can be purchased at the "Schille" theater at Otto-Schill-Straße 7, rear building, right before the show.
Sept 12, 2011 :: Fighting the Tiger wins award!
The Gewandhaus project "Der Kampf mit dem Tiger" (Fighting the Tiger) is this year's winner of Germany's nation-wide contest Kinder zum Olymp for best school music project! After "The Butterfly Workshop" in 2009, this is already the second project Aristides Strongylis is involved in to be awarded this prestigious trophy. The project team of "Fighting the Tiger" will go to Berlin for the award ceremony on Sept 12th, 2011, at Berlin Konzerthaus.
Sept 24, 2011 :: HEPTA at Stellwerk Weimar
Performance on September 24th, 8pm, Stellwerk Weimar. More details at the website of Stellwerk Weimar.
September 2011 :: Fresh Strings! String quartets composed by kids
Caution with the string quartets by children at the 6th Leipzig Music Festival for Children - they are fresh!! Kids aged 10 to 14 will color the program of the festival with fresh paint - or, fresh string quartets. The audience has the chance to hear these pieces for the very first time before every concert of the festival. The string quartets will be performed on the organ loft of the evangelisch-reformierte Kirche at Leipzig - so watch out for fresh strings!
Sept 23-25, 2011 :: Children's Composition Competion at Klassik für Kinder
As part of the Leipzig festival Klassik für Kinder, a composition competition for children aged 0-15 is open for entries until September 8th. Children interested in music can send in a piece for chamber orchestra or can orchestrate one of two pieces to choose from. The jury, consisting of David Timm, musical director of Leipzig University, the church musician and festival director Christiane Bräutigam, and Aristides Strongylis, is then going to choose the best pieces to be premiered at the festival. Festival venue is the Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche at Leipzig, Tröndlinring 7.
October 8/9, 2011 :: HEPTA at Kannawurf Castle
Two more performances of HEPTA - Acoustic Movement Concert featuring the contemporary dance company ellaH will be staged at Thuringian Kannawurf Castle on Oktober 8th, 2011, at 7.30pm, and October 9th, at 3pm. Cannawurf Castle, a Thuringian artists' residence, is located just south of Bad Frankenhausen, Sömmerda county. More details at the website of Kannawurf Castle.
October 2011 :: Agent for music projects with children and young people
As of now, Claudia Weber, Culture and Marketing (Cologne), represents Aristides Strongylis' musical and educational activities with young people - nationally and internationally. For Leipzig projects, get in touch with the composer himself (see contact).
Nov 3rd, 2011 :: HEPTA at Impuls Festival Halle
On November 3rd, the musical dance project HEPTA - Acoustic Movement Concert, featuring Tanztheater ellaH, will be part of Halle's Impuls Festival. Venue is the Theater Magdeburg, starting time is 7.30pm.
Nov 11, 2011 :: Second string quartet at BR-Klassik
Aristides Strongylis' second string quartet Troisième Hymne Delphique à Apollon will be broadcast in BR-Klassik's program Horizonte on November 17, starting at 10:05pm.
:: Archive 2010 ::
Feb-March 2010 :: Second String quartet in ensemble
The German music magazine ensemble portrays Aristides Strongylis' second string quartet Troisième Hymne Delphique à Apollon in its current number (1/2010) under the heading "Das Neue Werk" (The New Work, p. 68f.). Apart from an in-depth discussion of the piece, the article also contains several excerpts of sheet-music. Moreover, its author Manuel Rösler reflects on an interesting aspect of the string quartet: "We remember Nietzsche, who opposed the Apollonian to the Dionysian element to describe opposed characters in art. This music thus seems to pose the question of what might be the Apollonian in art", to then conclude: "... a joyful play with colors and tones".
23.02.2010 :: Second String Quartet to be recorded
After its premiere on February 20, 2010, Troisème Hymne Delphique à Apollon will be recorded in the studios of German radio broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk on 23rd of February, equally played by the Apollon Musagète Quartet. The recording will be broadcasted in September 2010 on BR Klassik radio.
20.02.2010 :: Troisième Hymne Delphique à Apollon premiered in Austria
The Apollon Musagète Quartet is going to perform the premiere of Aristides Strongylis' second string quartet Troisième Hymne Delphique à Apollon at Amstetten, Austria. The concert in Amstetten's Johann-Pölz-Halle starts at 7.30pm, and the composer will give an introduction to his work before the performance from 6.30 to 7pm.
30.04.2010 :: Musinnale 3.0 in Leipzig's Westwerk
On April 30th, 2010 at 7pm, the public is invited to the opening of the art-and-music project Musinnale 3.0 at Leipzig' Westwerk venue. Latecomers will have another chance to see the works of art and performances on May 1st from 2-6pm. More on the Musinnale on the project page.
28.05.2010 :: First concert of children's composition classes
For the first time, children of the composition courses under the direction of Aristides Strongylis will be performing their works in public. The concert on Friday May 28th, 2010, will take place at 7pm at the Schumannsaal of Leipzig's Schumannhaus (Inselstraße 18). Admission free!
20.06.2010 :: Monsieur Mathieu - Children's Choir Project
On June 20th 2010, the children's education project "Monsieur Mathieu, what will be?“ will be premiered at the Leipzig opera – an acted-out musical answer to the 2004 French film "The Chorus". In this project, socially and/or physically challanged children from several Leipzig schools have devised their own play together with the opera's children's choir and the Gewandhaus orchestra, staging a very personal reaction to the film in music and acting.
13.07.2010 :: Second String Quartet pre-broadcast on BR Klassik radio
The German radio Bayerischer Rundfunk will pre-broadcast the recording of Aristides Stronyglis' second string quartet Troisième Hymne Delphique à Apollon in its late-night chamber music programme. Tune in to BR Klassik on July 13th after 10pm to listen to the recording with the Apollon Musagète Quartet.
23.09.2010 :: "Around Apollo's Temple at Delphi" - A Search for Musical Traces with Aristides Strongylis at BR-Klassik Radio
The composer will present history and origins of his second string quartet in this radio program on September 23rd, 2010. Hatto Beyerle, head of ECMA, the European Chamber Music Association, "baptized" the Polish string quartet winning the 2008 ARD competition "Apollon Musagète Quartet" and commissioned Strongylis to compose a piece on Apollo, the Greek God of the arts, for the quartet. The program will also feature some research on location, the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, ancient Greek music, an interview with Hatto Beyerle, and last not least the composer speaking about his relation to this God of the arts. On air on BR-Klassik September 23rd, 2010, 9-10pm.
24.-26.09.2010 :: Children's Composition Competion at Klassik für Kinder
As part of the Leipzig festival Klassik für Kinder, a composition competition for children aged 0-15 is open for entries until September 14th. Children interested in music can send in a piece for chamber orchestra or can orchestrate one of three pieces to choose from. The jury, consisting of Howard Arman, head of the MDR choir, the church musician Christiane Bräutigam, and Aristides Strongylis, is then going to choose the three best pieces to be premiered at the festival. Read more on the festival's website.
06.11.2010 :: Zwischen Tier und Gott at Chur (CH)
The violist Kathrin von Cube is going to perform Aristides Strongylis' piece for viola solo, Zwischen Tier und Gott, at Chur, Switzerland, on November 6th, 2010. The concert at the Chur Museum will be part of the series of chamber music concerts by Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden and will begin at 8pm.
18.11.2010 :: Monsieur Mathieu gets junge ohren price 2010
The children's education project Monsieur Mathieu, was wird? was awarded a second price by the network junge ohren! The choir project with Leipzig children from various social and educational backgrounds (composition workshops: Aristides Strongylis) received a price in the "Best Practice" category. Learn more about this project of the Leipzig Opera house on the projects' page.
08.12.2010 :: History of Greek Music in Leipzig
On December 8, 2010, Aristides Strongylis will talk about the "History of Modern Greek Classical Music - from Antiquity to Today" and within this also give a glimpse of his own work. The association for the Town Twinning of Leipzig and Thessaloniki cordially invites to the event at the Leipzig Europahaus (map) at 7pm.
:: Archive 2009 ::
January 22nd, 2009 :: The Oracle at the Munich Gasteig
"New Greek Music at Munich": in Munich's Gasteig concert hall, Aristides Strongylis' piece Das Orakel [The Oracle] for harp and clarinet will be performed by ensemble oktopus on January 22nd, 2009. Among works by Anastasios Mitropoulos, Georgia Spiropoulos and Minas Borboudakis, this concert night under the direction of Konstantia Gourzi will also include the first performance of two pieces by Dimitri Terzakis.
March 3rd, 2009 :: The glassy apple at Leipzig
Greek! is the title of a Leipzig concert night featuring Greek contemporary music on March 3rd, 2009. The MDR symphony orchestra is going to perform, among other pieces, Aristides Strongylis' The glassy apple (Der gläserne Apfel) for string orchestra and CD (2008 version). In the concert conducted by Florian Ludwig at MDR Studio Hall, the audience is also going to hear works by Dimitri Terzakis, Minas Borboudakis, Athanasia Tzanou and Konstantia Gourzi.
On Air: MDR Figaro will broadcast a live recording of this concert on March 19, 2009 at 8pm.
May 2009 :: "The Butterfly Workshop" wins national award
The musical theater project "Die Werkstatt der Schmetterlinge" (The Butterfly Workshop), a stage production by children of Leipzig's Clara Schumann school based on a book by Gioconda Belli, was awarded first prize in the German contest "Kinder zum Olymp"! This national contest by the German Endowment for Culture (Kulturstiftung der Länder) encourages children to show creativity and explore their cultural potential. 60 children from Clara Schumann elementary school staged not only the play at Leipzig's Centraltheater but also wrote the musical score for it, under the direction of Aristides Strongylis. The first prize was awarded to the "Butterfly Workshop" in the category grades 1-4 (elementary schools). Check the "Projects" page for more!
September 27, 2009 :: Preview of playback play
A preview of playback play for viola and organ can be heard on September 27, 2009 during the Waldshut International Week of Organ Music. At the Versöhnungskirche in Waldshut-Tiengen Patrick Jüdt, viola, and Trude Klein, organ, are going to perform a preview as a part of a festival morning service (10.15am).
12.12.2009 :: Greek Christmas on German TV
On German MDR television's Christmas programme Aristides Strongylis will talk with host Katrin Weber about Christmas traditions in Greece and present his arrangement of a Greek Christmas Carol. The piece will be sung by Ensemble Enchore Leipzig under the direction of Andreas Mitschke.
:: Archive 2008 ::
February 12, 2008 :: Between Beast and God at Saarbrücken
With violist Tatjana Masurenko as soloist, Zwischen Tier und Gott [Between Beast and God] will be performed at the Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken on February 12, 2008. The concert will be broadcast live on SR 2 KulturRadio.
March 16, 2008 :: about energy at Athens
The Orchestra of Colours will be performing Aristides Strongylis’ work about energy at the Athens Benaki Museum on March 16, 2008, under the direction of Miltos Logiadis.
April 17, 2008 :: about energy at Munich
The Munich ensemble oktopus under its artistic director Prof. Konstantia Gourzi will play about energy, on April 17, 2008, at 8pm. The concert entitled “Young Conductors – Contemporary Composers” will be conducted by Michail Papapetrou, Johannes X. Schachtner, and Hildegard Schön.
April 27, 2008 :: Conference "Music Moving Children“
In a talk at the conference of baden-wurttemberg State Acedemy Ochsenhausen „Musik bewegt Kinder (Music Moving Children)", Aristides Strongylis will be presenting the subject "Composition for children", illustrating the subject's specific structures.
May 23, 2008 :: Konzerthaus Berlin :: Die Zeit des Narziss
At the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Iturriaga Quartet will be performing Die Zeit des Narziss [Narcissus' Time] on May 23rd. The concert will be part of the series "Studio Neue Musik", including works of Manfred Trojahn, Peter Weirauch, Karl Heinz Wahren and Gabriel Iranyi.
June 15, 2008 :: Narzissus in France
In June, Die Zeit des Narziss [Narcissus' Time] will be performed in France for the first time. In a concert at the church Chapelle Notre-Dame de L'île at Luzech (département Lot, Midi-Pyrénées), the Iturriaga Quartet will be playing Aristides Strongylis' most often performed string quartet.
July 14-17, 2008 :: Recording of playback play
Aristides Strongylis' work playback play for viola and organ will be recorded at the church of Polditz (Saxony) on July 14-17. Performing artists will be David Timm, musical director of Leipzig university, at the Ladegast organ (completed in 1868) of the Polditz church, and Matthias Sannemüller, solo violist of the MDR symphony orchestra. The work has been commissioned and will be produced by the radio station MDR-Figaro.
July 26, 2008 :: Narcissus in France again
After its first perfomance in France in June, the string quartet Die Zeit des Narziss will again be heard by French audiences in July, this time at the Festival Autour du Quatuor at Olargues. The piece will be performed by the Iturriaga Quartet.
December 28, 2008 :: Fighting the Tiger at Athens
December 28, 2008, will see the performance of Aristides Strongylis' Der Kampf mit dem Tiger [Fighting the Tiger] - a Chinese fairy tale for ensemble - by members of the Orchestra of Colours. The concert at the Athens' Benaki Museum will be directed by Miltos Logiadis.
:: Archive 2007 ::
July 1, 2007 :: Narcissus in Spain
The Iturriaga Quartet will be performing Aristides Strongylis' string quartet Die Zeit des Narziss [Narcissus' Time] in Spain at the international Granada Festival on July 1st, 2007, and in Cadiz on July 3rd. This will be the first time that this work is being heard in Spain.