In June, we celebrate the Day of the Composer. As a prelude to that, today’s episode of Contemporary Music will feature Yannis Kyriakides, the city composer of Amsterdam.
Two years ago, on the first Day of the Composer, the appointing of city composers was introduced. The small city of Goes had the honor of being the first, with Anne-Maartje Lemereis, now appointed as ‘Composer of the Fatherland’. The upcoming Day of the Composer, on 15 June, the city composer takes centre stage. We’re getting a head start on that. Last month, we heard music from Renske Vrolijk, city composer of Almere. Today, the honour goes to Yannis Kyriakides, city composer of Amsterdam.
Since Kyriakides won the Gaudeamus Award in 2000, he regularly appears in concerts. We know him from his acoustic music, his pure electronic music but especially for a combination of both: traditional instruments with live electronics, which the composer often controls himself. He has strong connections with ensembles from both the Randstad region and Brabant.
It’s not surprising then, that we at Concertzender have quite a few concerts featuring Kyriakides’ music. We had plenty to choose from. We’ve selected three pieces. First, we’ll hear him early in his career, in 2001, with his works hYDAtorizon and Affectio, performed by Anne Faulborn (harpsichord) and Ayelet Harpaz (vocals). Then we’ll hear him in 2015, by then already an established composer. Philharmonie zuidnederland premieres his work Der Komponist, with Kyriakides himself controlling the live electronics.
