Alexis Agrafiotis (born 1970) is a German-Greek composer, conductor and pianist.

Life

Alexis Agrafiotis was born the son of conductor Dimitris Agrafiotis and Evangelia Syngelakis. Soon after his birth in Salzburg, the family moved to Reutlingen, where his father became principal conductor of the . In 1978, the family moved to

Ettlingen Ettlingen (; South Franconian: ''Eddlinge'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about south of the city of Karlsruhe and approximately from the border with Lauterbourg, in France's Bas-Rhin department. Ettlingen is the second largest tow ...

, where he attended primary school and the Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium Ettlingen. He attended the last two years of secondary school at the German School of Athens (Abitur 1989). He graduated in piano at the Athens Conservatory "Athenaeum" and studied Orchestra Conducting with

Uros Lajovic The Uru or Uros ( ure, Qhas Qut suñi) are an indigenous people of Bolivia. They live on an approximate and still growing 120 self-fashioned floating islands in Lake Titicaca near Puno. They form three main groups: the Uru-Chipaya, Uru-Murat ...

and Composition with

Erich Urbanner Erich Urbanner (born 26 March 1936) is an Austrian composer and teacher. Biography Born in Innsbruck, Urbanner studied from 1955 to 1961 at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, in the composition classes of Karl Schiske and Hanns ...

(magister artium 1995 and 1996) at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

. He attended courses with

Roland Seiffarth Roland Seiffarth (born 1940 in Drebach) is a German opera conductor. He studied at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig and was engaged in 1963 as Solo repetitor, later as '' Kapellmeister'' at the Leipzig Opera. He made his conducting d ...

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös ( hu, Eötvös Péter, ; born 2 January 1944) is a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher. Eötvös was born in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, then part of Hungary, now Romania. He studied composition in Budapest and Colog ...

and

Karl Österreicher Karl Österreicher (3 January 1923 – 11 March 1995) was an Austrian conductor and music teacher. Life Born in Rohrbach an der Gölsen, Lower Austria, Austrian studied clarinet as well as conducting with Hans Swarowsky, later also with Alfr ...

and was assistant to

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City, ...

, Rüdiger Bohn and

Hans Drewanz Hans Drewanz (2 December 1929 – 22 June 2021) was a German conductor and academic teacher. He was the Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of Darmstadt for more than three decades, shaping musical life in the town especially at the Staatstheater Darmstad ...

. Stations as a solo répétiteur and conductor took him to the theatres in

Görlitz Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, the Zeitgenössische Oper Berlin and the

Theater Bielefeld The Bielefeld Opera is the venue of Städtische Bühnen Bielefeld (Municipal stages Bielefeld) in Bielefeld, Germany. It is a ''Dreisparten Haus'' (three-department house), offering plays, music (opera, musical theatre), and ballet. The main per ...

. From 2011 to 2017 he was engaged as director of studies and ''

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' at the

Mainfranken Theater Würzburg Mainfranken Theater Würzburg is a theatre in Würzburg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most popu ...

. Since December 2017, he has been engaged as solo répétiteur and conductor at the

Staatstheater Braunschweig The Staatstheater Braunschweig is a theatre company and opera house in Braunschweig, Germany, presenting and producing music theatre (opera, operetta, musical), Tanztheater, theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences and concerts. The ''Staatstheate ...

. As a guest conductor, he has worked with the

Tonkünstler Orchestra The Tonkunstler Orchestra (German: ''Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich'', ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna and Sankt Pölten, Lower Austria. Origin of the name The orchestra's name has its origins in the ''Tonkünstler-Soziet� ...

of Lower Austria, the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra (Czech Republic), the Philharmonic Orchestra of Győr (Hungary), the Prussian Chamber Orchestra of Prenzlau and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Cities of Ulm and Lübeck, and is guest conductor of all the major orchestras in Greece: Thessaloniki City Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Orchestra, Athens State Orchestra, Athens Radio Orchestra and Athens National Opera. From 2006 to 2007 he was chief conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the city of

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

in Greece. He is also active in teaching: From 2004 to 2006 he held teaching posts at the conservatoires in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

(vocal department) and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

(opera studio), again in Bremen from 2007 to 2011 and from WS 2012/13 at the

Hochschule für Musik Würzburg The Hochschule für Musik Würzburg (University of Music Würzburg) was founded in 1797 by Franz Joseph Fröhlich as Collegium musicum academicum (Academic college of music). From 1921 to 1973, it was named Bayerisches Staatskonservatorium der Mu ...

. Αs a pianist he has performed concertos by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...

and

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

''(Burleske)'', among others. He has simultaneously conducted the piano concertos of

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

and

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...

''(Concertino)'' from the piano. He is also active as a

Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

accompanist. His oeuvre includes

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, vocal music, works for orchestra (including two piano concertos) and theatre music. In Baden-Baden he had a working residency at the Brahmshaus. He is a member of the Greek Composers' Association. One focus of his work is contemporary music. As a conductor, he has repeatedly conducted concerts exclusively of

Neue Musik Neue Musik (English ''new music'', French ''nouvelle musique'') is the collective term for a wealth of different currents in composed Western art music from around 1910 to the present. Its focus is on compositions of 20th century music. It is char ...

with the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, the Athens Radio Orchestra, the Greek Ensemble of Contemporary Music, the Ensemble of the

University of the Arts Bern __NOTOC__ The University of the Arts Bern (german: Hochschule der Künste Bern) is an art school with locations in Bern and Biel/Bienne. It was created in 2003 from the merger of the University of Music and Theatre and the School of Design, Art and ...

and the German-Polish Ensemble in Schloss Trebnitz under the auspices of the German Music Council. He had the musical and scenic direction in productions with works by

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer. Biography Kagel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had fled from Russia in the 1920s . He studied music, his ...

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, pain ...

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

and

Jani Christou Jani Christou ( el, Γιάννης Χρήστου, Giánnīs Chrī́stou; 8 or 9 January 1926 – 8 January 1970) was a Greek composer. There is some disagreement about Christou's birth, the date of which is given by some authorities as 8 Januar ...

. Agrafiotis was responsible for the musical rehearsal of important works of the new music theatre, including compositions by

Salvatore Sciarrino Salvatore Sciarrino (born 4 April 1947) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. Described as "the best-known and most performed Italian composer" of the present day, his works include ''Quaderno di strada'' (2003) and ''La porta d ...

, Sir

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

Hans Zender Johannes Wolfgang Zender (22 November 1936 – 22 October 2019) was a German conductor and composer. He was the chief conductor of several opera houses, and his compositions, many of them vocal music, have been performed at international festival ...

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

Aulis Sallinen Aulis Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". Sallinen ...

, Christian Jost,

Reinhard Febel Reinhard Febel (born 3 July 1952) is a German composer, notable for his operas. He is also a music theorist and a university professor at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover and the Mozarteum. Career Febel was born in Metzinge ...

, Anno Schreier and Alois Bröder.

Work

* Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1994), commissioned by Athens Radio. * Chamber Concerto for Piano and 12 Players (1995), commissioned by the Megaron Mousikis, Athens * Symphony in one movement (1999) * Music for violoncello and 7 players (2000) * 5 Greek Dances for orchestra (2000) * 5 Songs for Tenor and Piano after Poems by

Paul Celan Paul Celan (; ; 23 November 1920 – c. 20 April 1970) was a Romanian-born German-language poet and translator. He was born as Paul Antschel to a Jewish family in Cernăuți (German: Czernowitz), in the then Kingdom of Romania (now Chernivtsi, U ...

(2002) * 8 Etudes for solo violin and CD (2003) * Trio for violoncello, flute and piano (2004) * String Quartet (2006) * "In Orientes Brand" for mixed choir a cappella after a poem by Christian Filips (2006) * "Erinnerung I" for 2 pianos (2007) * Erinnerung II" for ensemble (2008) * 3 Lieder für Mezzosopran und Ensemble3 Lieder für Mezzosopran und Ensemble
on Snaccooperative * 2 songs for baritone and piano after poems by Amal al-Jubouri (2008) * Salve Regina for four-part children's choir (2009) * 4 songs for soprano and piano after poems by

Kim Chi-ha Kim Jiha ( ko, 김지하; 4 February 1941 – 8 May 2022) was a South Korean poet and playwright.LTI Korea Author Database: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do# Biography Kim Jiha was born Kim Yeongil on 4 February 1941 in Mokpo, Jeollanam-do. ...

(2010) * 4 songs for tenor, clarinet and string quartet after poems by Dimitra Ch. Christodoulou (2012) * 4 songs for bass, oboe, clarinet, violoncello and double bass after poems by Dimitris Agrafiotis (2014)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Agrafiotis, Alexis German classical composers German male classical composers Greek classical composers 20th-century classical composers German conductors (music) Greek conductors (music) 20th-century German male classical pianists Greek classical pianists 1970 births Living people Musicians from Salzburg 21st-century German male classical pianists Musicians from Athens People from Karlsruhe (district) People from Reutlingen