Christos Hatzis ( el, Χρήστος Χατζής; born 1953) is a Juno Award-winning Greek-Canadian composer. Many of his compositions are performed internationally, and he is a professor at the Faculty of Music,

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

Early life and education

Hatzis was born in

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 ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and received his early music instruction at the Volos branch of the Hellenic Conservatory. He continued his musical studies in the United States, first at the Eastman School of Music (B.M 1976 and M.M 1977) and later at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo (Ph.D. 1982). His composition teachers include

Morton Feldman Morton Feldman (January 12, 1926 – September 3, 1987) was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School ...

Lejaren Hiller Lejaren Arthur Hiller Jr. (February 23, 1924, New York City – January 26, 1994, Buffalo, New York)Lejaren Hi ...

, Wlodzimierz Kotonski, Samuel Adler, Russell Peck,

Joseph Schwantner Joseph Clyde Schwantner (born March 22, 1943, Chicago, Illinois) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer, educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2002. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize. Schwantne ...

and Warren Benson.

Career

Hatzis immigrated to Canada in 1982 and became a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

citizen in 1985. He composed music related to Christian spirituality, particularly his Byzantine heritage, and the Canadian

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

culture. In addition to composing and teaching, Hatzis has written extensively about composition and contemporary music. He won the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music in 1996. In 1998, Hatzis received the Jean A. Chalmers National Music Award. He won two

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

in 2006, including Best Classical Composition for ''String Quartet No. I (The Awakening)'', which was recorded by the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Hatzis won another Juno in 2008 for his work ''Constantinople''; it combined music and visual media and is musically eclectic, featuring jazz, classical, and eastern elements. The work was performed at halls at Banff and Toronto during the summer and fall of 2004, to critical acclaim from the ''Toronto Star'' and the ''Calgary Herald''. ''Constantinople'' has been performed internationally. His projects include a commission from violinist

Hilary Hahn Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. She has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of contemporary classical music, and several ...

, a piece for bass clarinet, string orchestra and audio playback commissioned by Jeff Reilly, and a new work based on poems by Elizabeth Bishop, commissioned by soprano Suzie Leblanc and Symphony Nova Scotia. On 12 November 2010, Hatzis' piece ''Credo'' was performed by

George Dalaras George Dalaras ( Γιώργος Νταλάρας, 29 September 1949) is a Greek musician and singer. He is one of the most prominent figures of Greek musical culture. In October 2006, he was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Ag ...

, a popular Greek singer, and CityMusic Cleveland Orchestra in

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, desi ...

in New York. He also composed a piece for the CBC as part of a multinational Millenium Project. Hatzis composed the score for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet production ''Going Home Star''; the two-CD recording by the Winnipeg Symphony won a Juno Award in 2017. He is a member of the

Canadian Music Centre The Canadian Music Centre was founded in 1959 by a group of Canadian composers who saw a need to create a repository for Canadian music. It now holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music, and works to promote the music of its As ...

. His works are published by Promethean Editions.

Compositions

Orchestra

*Credo (2010) *Redemption: Book 1 (2009) *Mirage? (2009) *Tongues of Fire (2007) *Rebirth (2006) *Telluric Dances (2005) *Christos Anesti (2004) *Sepulcher of Life (2004) *K 627: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in F Major in the Spirit of W. A. Mozart (2003) *Light from the Cross (2002) *Pyrrichean Dances (2001) *From the Book of Job (2001) *Farewell to Bach (1998) *Confessional (1997) *Zeitgeist, (1996) *Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra (1993) *The Gouldberg Variations, 1992 *Mortiferum Fel, (1985–1990) *Omen, (1985)

Choral

*Mysterion Xenon (2012) *Psalm 91 (2008) *From the Song of Songs (2008) *WATER (2008) *Easter Kontakion (2007) *Wormwood (2005) *Four Rituals for Percussion Quintet, Choir and Audience (2004) *The Troparion of Kassiani (2004) *Sepulcher of Life (2004) *LIGHT (Arctic Dreams 2) (2003) *Everlasting Light (1999) *De Angelis (1999) *Kyrie (1997) *Heirmos (1994)

Chamber

*Symbol of Faith (2009) *Coming To (2009) - For Hillary Hahn *Dystopia (2009) - For Hillary Hahn *Anaktoria (1990 rev. 2009) *Arabesque (2009) *Afterthoughts 2 (2007) *Lazy Afternoons by the Lake (2007) *Mystical Visitations (2006) *Through a Glass Darkly (2005) *Cruel Elegance (2004) - For the St. Lawrence Quartet *Four Rituals for Percussion Quintet, Choir and Audience (2004) - For

NEXUS NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border ...

*Parlor Music (2004) - For Beverley Johnston and the Amici Trio *Afterthoughts 1 (2002) *Constantinople (2000) - For the

Gryphon Trio The Gryphon Trio is a Canadian classical music ensemble that has been nominated for several and has won three Juno Awards for its classical recordings released by the Analekta label. Its members are Annalee Patipatanakoon (violin), Roman Borys (cel ...

*String Quartet No. 2 (The Gathering) (1999) - For the St. Lawrence Quartet *Melisma (1995) - Commissioned by Jean-Guy Boisvert *Three Songs on poems by Sappho (1993) *Burial Ground (In Memoriam: Chari Polatos) (1993) - Commissioned by the Fifth Species woodwind quintet *Erotikos Logos (1991) *Stylus (1990) - Commissioned by Peter Hannan, Douglas Perry and

Joseph Petric Joseph Francis Petric (born October 8, 1952) is a Canadian concert accordionist, historian, author, and pedagogue. Formation Formal training Petric began private studies at the Royal Conservatory with Joe Macerollo in 1968. In 1971 he was ...

*On Cerebral Dominance (1987) *Arcana (1983) - Commissioned by Arraymusic

Mixed media

*In the Fire of Conflict (2008) *LIGHT (Arctic Dreams 2) (2003) *Arctic Dreams 1 (2002) *Constantinople (2000) *Fertility Rites (1997) - Commissioned by Beverley Johnston *Tetragrammaton (1995) - Commissioned by Anne-Marie Donovan *String Quartet No. 1 (The Awakening) (1994) - Commissioned by the Smith Quartet *Of Threads and Labyrinths (1994) - Commissioned by Soundstreams Canada for

Lawrence Cherney Lawrence Cherney, CM (born May 1, 1946) is a Canadian oboist and the current Artistic Director of Soundstreams Canada. A proponent of new music in Canada, Cherney commissioned more than 30 new works for oboe during his career. He is a charter mem ...

and Erica Goodman *From the Vanishing Gardens of Eden (1992) - Commissioned by

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

*Byzantium (1991) - for oboe and electronics - Commissioned by the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company *The Birth of Venus (1990) - Commissioned by Robert Black *The Mega4 Meta4 (1990) - Douglas Perry *Pavillons En l' Air (1989) - Commissioned by

for

Scott Irvine James Scott Irvine (born 30 December 1953) is a Canadian composer, arranger, and tuba player based in Owen Sound, Ontario. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, he has been commissioned to co ...

and Beverley Johnston *Orbiting Garden (1989) - Commissioned by The Music Gallery for

Anthony de Mare Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politici ...

*Orbiting Garden (1991) - Commissioned by the Laidlaw Foundation accordion version for

*Crucifix (1988) *Nadir (1988) - Commissioned by the

Canadian Electronic Ensemble The Canadian Electronic Ensemble (CEE) is a Canadian electronic music ensemble based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1971 by David Grimes, David Jaeger, Larry Lake and James Montgomery, it is the oldest continuously active live-electronic p ...

for Peter Hannan and

Rivka Golani Rivka Golani ( he, רבקה גולני , born 22 March 1946) is a world–renowned Israeli-born viola player. She has performed as soloist with many orchestras throughout the world including the Boston Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Royal Conc ...

Elaine Keillor.
Music in Canada: Capturing Landscape and Diversity
'. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP; 18 March 2008. . p. 266, 279. *Equivoque (1985) - Commissioned by

Radiophonic

*Viderunt Omnes (1998) *Footprints in New Snow (1996) *The Idea of Canada (1992) *The Temptation of St. Anthony (1987)

References

External links

christoshatzis.com (Composer's website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatzis, Christos 1953 births Living people Canadian male composers University of Toronto faculty Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music winners Canadian classical composers Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year winners Male composers EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists 20th-century Canadian composers 21st-century Canadian composers Musicians from Volos Greek emigrants to Canada Eastman School of Music alumni University at Buffalo alumni 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians