ANDYS SKORDIS
CULTURETONES COMPOSER - CYPRUS GREEN
Andys Skordis is a composer of contemporary music, emphasizing on large scale works, music theatre and site-specific pieces. He was born in Cyprus in 1983, and has been living abroad since 2001. He graduated in Composition and Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music, and followed with post-graduate studies composition at the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam, studying with Richard Ayres and Wim Henderickx. Additionally, he studied Karnatic music for five years with Dr. Rafael Reina in Amsterdam, and Balinese Gamelan at ISI Denpasar in Bali.
As a composer he finds inspiration in the primordial human nature, which is reflected through a contemporary methodology in his compositions. His recent works find inspiration from ceremonial and mystical rituals from around the world, as well as his personal experiences. These incentives are expressed as a representation of a contemporary ritual characterized by tension and mysticism in his music.
His work list includes more than eighty compositions, comprising mostly of operas, orchestral and chamber music, oratorios, gamelan pieces and music for theatre, dance and short films. Skordis' music has been featured at renowned contemporary festivals, including Holland Festival, November Music, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Bali Arts Festival, Voix Nouvelles, CTM Festival, Unsafe and Sounds, and Symphony for Asia. He has received commissions from Neuköllner Oper, Athens & Epidaurus Festival, International Ensemble Modern Academy, Gettysburg Symphony Orchestra, Third Coast Percussion group, Orkest de Ereprijs, Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, and more. He has also created and conducted various music theatre performances in unconventional locations such as Temples, abandoned buildings, forests, floating stages, staircases and more.
Andys has received international recognition for his work, through prizes including the Buma Toonzetters Prize 2012 (composer of the year in The Netherlands), the Berlin Opera Prize 2022, the Black Pencil Prize 2020, the 1st and 2nd prizes in orchestral competitions by the Cyprus Symphony orchestra, the 1st prize at the International competition for piano quintet 2016 by ISCM Korea, as well as further awards and scholarships from Iceland, Mexico, Indonesia, Cyprus, the Netherlands and USA. Additionally, he was selected as a composer in residence by Third Coast Percussion group, and his team at the National Opera of Greece was awarded with the Fedora prize, for the project CO-OPERAtive.
n opera and theater, he has collaborated with directors such as Thanos Papakonstantinou, Michael Marmarinos, Themelis Glynatsis, Martha Frintzila, Miriam Goetz, Jelena Vuksanović, and Elia Kalogianni, as well as choreographers Venetsiana Kalampaliki, Demetris Mytilinaios, and Elena Christodoulidou. Besides composing he is the founder of the contemporary ensemble“PATSIAOURA” and the Athens Gamelan Orchestra, which he directs. He is an active performer with his bands “OGMIOS” and “Monsieur Doumani” , and he is member of the board of directors of Insitu Recordings. Together with Jelena Vuksanovic they also created the Ritual Opera Collective, presenting works of new music theater in site specific locations. He has also been a lecturer at the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam from 2018-2023, teaching Advanced rhythm composition and improvisation, a topic which he also taught in various foundations worldwide.