Curriculum Vitae

Aristides Strongylis was born in Athens (Greece) in 1974. He studied guitar and music theory in his home town and was active in chamber music ensembles (duo, quartet) and in a guitar orchestra. Apart from performing numerous concerts in and outside of Greece, he wrote his first pieces for this guitar orchestra.

In 1999 he began studying composition with prof. Siegfried Thiele at the Leipzig Music Conservatory “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Germany and with prof. Dimitri Terzakis since 2002. He completed his studies with a graduate recital in April 2006.

International courses on composition took him to Hungary, where he attended the “International Bartók Seminar” for composition in Szómbathely with prof. Martin Bresnick, prof. Johannes Kretz and Jacopo Baboni-Schillingi, and to “Voix Nouvelles” at Royaumont (France), where he attended master classes with prof. Brian Ferneyhough, Jonathan Harvey and Theo Loevendie.

The music of Aristides Strongylis is very narrative and always in close dialogue with other arts, such as literature, theater, dance and painting. His works have been performed in major venues in several European countries. Thus “about energy” premiered at Athen’s Megaron in 2005 and “Peronalla’s Barrel” had its world premiere at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, performed by the Leipzig ensemble amarcord at the opening concert of the 7th a capella Festival for vocal music, later to be produced in the studio by German broadcasting company Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR).

MDR Figaro’s series „das neue Werk“ [The New Work] aired “Narcissus’ Time” [Die Zeit des Narziss] for string quartet and “The Glassy Apple” [Der gläserne Apfel] for string orchestra and audio tape. The same broadcaster did a musical and biographical portrait on Aristides Strongylis which also appeared in print in the radio station’s magazine triangel.

Among his special interests is the compositorial work with children, which had already been a major field of study during his time at the Leipzig conservatory. He was an artistic and compositorial director with “la mia opera”, a children’s opera project funded by the free state of Saxony that saw 125 children compose and stage their own opera together. Currently he is teaching „Composing with children“ at Leipzig’s music school „Clara Schumann“ and the Leipzig Thomas School, among others, and holds a teaching position at both the Leipzig Music Conservatory “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” and the Institute for Musicology at Leipzig University.

He has been a member of the Greek Composer’s Union since 2005. His works are being published by Edition Gravis, Bad Schwalbach (Germany).

→ CV as .pdf file