Curriculum Vitae

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

He holds a degree in composition from Leipzig Music Conservatory “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy”, having been student of prof. Siegfried Thiele and prof. Dimitri Terzakis there. He graduated with a 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 and prof. Johannes Kretz, and to “Voix Nouvelles” at Royaumont (France), to master classes with prof. Brian Ferneyhough and Jonathan Harvey.

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 and “Peronalla’s Barrel” had its world premiere at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. At venues like the Munich Gasteig, Konzerthaus Berlin or in Austria, France, and Spain his works have been played as well. There has been an ongoing close cooperation with German broadcasting companies like Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), Saarländischer (SR) and Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR). The MDR Sinfonierorchester played Strongylis and several recordings have been co-produced by MDR, a CD-production of „playback play“ for viola and organ amongst them. His second string quartet was recently recorded as a co-production of Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Strongylis composed pieces for friends and musicians like Hatto Beyerle and the Apollon Musagète Quartet, ensemble amarcord, the Iturriaga Quartet and the violist Tatjana Masurenko. He has a close-knit relation to the Orchestra of Colours, the most distinguished Greek orchestra for contemporary music.

Among his special interests is the compositorial work with children, already a major field of study during his time at the Leipzig conservatory. He was the compositorial tutor with “The Butterfly Workshop”, a children’s theater project that saw 60 children compose and stage their own musical theater play inspired by Gioconda Belli's book - and awarded first prize in the nationwide German competition "Kinder zum Olymp!". Currently Strongylis is teaching „Composing with children“ at several Leipzig schools.

Aristides Strongylis is a member of the Greek Composer’s Union. His works are being published by Edition Gravis, Berlin.

→ CV as .pdf file