Giorgos Koumentakis

Giorgos Koumendakis (Greek: Γιώργος Κουμεντάκης) is a Greek composer. He was appointed musical director and creator of musical scenario for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Giorgos Koumendakis was born in Rethymnon (Crete) in 1959 to Ioannis and Evaggelia Koumendakis. He took the first music lessons (accordion) in Rethymno and began to compose at the age of 15. He pursued his studies in Advanced Theory with Diamantis Diamantopoulos at the Hellenic Conservatory in Athens and has attainted seminars of music composition with P. Boulez, Ligeti György, I. Xenakis, A. Goehr and others in Paris.In 1990 he was awarded the second prize of the Municipality of Athens for a music work concerning the National Rebirth and in 1992 Koumendakis was awarded the “Prix de Rome” and was ‘pensionnaire’ for 1993 in Villa Mediciis in Rome. In 1994 he was awarded the “Nikos Kazantzakis Prize” from the Municipality of Herakleion From 1998 to 2000 he was “Composer in Residence” in London for the Hellenic Concert series, Clio Gould and BT Ensemble, receiving support by the Michaels Marks Charitable Trust. He undertook the musical direction and created the music concept for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.Koumendakis has composed more than 100 works including vocal-choral, orchestral, chamber, solo, operatic music, as well as music for dance, modern theater and ancient Greek drama. He has also collaborated with other artists in various multi-and new media projects (video-art, animation, installations). His compositions reveal influences from different music styles and currents, historical and contemporary, not only from the milieu of the savant music literature but also from the folkloric music of his country. His compositions have been performed in many international festivals, conferences: World Music Days Festival(Germany 1987, Hong Kong 1988, Oslo 1990), Frankfurt Feste (1987), Conferenza Musicale Mediterranea (Palermo, 1992, 1997), Nieuwe Muziek Middelburg Festival (1990), Presences-Radio France (Paris, 1992, 2004), Festival of Athens(2005, 2006, 2009, 2010), Cultural Year of Greece in China (Beijing 2007-8) etc.

Some of the ensembles and orchestras which have performed his works include the: Quattuor Leonardo, Ensemble Intercontemporain, European Community Youth Orchestra, Oslo Sinfonietta, Oslo Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Divertimento Emsemble, Xenakis Ensemble, Hong Kong Ensemble, Arraymusic Ensemble, New Hellenic Quartet, La Camerata Friends of Music Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Accademia Musicale Siciliana, Accentus/Axe 21 Chamber Choir, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, BT Scottish Ensemble, Kronos Quartet, Nash Ensemble, Russian State Symphony Orchestra Young Russia, Tangos a Cuatro, City of Oxford Orchestra, Orchestra of Colors (Greece), State Orchestra of Thessaloniki, State Orchestra of Athens, String Orchestra of Patras, Orchestra of the National Opera, Macedonian Saxophone Quartet, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Prism Saxophone Quartet, Ensemble Octopus, The Greek Ensemble of modern music, Cosmos Saxophone Quartet, Saxophone Quartet of Theodoros Kerkezos, Ensemble Recherche, and opus21musikplus.

His music was directed among others by Arturo Tamayo, Gunther Schuller, Diego Masson, James Judd, Mathias Bamert, Ingo Metzmacher, Martin Brabbins, Gaetano Colajanni, Olivier Cuendet, Christian Eggen, Henri Gallois, Christopher Warren-Green, Henry Kucharzyk, Stefan Skold, Myron Michailidis, Miltos Logiades, Alexandros Myrat, Marios Papadopoulos, Nikos Tchouchlos, Alkis Baltas