Constantine Caravassilis

C O N S T A N T I N E C A R A V A S S I L I S

Hailed as “the most important Hellenic-descent composer of his generation” (Jazz & Tzaz), commanding a “beyond the ordinary sense of musicality”, Constantine Caravassilis’ music is “constantly charged with emotion and energy in a profoundly individual style” (RCM).

Born into a musical family in Toronto, he grew up in the culturally vibrant township of Pythagorion, Samos Island, Greece. Constantine has been under the spell of composition since early childhood and is today considered as one of the most prolific young composers in Canada. He took his first violin lessons the age of six and later found an affinity for the piano which he studied for 14 years. He is the founder and past director of the chorus and traditional orchestra of the Multi-Branch Lyceum of Samos City (1995-1997), for which he wrote his first theatre score at age sixteen for a staging of Federico Garcia Lorca‘s Blood Wedding.

Constantine is laureate of the 4th International Composition Competition of the city of Volos, (supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Trinity College, London) with three gold medals in composition and prizewinner at the annual Mississauga Symphony Orchestra Young Composer ‘s Competition (2004). His piece “Apanthroposis” for solo flute and tape written for young flutist Luke Nickel, received the first prize in the Canadian Composers Category, at the 2006 Syrinx Flute Festival in Canada.

He has received countless commissions from soloists, ensembles and organizations the world around. He writes for all media and his output includes seven concerti, with a plethora of chamber, orchestral, vocal and electroacoustic works. His music has been performed in Germany, France, Denmark, the U.K., Russia, Greece, Turkey and Japan as well as throughout Canada and the United States, in several well-known music centers, such as the AlteOper Frankfurt, the Smolensk Philharmonic Hall, the Bunka-Kainan Hall in Tokyo, Round Tower in Copenhagen, La Chappelle de Bon Pasteur in Montreal, the Markham Theatre for the Performing Arts in Ontario, Jordan Hall in Boston, New Theatre in Cardiff, the Bösendorfer Artist Salon in New York City and the Rosslyn Hill Chapel in London.

His compositions and arrangements have been recorded by Marquis (EMI Canada) and CBC and have been broadcasted by WGBH Radio in the U.S., CBC Radio in Canada, BBC-3 in the U.K, and TDK radio in Japan.

In 2005, Constantine was composer-in-residence with the Contemporary Opera Lab, at the University of Manitoba. His 40-minute chamber Opera DICE, was premiered in August 2005 in Winnipeg, conducted by Dairine Ni Mheadhra, receiving rave reviews. Within the same year, Constantine launched a fruitful collaboration with the Parisian Quatuor Caravassilis, starting with a commission of his String Quartet No. 1 (Of the Youth). The piece was premiered at a gala concert in Paris and inspired choreographer Petra Steinert, who presented it in Winnipeg’s Fringe Festival in collaboration with the Young Lungs Dance Exchange. During the next several seasons, the Caravassilis String Quartet and Constantine will work together in a series of projects, which include performances and recordings of several works especially composed for the stunningly talented young quartet and several guest performers.

In the summer of 2006, Constantine was invited to be composer-in-residence with Open Strings in Lolland Island, Denmark. The residency concluded with the world premiere of his Concerto for Synaesthetes, for three solo celli and cello orchestra, in Copenhagen. Mats Lindstrom, Jakob Kullberg and Johan Theorin were the soloists, with Bjorn Bantock conducting the Open Strings Cello Ensemble. The same year saw the creation of “Baroque Revisited-Transcendental Suite in Six Movements”, incidental music accompanying a visual presentation of J. S. Bach‘s Goldberg Variations, for a 50-State tour of the work by internationally acclaimed American pianist Ronald Hawkins.

In September 2007, Constantine was composer-in-residence with the inaugural London Song Festival, in London UK, with the generous financial support of Arts Council England, the Bryan Guinness Charitable trust, the Leche Trust and the Charles Godwin Charitable Trust. His commissioned work “Candles in the Same Space” with texts by the late C.P. Cavafy was premiered by soprano Katherine Broderick, tenor Robert Tritcher and pianist Nigel Foster to a capacity audience at London ‘s Rosslyn Hill Chapel.

While attending the Royal Conservatory of Music, York University’s Music Department and the music faculties of the University of Toronto and the University of Manitoba, Constantine has appeared before audiences both as a pianist and conductor, in frequent premieres and recording sessions of his own work and that of his colleagues, while attending lessons and masterclasses by many internationally acclaimed artists. His most influential teachers in composition are the eminent Canadian Composers Christos Hatzis (University of Toronto) and Michael Matthews (University of Manitoba). He has also studied the art of conducting under Raffi Armenian and piano performance with the living legend and champion of contemporary classical music Christina Petrowska - Quilico. A member of S.O.C.A.N. and B.M.I., Constantine has received orchestral readings by the Winnipeg and the Mississauga Symphony Orchestras and performances by the University of Toronto and the University of Manitoba student Symphonies.

Most recently, Constantine initiated a multi year project, the Hellenic Keyboard Virtuosi Series in an attempt to pay homage to his heritage in a highly personalized manner. The project outreaches piano virtuosi of Hellenic descent around the globe in a series of premieres and repeat performances of his technically demanding piano music. In the next two seasons alone, his entire book of Rhapsodies for solo piano will be presented by pianists Maria Pikoula (USA), Demosthenis Stephanides (Germany), Dino Mastroyiannis (Greece), Ermis Theodorakis (Germany), Katerina Assimis (England), Grigoris Zamparas (USA), Linda Kouvaras (Australia) and Konstantine Athanasakos (Germany).

Additional upcoming projects include a new song cycle for rising star mezzo Ariana Chris and collaborative pianist Amanda Johnston to be premiered at Toronto ‘s intimate Heliconian Hall, a 20-minute solo cello suite for Royal Danish Academy Faculty award-winning cellist Jakob Kullberg, a piece for solo cello and tape for French cellist Sarah Hammel, a song cycle for tenor Paul-Anthony Williamson and yet another mammoth cycle of solo pieces for an international list of pianists which includes Inyoung Huh (USA), Axel Lenarducci (France), Gabriele Baldocci (Italy) and Gülsin Onay (Turkey/UK) to name but a few.

Constantine is currently pursuing a Doctorate on a full fellowship at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, where he specializes in the fields of composition and orchestral conducting.

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