Costas Kafouros

MMus, BMus (Hons)

Costas Kafouros (director of program) is a freelance composer and organiser of cultural activities, dividing his time between London and Paros island. After his graduation from the National Conservatory of Athens with the degrees of harmony, counterpoint and instrumentation, he continued his studies briefly with Stephen Coxe at the Peabody Institute (USA) and subsequently with Sadie Harrison at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London, (Bachelor of Music Hons) and Silvina Milstein at King’s College London, (Master of Music), where he also attended classes with George Benjamin. He is currently the artistic director of three series of contemporary music concerts inspired by Greece and its culture, both ancient and modern, entitled ‘Contemporary Music at The Hellenic Centre’, at the Hellenic Centre in London, and, starting from 2009-10, ‘From Word to Sound’, in collaboration with the Archive for the Performance of ancient Greek and Roman Drama at Oxford University and ‘Myths and Realities’ in collaboration with the Centre for Hellenic Studies at King’s College London. His music has been performed at various concerts in London and has received commissions by funds from the Arts Council England and the Niarchos (London) Ltd amongst other sources. His work is characterised by a particular interest in post-structuralism as a compositional technique that is combined with a strongly expressionistic ‘moment-form’ ethos, qualities that aim to allow for the creation of loose forms and an enhanced multi-referentiality in the music.
 

Catherine Kontz

PhD, MMus, BMus (Hons)

Catherine Kontz (b. 1976) is a London-based composer and performer. She has recently written music for Kate Ryder, Rhodri Davies, Ebba Erikzon, Henri Växby, BJ Cole and Tongue Stuff. As part of her PhD in Composition at Goldsmiths College, University of London, she produced and directed her large-scale music theatre work, MiE, for a set of six sold-out performances at The Space, London in November 2006. Written for 8 mimes/acrobats and 39 musicians, MiE incorporates Deleuzian theories into its narrative textures and musical material, resulting in strong visual statements within the context of experimental contemporary music. Catherine has been commissioned for new works by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 07, Rational Rec/London, Chetham’s School of Music, Centre National de L’Audiovisuel/Dudelange/Luxembourg and Banque centrale du Luxembourg. She has also worked with Iris Theatre Company, written the music for an in-house production of Tom Stoppard plays at the Space, London and has collaborated with Ellan Parry on Purlbind in... and Electra for the Tete-a-Tete opera festival 07/08 and with Roswitha Gerlitz on Shadowplay in 2009. As a pianist and cellist, Catherine regularly performs within the contemporary music and free improvisation scene in London and abroad with appearances at Interlace, the Music We'd Like To Hear concert series, Happenings at the Space, Cornelia St Cafe NYC. She also records and performs with her band cArtridge, she is a member of free improv duo ‘une cartouche’ and she has done session work for Icons of Elegance, Mika Sellens, A G Dolla, The Wedding Present and The Bays.

Fernando Martin

PhD, MA

Fernando Martin is a Part-Time Lecturer at Southampton University, he has also taught at the University de La Rioja (Spain) and the University of California. His compositions have been played in England, Spain and the USA. As a former Fulbright Fellow in Music in the USA and an AHRB Grantee in England, he has studied with Michael Finnissy, Joel-Francois Durand, Cesar Camerero and George Benjamin, and attended courses with Brian Ferneyhough, Luca Francesconi, Cristóbal Hálffter, and Magnus Lindberg. As an analyst, he has written articles on the music of Elliott Carter and Pierre Boulez and has given talks at the University of Cambridge, Birmingham, McGill (Canada), and Ghent University (Belgium). His current interest is French, Spanish and Italian Music of the last 30 years.