Gourzi, Konstantia

Konstantia Gourzi

(born in Athens/Greece, 31 March 1962)

Konstantia Gourzi’s name often appears as composer as well as conductor in the announcements of her concerts. Her portfolio of compositions includes not only operas, film music and works for music theatre and orchestra, but also numerous solo pieces and chamber music. Konstantia Gourzi’s musical work is documented in detail through radio recordings, television broadcasts and live streams. Recordings of her extensive discography were released at ECM, NEOS, NAXOS and SONY Classical.

Composer’s notes

Six letters for Callas: Α Π Ο ΛΛ Ω Ν
for orchestra, 2012/13, op. 51

Α intense
Π fragile
Ο surprisingly
ΛΛ singing in motion
Ω elegiac
Ν singing with devotion

The composition “Six letters for Callas: Α Π Ο ΛΛ Ω Ν“ is dedicated to the memory of Maria Callas. The piece consists of six miniatures, which are performed in a flow without any break between them. They are based on the six engravings by the German artist Alexander Polzin, which depict the head of Maria Callas without mouth in front of the “Portara” of Naxos in six different color variations. The execution of the composition is based more on the intensity of the interpretation and less on the demonstration of the virtuosity of the musicians.

Konstantia Gourzi – a biographical essay

Longing for sonic co-existence

Konstantia Gourzi builds bridges between cultures and epochs, across time and space. This may be as a composer, where she finds her voice in bringing things together that seem to have nothing in common. It may be as a conductor and teacher, where she constructs a new world of equal opportunities, between male and female, the strange and the familiar.

A Greek now living in Germany, Konstantia Gourzi was born in Athens in 1962. She knows that finding artistic authenticity is no easier today than it was in earlier times. We certainly live in an age that offers composers unlimited research possibilities, and the most diverse geographical and temporal influences. The more different stimuli affecting a person and the more they have to process, the greater the challenge in finding a clear, individual artistic voice.
Of course, in Konstantia Gourzi’s case, her specific cultural constellation plays a major role. On the one hand she has her Greek roots, which are inseparable from the early Christian Byzantine traditions, and the influence of oriental musical cultures on Southern Europe. On the other hand, she is also immersed in the western world, with its polyphonic canon, and the international avant-garde – based on modern instrumental development, and research into sound, noise and structure. Konstantia Gourzi’s creativity stems from here

Konstantia Gourzi – A biographical essay > READ