Nikos Galenianos – Νίκος Γαλενιανός (b.1985) did his master composition studies at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague with Peter Adriaansz and Yannis Kyriakides and bachelor composition studies at the Classical Music Academy of Rotterdam (Codarts) with Peter-Jan Wagemans and Rene Uijlenhoet. Previously in Greece, he acquired degrees in classical piano and music theoretical studies. He has taken part in conferences and academies such as Impuls Festival, November Music, Classical Next and has attended masterclasses with Johannes Schoellhorn, Mark Andre, Klaus Lang, Simon Steen-Andersen, Oscar Bettison, Richard Barrett, Klaas de Vries, and also courses at the ”sonology department” of the Royal Conservatory of the Hague. While working on music, he studied law and graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
He has cooperated with Gaudeamus Muziekweek festival, Residentie Orkest den Haag, Bozzini quartet, Tectonics festival and Ilan Volkov, Doelen ensemble, the ”Classic Young Masters” etc. Works of his have been performed in venues and occasions such as Orgelpark Amsterdam, the Greek National Opera, the small and the big theater of Epidaurus, De Doelen, Boijmans van Beuningen museum, Onassis Stegi Foundation, the Athens Concert Hall, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Athens Tedx Academy, the Greek National Theater, the National Theater of Northern Greece etc.
He has cooperated with theater directors such as Nikita Milivojevic, Thomas Moschopoulos, Kostas Filippoglou, Sofia Paschou, Io Voulgaraki, with the groups Patari Project, Fly Theater, Pyr, Rafi, etc, in small or large theatre and music theatre productions. His work often engages with ancient or medieval texts, which he uses as primal material. Language is processed in such a way that the words’ semantic direction is lost and substituted by the composed acoustic impression. Sound relics, artefacts, repetitive motives, distorted syllables or phonemes, all coexist in complex counterpoint models, recreating the text through a purely sound-based perspective. Examples of sources he has worked on are Dante’s Inferno, John Milton’s Paradise Lost or ancient tragedy.
His master artistic research examines prelinguistic language and aphasia as concepts which can be applied in vocal-based composition. The paper questions whether the playful deconstruction that creators often look for is a step forward or backwards in time. Eventually, it questions the use of existing texts in composition under the scope of Jungian theory.
He is member of the contemporary music ensemble TETTTIΞ, founded in 2017. The ensemble consists mainly of composers and instrumentalists who met during their staying in the Netherlands. Its goal is bringing classical contemporary repertoire to the foreground and the creation of holistic performances. His educational activity includes composition laboratories for composers in Greece and improvisation masterclasses for children and adults.