Constantine Koukias

Constantine Koukias (born 14 October 1965) is a Tasmanian composer and opera director of Greek ancestry based in Amsterdam, where he is known by his Greek name of Konstantin Koukias. He is the co-founder and artistic director of IHOS Music Theatre and Opera, which was established in 1990 in Tasmania's capital city, Hobart.

Koukias's works range from large-scale music theatre and opera to mobile installation art events. His atmospheric compositions are characterised by mesmerising temporal, spatial and production designs, while his recent works exhibit eastern influences. His avant-garde approach to the presentation of opera has resulted in hybrid productions such as Days and Nights with Christ,To Traverse Water, Mikrovion, The Divine Kiss, Tesla – Lightning in His Hand and The Barbarians. His music theatre works include ICON, Kimisis – Falling Asleep, Borders, Orfeo, Rapture – Sonic Taxi Performance, Schwa – The Neutral Vowel, Antigone and The Da Ponte Project.

Koukias was commissioned in 1993 by the Sydney Opera House Trust to compose the large-scale music theatre piece ICON to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House. His Incantation II for soprano and digital delay won the International Valentino Bucchi Vocal Prize in Rome in 1997, and in 2004 he was awarded a Sir Winston Churchill Fellowship.

Prayer Bells, in which the composer draws on traditions of Latin, Hebrew and Byzantine chant, had its US premiere in 2010 at the Chicago Cultural Center.

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