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JOHN PSATHAS
2003 Laureate
Composer
John Psathas is not only one of New Zealand's most frequently performed, but also one of the finest amongst the younger generation of composers in this country.
Born in 1966, John grew up in Taumaranui and Napier. He left high school early to study composition and piano at Victoria University of Wellington, supporting himself partly by playing regular gigs in a jazz trio. Studying with composer Jacqueline Fontyn in Belgium before committing himself to a career in New Zealand, John now lectures in the School of Music at Victoria University and continues to fulfil a busy schedule of commissions.
Internationally, John made his name in 1991 with Matre's Dance. A maximum-energy duet for percussion and piano, it was taken up and championed by world-famous Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie. John's collaboration with Evelyn Glennie has been a particularly productive one, proving very fruitful for both of them. Her performing repertoire includes John's Matre's Dance, Drum Dances, Spike, Happy Tachyons and the Double Concerto for Piano and Percussion, View From Olympus, and she has recorded Matre's Dance on several of her CDs. With his work now featuring in the standard repertoire of such high-profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, John has established an international profile and receives regular commissions from New Zealand and overseas.
Career highlights are numerous: in 2003 John had his work performed and recorded in Greece, Bulgaria, Germany, and America. A new CD, Fragments was launched to rave reviews. Ian Dando celebrated John in the Listener as "the best of our younger composers", enthusing that "his originality lunges at you".
In 2004, John worked on the premiere season of Zeibekiko, a major commission from the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble (NBE), which invited him to create an entire programme based around the theme of 2500 years of Greek Music. This collaborative work was performed by the NBE throughout Holland and at the Bath Festival (UK) and was performed at the 2006 New Zealand International Arts Festival. John's Piano Concerto, commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (for solo piano, percussion, harp and strings), was premiered at concerts throughout New Zealand by Stephen Gosling with the NZSO under James Judd.
A highlight of John’s career to date was composing the music for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. John commuted several times between Wellington and Athens to work on the music and supervise the rehearsal process. His music included a number of fanfares and processionals to accompany the arrival of the IOC President, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron and preceded the Olympic oaths, and he was responsible for the soundtrack to the entire flame sequence of the ceremony. John also arranged the National Anthem of Greece, the Olympic Hymn and music by Shostakovich, Debussy and the foremost living Greek Composer Mikis Theodorakis that accompanied other parts of the ceremony. His compositions also featured during the fireworks at the Games closing ceremony.
John's View from Olympus is now travelling the world with the LA Philharmonic the latest orchestra to perform the piece. Internationally renowned soloists Evelyn Glennie and Philip Smith performed John's Double Concerto for Percussion, Piano and Orchestra, with conductor Michael Christie in May 2005 and a recording of View from Olympus was made in 2005, at the Wellington Michael Fowler Centre. The NZSO recorded the title track with soloists Michael Houstoun (piano, NZ) and Pedro Carneiro (percussion, Portugal), conducted by Marc Taddei.
This project was the biggest orchestral recording to take place here to date and has been supported by Creative NZ, Victoria University and the Wellington City.
The production, undertaken by New Zealand art music label Rattle Records, has resulted in a combined CD/DVD package featuring 3 concertos traversing a massive stylistic and emotional range, which was released late 2006. View From Olympus topped the Radio New Zealand Concert charts for twenty consecutive weeks - an unprecedented achievement for a New Zealand art music album by a living composer. View From Olympus won Best Classical Album at the prestigious Tui Awards in Auckland and was a finalist in the category Best Classical Album for the 2007 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards.
Reflecting on his creative career, John says, "Composing for me is essentially a continual re-travelling of a journey that begins with 'any conceivable thing is possible at this moment' and concludes with, 'it couldn't be anything but this.'"
John was created an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to music in 2005.
For more information visit John's websites,
www.johnpsathas.com or www.promethean-editions.com. |
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