Biography
Kokoras is an internationally award-winning composer and computer music innovator. He is Associate Professor at the University of North Texas. Born in Greece, he studied classical guitar and composition in Athens, Greece and York, England; he taught for many years at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki (among others). Kokoras’s sound compositions use timbre as the main element of form. His concept of “holophony” describes his goal that each independent sound (phonos), contributes equally into the synthesis of the total (holos). In both instrumental and electroacoustic writing, his music calls upon a “virtuosity of sound,” emphasizing the precise production of variable sound possibilities and the correct distinction between one timbre and another to convey the musical ideas and structure of the piece. His compositional output is also informed by musical research in Music Information Retrieval compositional strategies, Extended techniques, Tactile sound, Augmented reality, Robotics, Spatial Sound, Synesthesia.
His compositional output consists of 65 works ranging from solo, ensemble and orchestral works to mixed media, improvisation and tape. His works have been commissioned by institutes and festivals such as the Fromm Music Foundation (Harvard), IRCAM (France), MATA (New York), Gaudeamus (Netherlands), ZKM (Germany), IMEB (France), Siemens Musikstiftung (Germany) and have been performed in over 600 concerts around the world. His compositions have been selected by juries in more than 130 international calls for scores and have received 60 distinctions and prizes in international competitions, among others Franco Evangelisti Prix 2012 (Italy), Destellos Prize 2011 (Argentina), Prix Ars Electronica 2011 (Austria), Metamorphoses 2010 & 2000 (Belgium), Giga-Hertz Music Award 2009 (Germany), Bourges 2009, 2008 and 2004 (France), Gianni Bergamo 2007 (Switzerland), Pierre Schaeffer 2005 (Italy), Musica Viva 2005 and 2002 (Portugal), Gaudeamus 2004 and 2003 (Holland), Jurgenson Competition 2003 (Russia), Takemitsu Composition Award 2002 (Japan). He is founding member of the Hellenic Electroacoustic Music Composers Association (HELMCA) and from 2004 to 2012 he was board member and president. He is currently secretary of the Interactional Confederation of Electroacoustic Music (CIME/ICEM) and Conference Chair for the ICMC 2015.
Education
Composition Competition Prizes and Distinctions
| 2017 | Null-state’s Chaosflöte Commission Competition. 2nd place winner. Mutation. Jury: Benjamin Whiting, Melody Chua. Florida/ USA. |
| 2017 | Exhibitronic Residency Commission Competition. Winner. Granular Mosaicing. Jury: Lucie Prod’homme, Elizabeth Anderson, Benjamin Thigpen, Pierre Jodlowski, Henrik Von Coler, Nathana Lle Raboisson, Ludger Brümmer, Roger Cochini, Mario Mary, Nicolas Thirion, Armando Balice, Frederic Perreten, Yérri-Gaspar Hummel, Pedro Castillo-Lara. Strasbourg/ France <http://www.exhibitronic.eu/> |
| 2017 | XI Destellos Competition 2017.Finalist. Superstrings. Jury: Regis Renouard-Larrivière (France), Annette Vande Gorne (Belgium), Roeland Luyten (Belgium), Dante Grela (Argentine) and Nikos Stavropoulos (Greece). La Plata/ Argentina. |
| 2016 | MA/IN 2016 – MAtera INtermedia Festival.Honorable Mention. Mutation. Jury: Alessandro Cipriani, Leigh Landy, Ludger Brümmer, Giampiero Gemini, Fabrizio Festa, GillesGobeil, Åke Parmerud, Elio Martusciello, Wayne Siegel. Matera/ Italy. |
| 2016 | Follow My Score – 2016 Commissioning Project with Ensemble DalNiente. Semifinalist. Jury: Pierluigi Billone, Ashley Fure, Marcos Balter, Heather Roche, Dmitri Kourliandsky, & Evan Johnson. Boston, MA/ USA. |
| 2016 | KLANG! electroacoustic composition competition 2016. Second Prize for Connotations for string orchestra and electronics. Jury members: Jérémy Lair, Julien Guillamat, Michel Pascal, Sophie Lacaze, Gilles Gobeil, Denis Smalley, Jonty Harrison and Annette Vande Gorne. Montpellier/ France. |
| 2016 | SIME 2016 – Electroacoustic Music Competition. Finalist for Sense. Jury: Natasha BARRETT (UK/Norway), Patrick KOSK (Finland), George BRUNNER (USA), Ricardo DE ARMAS (Argentina), Michael OBST (Germany), André DION (France), Diego LOSA (France/ Argentina), José Augusto MANNIS (Brazil). Lille/ France. |
| 2016 | Frame Dance Composition Competition. Winner for Paranormal. Jury: Frame Dance Members and the Baylor Percussion Group. Houston, Texas/ USA. |
| 2015 | List Prize 2014. Finalist for West Pole. Jury: Mario Baroni, Azio Corghi, Fabrizio Ottaviucci. Bologna/ Itlay. |
| 2015 | Feeding Music EXPO 2015 International Composition Competition. Finalist for Mutation. Jury: Sandro Gorli, Carlo Boccadoro, Enzo Restagno, Ramón Encinar, Jean-Luc Hervé, Unsuk Chin, Liza Lim, Cristian Morales-Ossio. Milan/ Italy. |
| 2015 | 2nd Annual ORTUS International New Music Competition presented by KHORIKOS and Dorian Artists Corp. Finalist for Sonic Vertigo. Jury: Khorikos Vocal ensemble art director and members. NYC, NY/ USA. |
| 2014 | di_stanze 2014 – community festival of sound arts. Premio Speciale for T-totum. Jury: Emanuele Casale, Giuseppe Rapisarda, Javier Torres Maldonado. Carlentini/ Italy. |
| 2014 | Destellos Prix – 7th International Competition of Electroacoustic Composition. First Prize for Jet. Jury: Gilles Gobeil (CA), Eric Chasalow (USA), Gregorio Jimenez (Spain), Federico Schumacher (Chile) and chaired by Elsa Justel (Argentine-France). Mar del Plata/ Argentina. |
| 2014 | Metamorphoses 2014 – The 8th biennial competition for acousmatic competition. Finalist for Sense. Jury Stéphane Roy (Canada), Hans Tutschku (Germany), João Pedro Oliveira (Portugal), Jean-Louis Poliart (Belgium). Brusssels/ Belgium. |
| 2014 | FNMC 2014 – Flute New Music Consortium Composition Competition. Finalist for Cycling. USA. |
| 2014 | Earplay Donald Aird Composers Competition. Finalist for Cycling. Jury Ensemble members of Earplay. San Franscisco, CA/ USA. |
| 2013 | Kazmierz Serocki 13th International Composer’s Competition 2013. Second Prize (no first) for Susurrus. Jury: Paul Patterson (UK), Jacek Rogola (Poland), Lidia Zielinska (Poland). Warsaw / Poland. |
| 2013 | Percussive Arts Society – PAS Composition Contest for Snare Drum. Third Place for T-totum. Chair: Josh Gottry. Indianapolis, IN / USA. |
| 2013 | Mivos/Kanter String Quartet Composition Prize 2013. Finalist for Holophony. Jury: violinists Olivia De Prato and Joshua Modney, violist Victor Lowrie, and cellist Mariel Roberts. New York / USA. |
| 2013 | ensemble et cetera composition competition. Finalist. Jury: clarinetist Curt Miller, percussionist Dustin Donahue, and bassist Scott Worthington. San Diego, CA / USA. |
| 2012 | Composition competition Qwartz / RFI – Quartz Radio France International competition-. Winner for Digi Dragon, Eastern Spring, Mnemonic Generator. Jury: Stephane Poulin (Head of music publishing group AEF) and Alexandre Grauer (President Qwartz Music Awards) Paris / France. |
| 2012 | Boston New Music Initiative’s Commissioning Competition. First Prize for Crama. Boston / Machassusets. |
| 2012 | XV edizione del Concorso di composizione Franco Evangelisti. First Prize for Shatter Cone. Rome / Italy |
| 2012 | University of Utah New Music Ensemble Composition Competition. Winner for Susurrus. Salt Lake City, Utah / USA |
| 2012 | International Composers Pyramid Prize. Finalist. Canterbury / England |
| 2012 | Simon Carrington Chamber Singers Choral Composition Competition. First Prize for Sonic Vertigo. Kansas City / Kansas |
| 2011 | 11th International Contest – Carl von Ossietzky Composition Award. Honourable Mention for Paranormal. Oldenburg / Germany |
| 2011 | 19th Edition of the Musica Nova International Electro-acoustic Music Composition Competition. Finalist for Jet. Prague / Czech Republic |
| 2011 | XXIII edition of Computer Space Competition. First Prize for Construct Synthesis. Sofia / Bulgaria |
| 2011 | Transitio_MX 04 – Electronic Arts and Video Competition. Finalist for Construct Synthesis. Mexico City / Mexico |
| 2011 | Destellos Prix – 4th International Competition of Electroacoustic Composition & Visual-music First Prize for Magic. Mar del Plata/ Argentina. |
| 2011 | International Composition Competition at Kunstuniversität Graz. Finalist for Susurrus. Graz / Austria |
| 2011 | Prix Ars Electronica – International Competition for CyberArts -. Honorable Mention for Magic. Austria. |
| 2010 | Biennial Metamorphose International Acousmatic Composition Competition ??finalist for Construct Synthesis. Brussels / Belgium |
| 2010 | Digitopia Miniatures Competition 2010 – First Prize for Day End. Italy |
| 2010 | IX International Imagen Festival. Special Mention for Soundboarding. Manizales / Colombia |
| 2009 | Bourges – 36e Concours International de Musique et de Art Sonore Electroacoustiques -. Honorable Mention West Pole. France |
| 2009 | Musici Mojanesi V˚ Edition First Prize for Delirium. Treviso / Italy. |
| 2009 | 2nd European competition for live-electronic music projectss Finalist for T-Totum. Goteborg / Sweden. |
| 2009 | Giga-Hertz Award for electronic music First Prize for West Pole. Karlsruhe/ Fribourg, Germany. |
| 2008 | Bourges – 35e Concours International de Musique et de Art Sonore Electroacoustiques -. Honorable Mention for Morphallaxis. France. |
| 2008 | Sam Houston State University Percussion Ensemble Composition Contest. Finalist for Paranormal. Huntsville, Texas / USA. |
| 2007 | Gianni Bergamo Classic Music Award. First Prize for Crama. Lugano / Switzerland. |
| 2006 | ICE 21st Century Young Composers Project– composers International Contemporary Ensemble – .Winner Composer. Chicago/ USA. |
| 2006 | Brave New Works Composers Competition 2005. First Prize for Holophony. Michigan/ USA. |
| 2006 | V Pierre Schaeffer 2005– International Computer Music Competition -. Finalist for Response. Pescarese / Italy. |
| 2005 | Música Viva Electroacoustic Composition Competition. First Prize for Anechoic Pulse. Lisbon/ Portugal. |
| 2005 | Point de Repere 2005– Projet Itinerant, Electroacoustic Music and Audiovisual Competition -. Second Prize for Anechoic Spin. Paris / France. |
| 2005 | III Concurso International De Miniaturas Electroacusticas. Finalist for Anechoic Spin. Granada / Spain. |
| 2004 | Look and Listen Prize. First Prize for Paranormal. New York/ USA. |
| 2004 | Gaudeamus Composition Prize 2004. Finalist for Paranormal. Amsterdam / The Netherlands. |
| 2004 | Bourges – Concours International de Musique et d’Art Sonore Electroacoustiques-Prix Residence for Slide. Bourges / France. |
| 2003 | JTTP 2003 – Jeu de temps / Times Play— Fourth Place for Breakwater. London/ England. |
| 2003 | Insulae Electronicae International Competition of Electroacoustic Music. First Prize for Slida. Milan/ Italy. |
| 2003 | Gaudeamus Composition Prize 2003. Honourable Mention for Holophony. Amsterdam / The Netherlands. |
| 2003 | 2nd International Jurgenson Competition of Young Composers. First Prize forr Holophony. Moscow / Russia. |
| 2003 | The Second Seoul International Competition for Composers.Second Prize for Friction. Seoul / Korea. |
| 2003 | Megaron New Music Workshops 2003. First Prize for Holophony. Athens / Greece. |
| 2002 | 1st Computer Aided Composition Competition 2002 ?œRAM-AKMH. Highest Distinction for Slida. Athens / Greece. |
| 2002 | 24th Luigi Russolo International Electroacoustic Music Composition Competition. Finalist for Response. Varese / Italy. |
| 2002 | The Ensemble Eleven Young Composers Competition 2002. Finalist for Firction. Manchester / England. |
| 2002 | Toru Takemitsu Composition Award 2002. Second Prize for Feedback. Tokyo / Japan |
| 2002 | Noroit Prize 2002 Biennial Acousmatic Musical Composition. Second Prize for Response. Arras / France. |
| 2002 | Musica Viva 2002 Electroacoustic Composition Competition. First Prize for Response. Lisbon/ Portugal. |
| 2002 | Musica Nova 2001 International Electroacoustic Music Composition Competition. Finalisttfor Response.for Response.Prague / Czech Republic. |
| 2001 | IV CIMESP 2001 International Electroacoustic Music Contest of São Paulo. Honourable Mention for Response.SaoPaulo / Brazil. |
| 2001 | XXIII Luigi Russolo 2001 International Electroacoustic Music Composition Competition. Finalist for Breakwater.Varese / Italy. |
| 2000 | Metamorphoses 2000 Biennial Acousmatic composition competition. Second Prize for Breakwater. Brussels /Belgium. |
Grants and Scholarships
Commissions
Lectures, Workshops and Presentations
Professional Service
| 2018 | Competition Jury. CONCURSO INTERNACIONAL DE COMPOSICION PARA MEDIOS MIXTOS. Buenos Aires/ Argentina. <https://sites.google.com/view/dsmc/mega-jury-concurso-internacional> |
| 2017-2018 | Board Member. Elected secretary of ICEM – International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music. <http://www.cime-icem.net/members/> |
| 2017-2018 | ICEM Coordinator for Greek Federation HELMCA. Greece. |
| 2017 | Competition Jury. Spatialization Competition Espace du Son – Musiques & Recherches. Brussels/ Belgium. <http://www.musiques-recherches.be/agenda/item/5446-spatialisation-competition-espace-du-son> |
| 2017 | Board of Directors. 35th General Assembly of International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music CIME / ICEM. Moscow/ Russia. <http://www.cime-icem.net/cime-moscow-call-submission-form/> |
| 2017 | Competition Jury. MA/IN 2017 MAtera INtermedia Festival Competition. Matera/ Italy. <http://www.materaintermedia.it/> |
| 2017 | Competition Jury. Culturescapes composition competition for young Greek and Swiss composers. Switzerland. |
| 2017 | Competition Jury. First International Electroacoustic Composition Competition IANNIS XENAKIS 2016.Thessaloniki, Greece. <http://www.xenakis.web.auth.gr/Xenakis/Competition.html> |
| 2017 | Competition Jury. ASCAP/SEAMUS Student Commissioning Competition. USA. <https://www.seamusonline.org/ascapseamus/> |
| 2017 | Competition Coordinator. Prix CIME 2017 – Electroacoustic Music Competition. <http://www.cime-icem.net/prix-cime-2017/> |
| 2017 | Conference Reviewer Music Track. ICMC 2017– International Computer Music Conference. Shanghai/ China. <http://www.icmc2017.com/en/> |
| 2017 | Conference Reviewer Paper Track. ICMC 2017– International Computer Music Conference. Shanghai/ China. <http://www.icmc2017.com/en/> |
| 2017 | Conference Reviewer Music Track. 13th International Symposium on Computer Music Multidisciplinary Research (CMMR). Matosinhos/ Porto. <http://cmmr2017.inesctec.pt/welcome/> |
| 2017 | UNT Service. Scholarly and Creative Activity Award (SCA) committee, Division Personnel Affairs Committee (PAC), UNT Innovative Spaces Member, Guest Artists Coordinator, CEMI Director, Mentor MUCP 4670 Introduction to Electroacoustic Music, TF Teaching observation, Miscellaneous meetings with prospective undergraduate and graduate students, CEMI staff orientation, Letters written in support of employment applications and graduate school applications & scholarships. |
| 2016 | Music Committee Reviewer. ICMC2016 – International Computer Music Conference. Utrecht/ Netherlands |
| 2016 | Music Committee Reviewer. ICMC2016 – International Computer Music Conference. Utrecht/ Netherlands. |
| 10/2-4, 2015 | General Assembly. ICEM – International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music. Lisbon/ Portugal |
| 2015-2016 | Board Member. secretary ICEM – International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music. |
| 2011-2017 | Field expert. EACEA European Union Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. |
| 2014 | ICEM Coordinator for Greek Federation HELMCA. Greece |
| 2015 | Article Reviewer. Mousikos Logos Journal. Editor Kenneth Owen Smith. Nicosia/ Cyprus. |
| 2015 | Jury Evaluations. IRCAM Artistic Research Residency. Paris / France. |
| 2015 | Competition Jury. VIII Destellos Competition 2015 Competition. La Plata/ Argentina. |
| 2014-2015 | Conference Chair. ICMC2015 – International Computer Music Conference in Denton TX/ USA. Host University of North Texas, College of Music Composition Division. |
| 2014-2015 | Board Member Secretary. ICEM – International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music. |
| 2014 | Organizing committee. for the ICEM Conference and Festival 2014. Denton Tx/ USA |
| 2014 | Music Committee Reviewer. 3rd Conference of the Hellenic Society of Acoustic Ecology. Athens / Greece |
| 2014 | Paper Committee Reviewer. ICMC2014 – International Computer Music Conference. Athens/ Greece |
| 2014 | Music Committee Reviewer. ICMC2014. Athens/ Greece |
| 2006-2014 | Coordinator. ICEM – International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music for Greek Federation HELMCA. |
| 2011-2014 | Councilor. ICEM – International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music board. |
| 2011-2017 | Field expert. EACEA European Union Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. Brussels/ Belgium. |
| 2004-2012 | President (2005,’07,’09,’11), Vice President (2006,’08,’12). Secretary (‘04) and Founding Member. Hellenic Electroacoustic Music Composers Association. Greece |
| 2012 | Jury member. Ircam Forum Composition Competition. Paris / France. |
| 2012 | Jury member. Macedonia University Composition Competition. Thessaloniki Greece. |
| 2012 | Board Member. Annual General Assembly of ICEM. Beijing Central Conservatory. Beijing / China |
| 2012 | Music Committee Reviewer. ICMC2009 – International Computer Music Conference IRZU. Ljubljana / Slovenia. |
| 2012 | Jury member. 9th Beijing Musicacoustica Electroacoustic Music Competition. Beijing Central Conservatory. Beijing / China. |
| 2011 | Organizing committee Electroacoustic Music Days Festival. Technical University of Crete / Greece. |
| 2011 | Paper Committee Reviewer. SMC2011 – Sound and Music Computing Conference in Padova, Italy. |
| 2011 | Organizing committee ICEM2011 (International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music) Festival and General Assembly. Technical University of Crete. Rethymnon/ Greece. |
| 2011 | Artistic Contributions Committee WFAE 2011 – International Acoustic Ecology Conference organized by the Ionian University in Corfu, Greece. |
| 2011 | Music Committee Reviewer ICMC2011 – International Computer Music Conference. Huddersfield University. England. |
| 2010 | Music committee. 2nd Conference of Acoustic Ecology. Department of Music Technology and Acoustics, Technical University of Crete. Rethymno / Greece. |
| 2009 | Paper Committee Reviewer. ICMC2009 – International Computer Music Conference. McGill University. Canada |
| 2009 | Board Member. Annual General Assembly of ICEM – International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music. Valencia / Spain. |
| 2008 | Music organizing committee. 4th CIM – Conference of Interdisciplinary Musicology. Aristotle University. Thessaloniki / Greece. |
| 2007 | Paper Committee Reviewer. CMJ – Computer Music Journal. MIT Press. Massachusetts, USA. |
| 2007 | Organizing committee. 1st Conference of Acoustic Ecology. Ionian University. Corfu / Greece. |
| 2007 | Music organizing committee. 4th SMC – Sound and Music Computing Conference. Athens University.. Lefkada / Greece. |
| 2006 | Board Member. Annual General Assembly of ICEM – International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music. Bourges/ France. |
| 2005 | Organizing committee. 4th Electroacoustic Music Days Festival. Technical University of Crete/ Greece |
| 1995-2000 | ScriptSoft, Composition for Multimedia applications. Athens/ Greece. |
| 1994-1996 | Athens Music Society, Classical Guitar Teacher. Athens/ Greece. |
| 1992-1994 | Athens Choir, Tenor. Athens/ Greece |
| 1989-1992 | Municipal Marching Band of Katerini, Tenor Saxophone Performer. Greece |
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Workshops, Seminars and Residencies
| 2012 | International Composers Pyramid Workshop. (10-14/07) mentors: Robert Saxton, Philip Grange, Daniel D’Adamo, Philippe Boivin long with Andrew Hanley of Edition Peters and performers from the London Sinfonietta – Canterbury / UK – Dunkerque / France. [call for] |
| 2010 | Composer in Residencee. ZKM – Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (10/8-10-9). Karlsruhe / Germany |
| 2009 | Composer in Residence. IMEB Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique Bourges (14-27 Sep). Bourges / France. |
| 2008 | Composer in Residence at Ircam (21-28 March) musical assistant: Olivier Pasquet. Paris/ French. |
| 2008 | Composer in Residence at Ircam (17-19 February) musical assistant: Olivier Pasquet. Paris/ French. |
| 2007 | Composer in Residence at Ircam (16-22 December) musical assistant: Olivier Pasquet. Paris/ French. |
| 2007 | Gianni Bergamo Classic Music Award (23-28 September). Ensemble Recherche. Lugano / Switzerland. |
| 2007 | Composer in Residence at Ircam (3-16 June) musical assistant: Olivier Pasquet. Paris/ French. |
| 2006 | Composer in Residence at Ircam (3-21 July) musical assistant: Olivier Pasquet. Paris / French. |
| 2005 | Session de Composition – Voix Nouvelles (22/8-10/9) B. Ferneyhough, M. Levinas, J.L. Hervé. Contrechamps (Suisse). Asnières/ France. |
| 2005 | Composer in Residence for 2 weeks at Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology, HMT. Zurich / Switzerland. |
| 2003 | Megaron New Music Workshop 2003, leader Lucas Foss. Athens/ Greece. |
| 2003 | Orchestra Philarmonia Workshop. leader Andrew Hugill, De Montfort University. Lecister / UK. |
| 2002 | New Music Players ensemble Workshop 2002. Active participant. Conducted by John Stringer. York/ UK |
| 2002 | York Spring New Music Festival 2002. Selected composer for a workshop by the New Music Players. York/ UK |
| 2001 | Composer in Residencee at Musiques et Recherches studio ?œMetamorphoses d?? Orphee?? Brussels (Ohein)/ Belgium. |
| 2001 | Annual Northern Sinfonia workshop Selected composer Conducted by Baldur Brönnimann. Newcastle/ UK. |
| 2001 | New Music Players ensemble Workshop 20011 Active participant. Conducted byJohn Stringer. York/ UK. |
| 2000 | 8th International Academy for New Composition & Audio-Art “Avantgarde Schwaz’ Leader Boguslaw Schaeffer. Tirol/ Austria. |
| 2000 | Capricorn ensemble workshop Active participant. Conducted by Roger Marsh. York/ UnitedKingdom. |
| 1997 | Filippos Nakas Centre of Music Studies Classical Guitar Seminar with L. Zoi & E. Asimakopulos. Patra/ Greece. |
| 1992-1994 | Contemporary Music Research Electroacoustic Music Composition Course. Prof. A.Kergomard. Athens. |
| 1992 | 15th Classical Guitar Festival with Kostas Kotsiolis. Volos/ Greece |
| 1991 | Municipal Conservatory of Katerini Classical Guitar Seminar with Kostas Kotsiolis. Greece |