Biography
Panayiotis Kokoras is an internationally award-winning composer and computer music innovator, Regents Professor of Composition, and Director of the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia (CEMI) at the University of North Texas. A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition, he was born in Greece in 1974 and studied composition and classical guitar in Athens. He completed his MA (2000) and PhD (2004) in composition at the University of York under Tony Myatt, supported by the AHRB and the Alexandra Trianti Music Scholarship. Before joining UNT in 2012, he taught at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Technological Educational Institute of Crete, and Metropolitan College.
Sound is the structural unit of Kokoras’s compositional practice. His concept of “holophonic musical texture” describes how independent sounds contribute equally to the perception of a coherent musical whole. His music calls for a “virtuosity of sound”: precision in the production, transformation, and differentiation of timbre. This thinking connects his research into Timbre Techniques, morphopoiesis, instrumental prosthetics, and Fab Synthesis with machine listening, Music Information Retrieval (MIR), spatial audio, tactile sound, and robotics. Combining acoustic instruments, electronics, 3D-printed components, and mechatronic systems, he explores a post-instrumental practice in which sound, physical action, and instrument design develop together.
His catalogue spans solo, ensemble, and orchestral music, electroacoustic composition, and staged music theatre. The chronological catalogue in his CV lists 98 entries, including versions and works in progress. His 58 documented commissions include works for the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, IRCAM, ZKM, Siemens Stiftung, MATA, and the Athens State Orchestra.
His documented activity through 2025 encompasses 1,299 concerts and events and 1,435 individual work performances, with presentations in more than 60 countries and 250 cities. This record includes broadcasts and online presentations. His CV also documents 327 juried call-for-scores selections and 270 radio broadcasts in more than 30 countries.
His CV records 99 prizes and distinctions, including 32 first prizes. His recognition includes distinctions from Métamorphoses, the MA/IN Awards, the Giga-Hertz Music Awards, Destellos, Prix Ars Electronica, Gaudeamus, the Bourges competitions, and the Takemitsu Composition Award. Viper Snake additionally received first prize in the 2025 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest, reported in Musicworks in summer 2026.
A founding member of the Hellenic Electroacoustic Music Composers Association (HELMCA), Kokoras served on its board between 2004 and 2012, including several terms as president. He serves as President of the International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music (CIME/ICEM) and oversees the CIME PRIX competition. His international service includes chairing the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) 2015 in Denton, Texas, and co-chairing the music track of the Sound and Music Computing Conference (SMC) 2018 in Limassol, Cyprus.
His discography includes 65 releases, encompassing portrait albums, compilations, CDs, DVDs, and online editions. Labels include Sub Rosa, Miso Records, InSitu Records, Skarbo, and Fonogramas 278. His portrait album The Art of Sound (Fonogramas 278, 2025) brings together ten works for instruments or voices and fixed electronics.
Curriculum Vitae
Panayiotis Kokoras — Curriculum Vitae
November 2026 edition · Updated
Comprehensive CV / Folio · PDF · 114 pages · 9.7 MB
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