Sofia Kamayianni

for Piano+ and percussion

Potawatomi, a Native American language of the Great Plains region, as described by Robert Macfarlane in his book Underland - A Deep Time Journey, includes the word ‘puhpowee’, which might be translated as ‘the force that makes mushrooms emerge from the ground overnight’. In all its technical vocabulary Western science has no such term, no words to encompass this mystery. In Potawatomi, by contrast, almost all words declare the animacy or in-animacy of that to which they refer. The language is predisposed to recognize life in otherness, and to extend the reach of that category of ‘life’ far beyond its familiar limits in Western thought. This concept fascinated and inspired me, motivating my imagination in the composition of this work. Given that the piece is greatly concerned with timbre and sound, the Piano+ system was ideally suited to take a major role in the piece, since it provides such a variety and range of new sounds from an existing instrument. This approach also continued over into the use of percussion, which was selected and designed in order to contribute to the timbral and then rhythmic world of the piece. 

Click here to view the score and listen to a recording.

Click here to view performance notes, which describe the Piano+ system.

Sofia Kamayianni

for youth symphony orchestra

ca. 2'50"

This piece was premiered in 2015 by the UMBC Symphony under the direction of E. Michael Richards, and the video recording is linked below.

Click here to view the score and listen to the recording.

Click here to view the performance.

Sofia Kamayianni

for 3 trumpets, trombone, and percussion

ca. 8'30"

"The Steelworkers" was composed in the Autumn of 2012 and was inspired by the nine-month long Greek steelworkers strike that was then underway. This was a historical strike which will be remembered, among other reasons, for taking place at such a unique moment, in Greece being forced to enter the memorandum of understanding that bring extreme and inhuman measures into a society that was in a state of shock. In the work I tried to express my feelings and thoughts arising from this major conflict, the individual issues and fluctuations which were to remain with us for such a long time, and the images in my mind of the workers inside the factory. The steelworkers fought throughout all these months with incomparable strength, resistance, self-denial, collectivity, and solidarity - with huge costs to their own lives that were to become evident for those who continued to followed the story in the years that followed.

Dimitris Gkogkas, trumpet

Alex Mavropoulos, trumpet

Nikos Sarris, trumpet

Spyros Vergis, trombone

Panos Ζiavras, percussion

Click here to view the score.

Click here to listen to a recording of the piece.

Sofia Kamayianni

for soprano, bass, portative, hand gong, and electronics

Dedicated to Tobias Schlierf and Effie Minakoulis.

Performers in the recording:

Εffie Minakoulis, mezzo-soprano

Tobias Schlierf, bass and portatif

Dora Panagopoulou, hand gong

Click here to view the score.

Click here to listen to a recording.

Sofia Kamayianni

for percussion (4 players) and pre-recorded synthesizer

The piece is part of the music theatre work "Rabila Co" mixing live music with speech, poetry, electroacoustic music, physical and digital imagery, and dance. Rabila Co was performed between 4th-6th October 2003 at the Theatre Xororoes, Athens, Greece. The concept, musical composition and overall direction was undertaken by Sofia Kamayianni, with choreography by Olymbia Agalianou.

The video is of a performance by the Kroussis ensemble under the direction of Kostas Sifakis. 

Click here to view the score.

Click here to watch a video of the performance.

Sofia Kamayianni

for percussion (4 players), and tape

The piece is part of the music theatre work "Rabila Co" mixing live music with speech, poetry, electroacoustic music, physical and digital imagery, and dance. Rabila Co was performed between 4th-6th October 2003 at the Theatre Xororoes, Athens, Greece. The concept, musical composition and overall direction was undertaken by Sofia Kamayianni, with choreography by Olymbia Agalianou.

The video is of a performance by the Kroussis ensemble under the direction of Kostas Sifakis. 

Click here to view the score.

Click here to watch a video of the performance.

Sofia Kamayianni

for flute, clarinet, percussion, and electronics

ca. 11'27"

This piece has a narrative character obviously connected with time as all the stories. I cannot not specify the story that it tells, as it was more or less abstract in my mind during the composition of the piece. However, the path after some time revealed itself and became clear. The live instruments are always in a dialogue with the tape. It was part of the project “3x3 Contemporary Music from Greece and the USA”.

Clepsydra is the Greek word for hourglass.

Click here to view the score and listen to a recording.

Sofia Kamayianni

for flute, clarinet, cello, piano, and percussion

Written for amateur players, or players unaccustomed to contemporary music

Click here to view the score.

Sofia Kamayianni

for piano, cello, and small percussion

ca. 7'15"

Click here to view the score and listen to a recording.