Edition: V
Bio/Studies
Born in 1982 in Brussels, Adrien Tsilogiannis is a composer and a cellist. Adrien studied at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where he successively obtained a first prize certificate in music theory (2001 with André Colson), a higher degree in specialized music theory (2002, with Michel Lysight), a first prize certificate in chamber music (2003 with André Siwy), a first prize certificate in cello (2003, with Marie Hallynck) and a master’s degree in cello with distinction (2006, with Marie Hallynck). He had the privilege to study with renowned cellists like Edmond Baert, Didier Poskin and Viviane Spanoghe. He obtained a teacher accreditation for cello in 2008 and a pedagogical master’s degree in musical training in 2010.
In 2010, besides his occupation as an instrumentalist and teacher, Adrien Tsilogiannis also obtained a master’s degree in composition and orchestration with Daniel Capelletti. Since 2011, he attends a complementary composition course with the Belgian composer Peter Swinnen, head of the Flemish division of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.
Career
He teaches cello and musical training at the Music Academy of Schaerbeek and Etterbeek.
Thanks to his participation in several workshops, he had the opportunity to collaborate with, and have his works premiered by various ensembles: the Brussels Philharmonic – the Flemish Radio Orchestra (TACTUS 2011), the La Camerata orchestra from Linkebeek (2011), the Oxalys Ensemble (2012), the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra – BPO (2012), the Sturm und Klang Ensemble (2012/2013), the Musiques Nouvelles ensemble (2013), the Odysseia Ensemble (2013).
Adrien Tsilogiannis reached the finals of the Young Composers’ Forum TACTUS in 2011, during which his work Yoctodôme (2010) was performed by the Brussels Philharmonic – the former Flemish Radio Orchestra – led by Michel Tabachnik in Flagey’s well-known Studio 4. Moreover, he had the chance to take part in master classes and receive a complete musical ‘coaching’ by renowned composers such as Michel Tabachnik, Julian Anderson, Jean-Paul Dessy, Claude Ledoux, Bruno Mantovani, Augusta Read Thomas, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Luc Van Hove and Peter Swinnen.
Today, as a composer, he attempts to explore the infinite expressive possibilities of sound texture, tone, and gesture, whose attractive powers he cannot resist, in line with composers like E. Varèse, S. Sciarrino, I. Xenakis and K. Saariaho.
Adrien Tsilogiannis’ works rely on drama rather than program; his musical imagination is fed by a wealth of inspiring influences while using the typical methods of his own aesthetic development. For instance, he likes to base his compositions on psychological drifts (Frénésie Suicidaire, 2006), on philosophical issues like the infinitesimally small (Yoctodôme, 2010), or on the latest discoveries about biochemical microcosms (Apoptosis, 2011). However, he has also often been inspired by literary works, like J.R.R. Tolkien’s (De la Lugubre Incantation, 2005), Alexandre Blok’s (Deux Cités Déchues, 2008), Maurice Maeterlinck’s (Entase, 2011), and more recently drew inspiration from the poet and thinker Serge Venturini (Filante, attirante… de l’inaccompli, 2012) and Arthur Rimbaud (Ophélie, 2013).
Notes on the Musma Composition
“Attrait de la Mer et des Racines” (Lure of the Sea and Roots)
For quintet [flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon] Synopsis For quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon) … Through the dreamy depths, I remembered the rivers, the waves, the seas, the streams: those of life, those of death. There are thousand tributaries of unreality, knots in the water ablaze, edges of dark lakes, inert, secluded, in which roots come to drink, interlaced, engulfed, lost… Vision from the series “La Mer et les Racines”, eight paintings (1960-1962) by Serge Vandercam (1924-2005), Belgian photograph, painter and sculptor. The music develops in one extended movement divided in three cycles. To each cycle corresponds a poetic, organic or metaphysic reference without any breach of discourse. The first cycle is made up of growing ramifications grafted onto one or several axes, playing around with different timbre combinations. The second cycle gives way to a choral built upon suspended waves, thereby adding a new dimension to time. The choral evolves into a dynamic of spurts, geysers and rockets. The third cycle is a headlong rush that goes beyond the first cycle’s resonances while echoing them at the same time.
