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Konstantinos Baras, a Greek composer with a passion for complex and saturated sound, embarked on his musical journey following a diagnosis of HanDL syndrome at the age of 18. Baras is recognized for creating works that convey intense emotions and delve into the complexities of trauma, employing visceral, chaotic sounds marked by a continuous energy flow and aggressive gestures. 

Utilizing digital signal processing, noise, distortion and live interactivity, Baras extends the timbral profile of traditional instruments and seamlessly blends disjunct materials into unified structures. With interest in site-specificity and interdisciplinary collaboration, he works often with dancers and movement artists and engages creatively with space, lights, and visual effects. 

His continued entanglement with black metal and techno contributes to an arrestingly distinctive sound palette, exploring the potential of repetition and bodily mechanics to intensify a sound’s impact on the listener. Toward that aim, Baras organizes his compositions through various processes of iteration and fragmented circularity, manipulating duration and density, often utilizing repetitive material but subtly altering it with every reappearance. The end result is driving, gripping, and grave.

His music has been performed and commissioned by Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain Moscow Contemporary Ensemble (MCME), Vertixe Sonora Ensemble,Ensemble Multilaterale, among other, with performances in festivals and conferences such as, IRCAM ManiFeste, MIXTUR, Darmstadt, reMusik, ilSuono, Ticino Musica, among others.

Currently pursuing a PhD in Composition at Northwestern University, Baras holds Masters degree from Boston University, and Bachelors degree Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Lisa Atkinson (b.1992) is a Chicago-based composer whose work endeavors to explore interiority through the tactile, visceral nature of live-performance and the emotional context of gesture while examining issues of fragility, memory, timbre, time, and perception.

Electroacoustic, electronic and contemporary art music.

Kostas Zisimopoulos (Greece, b. 1994) is a composer whose work centers on the concepts of deviation, instability, interruption, and interference. He explores the interplay between technology and the essence of sound, creating sonic narratives that weave together instrumental, vocal, and electronic media, while collaborating in multidisciplinary projects. He is drawn to complex sounds and strong emotions, often working across disciplines to create works that explore form and perception. 

He has received commissions and performances from ensembles, orchestras, venues and institutions such as Philharmonie de Paris, Berliner Philarmoniker, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Concertgebouw Brugge, Carnegie Hall, Fondazione I Teatri di Reggio Emilia, GMEM - Centre national de création musicale Marseille, Residentie Orkest, Gaudeamus, November Music, Grachtenfestival, Alexandrinsky Theatre and ARCo, while also has been collaborating with ensembles like Percussions de Strasbourg, Ensemble Multilatérale, Les Metaboles, Ensemble Fractales, Divertimento Ensemble, PHACE, Trio Estatico, Ensemble Taller Sonoro, Ensemble U:, Cikada, Meitar Ensemble, Ensemble NOMAD, Ensemble, Roadrunner Trio, United Instruments of Lucilin, TACETi, Ensemble Suono Giallo, Kaaos Ensemble, Vertixe Sonora, GAMEnsemble, ARTéfacts ensemble, Ensemble Terrible, Phoenix and KamerOrkest Driebergen.

His works have been heard in international festivals such as Gaudeamus (NL), Rainy Days (LUX), Ostrobothnian Contemporary Music Festival (FI), November Music (NL), Remus Georgescu International Music Festival (RO), The 21st Century Guitar Conference (USA), Grachten Festival (NL), Rondò 2023 (IT), UNK New Music Festival (USA), VIII St. Petersburg New Music Festival (RUS), ilSUONO Contemporary Music Week (IT), ARCO (AT), IYCA Ticino (CH), CEME (IL), Roadrunner Academy (NL), Mixtur Festival (ES), Curs Internacional de Composició Barcelona Modern" 7th Edition (ES), VII International Workshop for Young Composers (IT), isaMasterclass (AT), CML (CY) and Vienna Summer Music Festival (AT).

He has been awarded international composition prizes, honorable mentions, and has been a finalist in competitions such as the International Composition Institute of Thailand (ICIT), the 19th SUN RIVER PRIZE New Music Composition Competition, the II ARTSOM Musical Competition, the Ise-Shima Composition Competition, DYCE (Discovering Young Composers of Europe), the Bruno Maderna Composition Competition, the Da_sh Editions 3rd International Composition Competition, the Composition Competition at the Franz Schubert Konservatorium in Wien, and the INMF (Impulse New Music Festival). From April 2025 he will be an artist in residence in the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (FR). 

His music has received premieres and performances in France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Estonia, Norway, Czech Republic, Spain, Greece, Serbia, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Israel, United Kingdom, China, United States, Thailand, Russia and Canada.

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BARAS