Dimorphos (2023)

For voice, electric double bass and electronics

Born from an initiative by Pierre Bleuse for the Prades Festival, Dimorphos is a bold artistic collaboration between composer and singer Sofia Avramidou and double bassist Nicolas Crosse.

The voice unfolds in winding melismas, both fragile and wild, weaving through the rough, resonant pulse of the double bass - an intimate, unpredictable dialogue where texture and emotion collide.

The project thus contributes to contemporary discourse on musical hybridity, improvisation as a compositional method, and the recontextualization of folk traditions within modern experimental frameworks.

JEUX (2023)

For large ensemble

A new high-level encounter through musical interplay: the soloists of the Ensemble intercontemporain join forces with those of the Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ) for an extraordinary musical experience off the beaten path.

Here, two distinct musical worlds blend, each bringing its own sounds and practices to a shared creative pool through three commissioned works that merge into a single, expansive composition.

On the “contemporary” side is the young Greek composer Sofia Avramidou, no stranger to genre-blending, having deeply engaged with the oral traditions of her homeland.

On the “jazz” side, we find a cornerstone of the ONJ in Andy Emler, who has always thrived in eclectic musical territories, alongside the ONJ’s current musical director, Frédéric Maurin - himself a passionate boundary-pusher, recently creating EX MACHINA at the IRCAM studios.

A Hug to die (2023)

For ensemble (8 musicians)

A Hug to Die is inspired by The Pillowman, a play by contemporary playwright Martin McDonagh.

The piece centers on the exploration and development of timbre, framed by a dramaturgy of intense contrasts and seamless transitions that create a dynamic flow between balance and imbalance.

Through nuanced timbral variation, multiple textures emerge, initially forming a compact and organic sound world. As the piece unfolds, this sonic uniformity gives way to wild, irregular structures built on intense, repetitive rhythms, evoking a sense of agony and turmoil.

On a poetic level, the work reveals the profound alienation in human relationships and the erosion of childhood innocence, grappling with logic and absurdity, reality and surrealism, purity and cynicism - constantly oscillating between dream and nightmare.

What can that be but my apple-tree? (2023)

For String Quartet

The String Quartet What can that be but my apple-tree? is inspired by The Girl Without Hands, a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm published in 1812.

This dark and macabre story critiques the socio-religious codes of its time. The events are so tragic and cruel that they verge on satire. Like Faust or The Soldier’s Tale, the narrative revolves around paying tribute to the generosity of the Devil.

The five scenes of the piece illustrate the tension between Christian morality and the Devil’s atrocities through these evocative quotes:

• "Dear father, do with me what you will. I am your child.”

• "Are you a spirit or a human?"

• "Who messes with the letters?"

• "Here all dwell free."

• "Our merciful god has caused my hands to grow up."

Commissioned by Radio France for Anne Montaron’s Création Mondiale.

Remembering Clouds (2022)

For soprano, viola da gamba, and electric guitar

Music: Sofia Avramidou
French text: Laure Gauthier
English translation: Christopher Alexander Kostritsky Gellert

Ensemble Ictus
Theresa Dlouhy, soprano
Eva Reiter, viola da gamba
Tom Pauwels, electric guitar

Remembering clouds evokes the fate of Kaspar Hauser, the adolescent once called “the orphan of Europe,” who spent his entire childhood in confinement and appeared at the gates of Nuremberg one day in May 1828, barely able to speak.

Commissioned by the Royaumont Foundation for S. Avramidou, laureate of the 2020 Académie Voix Nouvelles.

Géranomachie (2021)

For large ensemble (24 musicians) and electronics

Géranomachie (from the Greek geranos [crane, migratory bird] and mache [battle]) derives from the homonymous mythological and literary topos referring to bloody battles between migratory birds and dwarfs. This mythological theme has spread across various eras and continents.

Géranomachie is not simply a fight between humans and birds; it is also a struggle born from the juxtaposition of natural elements. It expresses a dichotomy between animality and humanity, alternating according to the idiosyncrasies and behaviors of each. It is a clash of opposites - a migratory culture versus a settled culture; sky against earth.

The progression of the battle is symbolized by the alternation of different sound bodies. At times, instrumental and electronic sound blend together to create a rich organic environment. At other times, these two elements contradict and oppose each other completely, evoking a struggle for supremacy between the artificial and the natural world.

Commissioned by Ensemble intercontemporain and IRCAM.

SCÈNE vi (2014/ 2022)

For solo flute

Géranomachie Acoustique (2022)

For large ensemble (15 musicians)

Metallages (2020)

For ensemble (9 musicians)

Keep digging the hare hole (2020)

For cello and electronics

La lègende "St Martin" (2017)

For solo cello

Chronofonia (2016)

For ensemble (12 musicians)

REM (2015)

For ensemble (12 musicians)