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Biography
Christos Hatzis (Greek: ???st?? ?at???; born 1953) is a Juno Award-winning Greek-Canadian composer. Many of his compositions are performed internationally, and he is a professor at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.
Early life and education
Hatzis was born in Volos, Greece and received his early music instruction at the Volos branch of the Hellenic Conservatory. He continued his musical studies in the United States, first at the Eastman School of Music (B.M 1976 and M.M 1977) and later at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo (Ph.D. 1982). His composition teachers include Morton Feldman, Lejaren Hiller, Wlodzimierz Kotonski, Samuel Adler, Russell Peck, Joseph Schwantner and Warren Benson.
Career
Hatzis immigrated to Canada in 1982 and became a Canadian citizen in 1985. He composed music related to Christian spirituality, particularly his Byzantine heritage, and the Canadian Inuit culture. In addition to composing and teaching, Hatzis has written extensively about composition and contemporary music.
He won the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music in 1996.
In 1998, Hatzis received the Jean A. Chalmers National Music Award. He won two Juno Awards in 2006, including Best Classical Composition for String Quartet No. I (The Awakening), which was recorded by the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
Hatzis won another Juno in 2008 for his work Constantinople; it combined music and visual media and is musically eclectic, featuring jazz, classical, and eastern elements. The work was performed at halls at Banff and Toronto during the summer and fall of 2004, to critical acclaim from the Toronto Star and the Calgary Herald. Constantinople has been performed internationally.
His projects include a commission from violinist Hilary Hahn, a piece for bass clarinet, string orchestra and audio playback commissioned by Jeff Reilly, and a new work based on poems by Elizabeth Bishop, commissioned by soprano Suzie Leblanc and Symphony Nova Scotia. On 12 November 2010, Hatzis' piece Credo was performed by George Dalaras, a popular Greek singer, and CityMusic Cleveland Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall in New York. He also composed a piece for the CBC as part of a multinational Millenium Project.
Hatzis composed the score for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet production Going Home Star; the two-CD recording by the Winnipeg Symphony won a Juno Award in 2017.
He is a member of the Canadian Music Centre. His works are published by Promethean Editions.
Productions
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Artist Information
All information is derived from OPERA America's Season Schedule of Performances and titles databases which date back to 1991. OPERA America is constantly updating this data. If you feel that a work or an artist has been omitted or that information is incorrect, please use the linked forms below. Title Information Form Artist Information Form
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