Christina Athinodorou (b.1981) is a Greek-Cypriot composer who is developing a profound and highly personal language. Her music is marked by her strong preoccupation with pacing and the treatment of light.
Her catalogue comprises of more than 70 compositions to date, written from solo to symphony orchestra, for vocal, instrumental and electronic forces, multidisciplinary projects, music for the stage and Opera.
In recognition of her “captivating” orchestral writing, she received awards and commissions from symphony orchestras worldwide. Her Votrysreceived its world première at the prestigious Grafenneg Festival in Austria in 2014 by the Tonkünstler Orchester Niederösterreich with the composer herself on the podium; and it was subsequently performed at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence with the Orchestre de Jeunes de la Méditerranée under Pablo Heras-Casado. Her Intermède pour une mer jamais vue was commissioned by Radio France and premiered by the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France under Jean Deroyer in 2013, and later performed around Île-de-France, as well as in the historic parisian Salle Pleyel, marking “la grande découverte de la soirée”. The work received its panhellenic premiere by the Athens State Orchestra – Christina’s first collaboration with a Greek orchestra – led by Pierre-André Valade. Almafor solo viola and symphony orchestra, a finalist work in the 6th Prokofiev competition, was premiered by the Saint Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra with the violist Alexei Bogorad and conductor Alexander Titov in 2012. Besides, in the UK, Christina conducted her Reverse Rivers:Images of Euboeafor Symphony Orchestra, commissioned by the Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Reading Concert Hall in 2007. Among Christina’s works for smaller-sized orchestra is Quatre Silences, a work described as “a beautiful, solidly sounding package, comfortably yet intensively interpreted with a strong percussion ending”, commending her “fine and logical treatment of silence”, upon its premiere in Musiikin Aika Festival with the Jyväskyla Sinfonia Finlandia led by the composer. Composed for string orchestra, a work which “engages with the concept of abandonment and resurrection” Naked Branches, I was premiered by the Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra, and made its way to the composer’s birth country in various occasions with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, an orchestra which also premiered Black Circles for chamber orchestra as part of their “Rising Artists” series. Recent additions to Christina’s growing symphonic catalogue are the works Sails composed in 2018, and Thérapía for Symphony Orchestra composed in 2024.
Much of Christina’s music is inspired by the sea, often exploring fluctuation, frequency range and multi-layered flow, from a technical and a poetic point of view. Commissioned by the Italian ensemble Sentieri Selvaggi, and premiered at the Festival MITO Settembre Musica in 2008, Aktaí for six players was further performed in the Biennale di Venezia, acclaimed for its “delicate textures and bursts of the mediterranean” and “somewhat archaic climate”. Her Olkàsfor ensemble was premiered by the Viennese Ensemble Reconsil in the ISCM World New Music Days – Wien Modern. The German premiere was given with Ensemble BlauerReiter in Munich led by Armando Merino, and was broadcast on BR-Klassik. Christina also composed Aigaio in Memoriam Ilias Venezisfor an ensemble of twelve violoncelli in 2012, and a year later the work received its world première by the Nomos Ensemble de Violoncelles, directed by Michel Pozmanter, at the Théâtre Dunois in Paris. Moreover, her X-Îlefor ensemble was first performed in the Music Biennale Zagreb, and later revived in Nicosia by the Athens-based Ergon Ensemble directed by Konstantinos Terzakis.
During the difficult period of lockdowns, Christina composed Ma Mèr(e) Méditerranée(2019-20), for mezzo-soprano, two choirs and symphony orchestra on a multilingual libretto, a work commissioned by the Opera La Monnaie/De Munt, Brussels building on the concept of vocal drama. Developing this further, she completed Un Silence Extraordinaire for choir and five musicians, based on a text compiled by the composer, taken from Jules Vernes” Un voyage au centre de la terre” in French and from the 3rd Psalm of David in Greek. The work was a commission by the Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence, and it was premiered by the Ensemble Vocal d’Aix-Marseille Université (dir. Philippe Fransceschi) with the Ensemble C Barré (dir. Sébastien Boin) in June 2023.
Working with languages and on the refined connection between text and sound, Christina has produced “atmospheric, strangely fascinating” scores, including De l’Âme for a capella choir in 8 parts, based on St Gregory Palamas’s prayer, and awarded in the 1st Sibelius Composition competition 2015, chaired by Kaija Saariaho in Finland. Further, her work thou Art with me for Solo Violin, commissioned by the Code Modern Festival in Germany, “embarks on a musical quest for a new perspective on religion and spirituality”, employing the speaking and singing voice, and the body movement of the instrumentalist, as an integral part of this composition in “meditative, ethereal, tender tones”.
Christina’s output in chamber and ensemble music manifests the important role of extended techniques in her process of dealing with innovative or traditional formations, in collaborations with some of the most remarkable ensembles and musicians of our time. Her trio En Rootfor clarinet, cello and piano, was first performed by the Ensemble Aleph upon invitation from the Pharos Arts Foundation, and subsequently, in the Festival Musikprotokoll in Graz by Klangforum Wien. Her piano trio entitled Messa Aktis, started its journey in Rieti with the Ensemble L’ Arsenale in 2013, and received further performances by the Belgian Het Collectief, the Munich-based ensemble Oktopus, and is soon to be released on an album with the Marseille-based Trio&Co. Moreover, Christina worked with the Ensemble DissonArt in her Erot[onde]as, an ensemble work commissioned by the Onassis Cultural Centre, in the framework of the Interfaces Network co-funded by Creative Europe, and which was later programmed by the Ensemble Zeitfluss. Other collaborations include the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart – Musik der Jahrhuderte, Pierrot Lunaire Ensemble Wien, Elias String Quartet etc. Solo works in which both image and gesture as part of pacing sound is explored, include Virgulesfor accordion premiered by Timo Kinnunen in Japan, Re:Mainsfor multi-pianist premiered by Annini Tsiouti as part of the Pafos2017 European Capital of Culture programme, Aosmonfor solo violin premiered by Alda Dizdari at the Warehouse London, and Flut(t)eRingsfor solo flute premiered by Richard Craig in the Sound Festival in Aberdeen.
Christina began her musical training as a pianist and flutist in Cyprus and started composing from a very young age. She then entered theGuildhall School of Music and Drama in London to study composition with Julian Philips, and graduated with a BMus and an MMus. She also studied in France in various settings such as Centre Acanthes, IRCAM, CNSMD de Lyon and in private lessons with Philippe Leroux, and later she completed a PhD at the Royal Holloway University of London, now continuing her research independently. She also studied conducting, and read Byzantine music.
Beyond her work as a composer, she is occasionally active as a freelance conductor, and as an artistic advisor introducing project concepts and designing programmes, while she frequently gives composition seminars, workshops, masterclasses and private lessons, invited by music, academic and art institutions, festivals etc. These included the London College of Music, the Royal Holloway University of London, the European University Cyprus and others. Christina was also a Composer-in-Residence at the CAMAC, La Monnaie, the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Belgium, and at the Cité des Arts in Paris.
Christina is based in Cyprus where she maintains her composition studio, and she lives from time to time in Paris continuing to work internationally.