Featured Composer – Gregory Emfietzis

The theatrical and energetic Metapraxis Ensemble perform two works by their Artistic Director and BNM Featured Composer Gregory Emfietzis, including the UK premiere of a new work. Emfietzis’s work focusses on narrative in music, combining musical gestures, sound landscapes and extra-musical elements to reveal the story in a unique and exciting way.

Emfietzis’s new work is the sequel to his ‘The black art of obscurantism’ (commissioned by the London Sinfonietta in 2013), and explores the human body on three levels: the ‘inside’ (both as a working machine and also as the cage of each human being’s spirit), the ‘outside’ (the stimuli that provoke life), and the skin (the middle element that separates and connects the other two). In contrast, ‘Gluttony’ explores the acoustic qualities of flutes, percussion and bottlephone (an instrument specifically made for this piece involving a tank with liquid gradually being emptied into hanging bottles). The composition and development of the piece have been supported by the Arts Council.

Metapraxis Ensemble: Loukia Loulaki (cello), Ilze Ikse (flute), Angela Wai-Nok Hui (percussion)

Gregory Emfietzis (b. 1980):New Work for Cello (2018) UK Premiere
Gregory Emfietzis: Gluttony for Flutes, Percussion and Bottlephone (2016-17)