Aris Carastathis
*21 May 1957
Works by Aris Carastathis
Biography
Aris Carastathis is Professor of Theory /Composition and Chair of the Department of Music at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay Ontario, Canada. He is an Associate Composer and Voting Member of the Canadian Music Centre, and President of New Music North. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Louisiana State University where he studied composition with Dinos Constantinides. A composer of over one hundred works, Carastathis has received commissions from the Canadian Music Centre, Music Canada 2000, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Norman Burgess Memorial Fund, Lakehead University Centre for Northern Studies, Louisiana Sinfonietta, Acadia Trio and LSU New Music Ensemble. Carastathis' music has been performed in Austria, Belgium, Canada, England, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Serbia and USA. Many of his works are available through the Canadian Music Centre Distribution Centre and Universal Edition.
About the music
Carastathis' compositional style has gone through various transformations. Early works are strictly atonal with a heavy emphasis on serial models. Newer works display a mixture of atonal and tonal idioms with an underlying modal quality. Conventional harmonies coexist with, emerge from or result in pitch-mass sonorities. The juxtaposition of instrumental timbres plays an essential role in the composer's orchestral works. Carastathis favours non-symmetrical rhythmic designs with abrupt dynamic changes and extensive use of syncopation. Folk elements often appear in his more recent works. His latest interests include the integration of elecroacoustic composition and computer art/animation.
