My music is influenced by my Greek roots, history and what I have learned and am learning during my studies and life. I try to create a mixture of sounds involving melodies, rhythm and timbre in each piece. My wish is to build the music dramaturgically in such a way that you can feel it emotionally, but at the same time it also gives you the space to perceive your own self within in. The question of "identity" in music and the understanding of the world remains very exciting and challenging. 

I studied piano, composition and conducting in my native city of Athens, and in Berlin. These places have different music education systems and a different musical and cultural background. Experiencing and combining both is audible in my music. Overall, I have experienced the openness of other cultures and sounds, for which I am very grateful. 

I believe that music is not limited to tightly defined roles. When I was very young and unable to read music properly, I composed a song for my mother. When I started learning the piano, I improvised a lot. Discovering worlds through and by sound has always fascinated me. Composing as well as conducting came as a natural and necessary continuation of this. 

When I start writing a composition, I first need to know why I am starting it. I take notes, make sketches and spend quite a long time looking for the dramaturgical sequence. If I can follow this in my sketches, I begin to compose and at the end of the day I question whether what I have written makes sense to me. In this process the composition develops. I often have the feeling that a piece is never finished, and to this day I am not sure whether each piece is not a miniature of a lifelong inner process. 

 The inspiration can be a musician or the ensemble asking me to write a piece for them; it can be nature, or a social or political issue. There is usually an urge to describe something with music and often also to transform a situation. Music allows me to "speak" about a theme, about a problem or about beauty on another non-verbal level, and trust it. 

The Universal Edition publishing tool scodo is a suitable form in our days – in the year 2023 – to be there for the practical side of the composer's material and on the one hand to connect and get to know new families of composers. The platform and its functions are ingeniously prepared and one has the possibility to immediately communicate about a composition that has just been finished, without detours. 

There are many classical and contemporary composers that I admire and also perform. At the moment, Bach is my favourite composer because his versatile musical personality is an endless source of inspiration for me. 

I think it is very important to first become familiar with the music of one's own country before following a system or a method. It’s also important to understand that the composer is there to convey his own "language", without adapting. I learned from György Kurtág and Claudio Abbado to always begin a work with a "why". This has stayed with me and I find it an important approach for every musical work, and of course for also other issues. 

 It is challenging to stay true to yourself, even though the technical possibilities are growing and computer support is getting better and better. These programmes are there to support people, not the other way around. To do this, it is challenging to find platforms and your individual way to develop your career. 

…one needs to be willing to present their inner self "naked". Only showing intelligent compositional connections without a desire to make a statement does not lead to a sincere musical communication. 

…be open and curious, get to know today’s world through today's sounds and through that also themselves. 

Blue Valentine with Tom Waits. 

I am happy and grateful with all the performers I work with, no matter where they play. I don't want to be dependent on such dreams. 

I prefer paper. 

Again – both! 

28th of June 2023 | concert | Cuvilliés-Theater München, Festspiel-Kammerkonzert: Rückblick Ausblick, 20 Uhr | Geschichte des Schlagwerks in der Bayerischen Staatsoper: 1700-2023 | Werke von Walter Haupt (UA), Moritz Eggert (UA), Oriol Cruixent, Nicolas Martynciow, Claudio Estay |Konstantia Gourzi: Carousel 23 |OERcussion | Dirigentin (Haupt, Gourzi): Konstantia Gourzi 28thof June 2023 | concert | Eleusis, Kulturhauptstadt Europa 2023, 21 Uhr | Werke u.a. von Konstantia Gourzi: Voyager 2 | Dresdner Sinfoniker| Dirigent: Konstantinos Terzakis 1stof July 2023 | concert | Universität Helsinki, Helsinki | Werke von u.a. Konstantia Gourzi: Lullabies for three flowers | Münchner Rundfunkorchester | Violine Solo: Niklas Liepe | Dirigent: Patrick Hahn 19thof July 2023 | concert | Rheingau Musikfestival | Werke von u.a. Konstantia Gourzi: Lullabies for three flowers | Stuttgarter Kammerorchester | Violine solo: Niklas Liepe