Biography

I feel strongly that with my music, I am trying to force a tiny opening in the clouds that will allow His Light to shine through. At best, I am a follower, not a master, and my MASTER holds the patterns and patents of my being and work. So, in the best of circumstances, I can only think of myself as an imitator.Christos Hatzis

With two earlier Juno awards, two 2017 Juno nominations and a 2017 Juno award for his double CD Going Home Star: Truth and Reconciliation, several national and international awards and a slew of recent commissions by internationally recognized touring artists and orchestras, University of Toronto professor Christos Hatzis is constantly active on the international music scene. Hatzis’s music is continuously presented in performance and broadcast (approx. 100 performances worldwide each of the past three pre-Covid years,) an online audio playlist with over 1,700,000 hits, and a stream of CD recordings on Naxos, Deutsche Grammophon, Centrediscs, EMI, Analekta, Sony, CBC and other major and independent labels, several of them all-Hatzis albums. The Hilary Hahn’s Deutsche Grammophon recording In 27 Pieces, which includes Hatzis’s Coming To won a Grammy Award in 2015 and topped many international top 10 lists that year. Christos Hatzis is widely recognized as "one of the most important composers writing today" (CBC) and "a contemporary Canadian master" (New Yorker). He is pioneering a distinct breed of 21st Century music which combines intellectual complexity and clarity, emotional/psychological directness and technical mastery of various media and musical idioms. His recent work focuses on climate change, geopolitical diversity, indigenous issues, migration, environmental consciousness and human rights. Recent premieres include Vernal Equinox, a marimba concerto commissioned by marimbist Theodor Milkov on the theme of the of the Greek independence war and its recent Bicentennial. Hatzis often writes about contemporary music and its relationship to today’s society and has recently completed the writing of a book on Pythagorean harmonic and metaphysical philosophy titled Resonance: A Journey of Connections Made by Intuition and an esoteric memoir titled Searching for the Right Key: The First Forty Years.
Download CVPublicity photos

2003 — present. FACULTY OF MUSIC, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO.Professor.

1999. FACULTY OF MUSIC, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO.Tenure.

1995 — 2003. FACULTY OF MUSIC, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO.Associate Professor.

1982. STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO. Ph.D. Studied composition with Morton Feldman, Lejaren Hiller and Wlodzimierz Kotonski.

1977. EASTMAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC, ROCHESTER, N.Y. Master of Music. Studied composition with Samuel Adler and Russell Peck.

1976. EASTMAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC. Bachelor of Music. Studied composition with Joseph Schwantner and Warren Benson.

1974. HELLENIC CONSERVATORY, VOLOS, GREECE. Diploma in Orchestration of Wind Instruments.

1973. HELLENIC CONSERVATORY. Diploma in Theory/Education.

1972. WILLIAM HALL HIGH SCHOOL, WEST HARTFORD, CT. American High School Diploma (AFS Student.)

1971. HELLENIC CONSERVATORY. Diploma in Accordion. Studied Accordion and Harmony with Charalambos Kehaides.

1971. 2nd GYMNASION ARRENON, VOLOS, GREECE. Greek High School Diploma.

Awards and Nominations

2021 Juno Award nomination for Classical Album of the Year (Vocal/Choral) Sarah Slean CD.
2021 ECMA nomination for Classical Album of the Year (Orchestra) SNS Sarah Slean CD.
2017 Juno Award Classical Album of the Year (Large Ensemble) for Going Home Star Truth and Reconciliation. Produced and co-engineered by Christos Hatzis
2017 Juno Award nomination for Classical Composition of the Year for Going Home Star Truth and Reconciliation.
2014. Hellenic Heritage Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
2008. Jan V. Matejeck Concert Music Award (SOCAN—for most performed composer).
2008. Juno Award Classical composition of the Year—for Constantinople.
2007. Felix Nominaion (ADISQ)—for Constantinople.
2007. East Coast Music Award nomination—for Dancing in the Light.
2006. Juno Award Classical composition of the Year—for String Quartet No. 1 (The Awakening) 2004.
2006. Juno Award Nomination Classical composition of the Year—for Everlasting Light
2003. Award. National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada and Heritage Canada.
2003. Juno Award Nomination Classical composition of the Year—for Orbiting Garden.
2002. New Pioneer Award. Sponsored by Skills for Change and Heritage Canada.
1998. Prix Bohemia, Special Prize, Radio Music Category—for Footprints in New Snow.
1998. The Jean A. Chalmers National Music Award—for Nunavut.
1996. The (Governor-General) Jules Léger Prize— for Erotikos Logos.
1996. Prix Italia, Special Prize. Radio Music Category—for Footprints in New Snow.
1996. The Jean A. Chalmers Award for Composition. Finalist—for Burial Ground.
1991. Orchestral Competition of the City of Athens. Third Prize—for Beyond the Pillars of Hercules.

Comissions and Grants

(Frequent travel grants from the Canada Council not included in this list. Grants to third parties to produce or record Christos Hatzis' music are likewise not included.)

2022. By the Canada Council for the Arts—Digital Now. Production of Nothing but the Light. 2021.
By the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. Up in her Waist in Lupins.
2021 Dragon Awakening, commissioned by the Berlin-based Double-Beats duo.
2020 by Theodor Milkov for marimba and large orchestra. Vernal Equinox. (Commission for the 2021 Bicentennial from the declaration of the Greek War of Independence.) With financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
2020 By Bravo Niagara! for violinist Shlomo Mintz. Menorah. With a grant from the Ontario Arts Council. Production grant by the Azrieli Foundation.
2019 By the Canadian Art Song Project. Three Songs on Poems by Anne Michaels.
2018 By Toronto Summer Music for the New Orford String Quartet. String Quartet No. 5 (The Transforming).
2018 By the Penderecki String Quartet. String Quartet No. 4 (the Thanksgiving) with a grant from the Ontario Arts Council.
2016 By the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. SYN-PHONIA (Migration Patterns). Funding denied by Next Chapters (Canada Council for the Arts.)
2015 By the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Ecstasy.
2014 By the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (and Symphony Nova Scotia) with a grant from the Ontario Arts Council. Thunder Drum.
2014. By the Royal Winnipeg Ballet for a full-length ballet on the subject of the Residential Schools. Co- funded by the RWB and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A Story of Truth and Reconciliation. GOING HOME STAR: Truth and Reconciliation.
2013. By l’ Orchestre symphonique de Montreal for orchestra (funding by the orchestra). The Isle is Full of Noises.
2013. By the Affiara String Quartet with a grant from the Ontario Arts Council. String Quartet No. 3 (The Questioning).
2012. By the Women's Musical Club of Toronto for cellist Yegor Dyachkov and pianist Jean Saulnier. Atonement.
2012. By the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for pop singer Sarah Slean and Symphony Nova Scotia—Lamento
2012. By the Association for Canadian Choral Communities (ACCC) for the 2012 National Youth Choir of Canada, for SATB choir—Mysterion Xenon
2011. By Lady Cove Women's Choir for women's choir and Inuit throat singers—Okiatsâsiujut
2011. By Art of Time Ensemble for pop singer Steven Page and the AoT ensemble—Marie (arrangement) 2011. By Toronto Sinfonia for bass clarinetist Jeff Reilly and string orchestra with a grant from the Ontario Arts Council—Extreme Unction
2011. By Suzie LeBlanc with funding from Suzie LeBlanc, John Barnstead and the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia—Four Songs On Poems by Elizabeth Bishop
2010. By the Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church, Roslyn Heights, New York for pop baritone George Dalaras and orchestra—Credo
2010. By Hilary Hahn. Two works for violin and piano and for solo violin with funds provided by Hilary Hahn—Coming To and Dystopia
2009. By CityMusic Cleveland for the Pacifica Quartet and the CityMusic Chamber Orchestra with a grant by The Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (Ohio)—Redemption: Book 1
2009. By the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for Dame Evelyn Glennie and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra—Mirage?
2009. By the City Opera Vancouver. Commission of a new opera, PAULINE, based on the life and death of Canadian literary icon Pauline Johnston. Libretto by Margaret Atwood, music by Christos Hatzis. Projected premiere January 2010, Pantages Theatre, Vancouver, BC. Partial commission funding by the Canada Council for the Arts, December 2008. (note: Hatzis withdrew from the project in 2011).
2008. By the Toronto Summer Music Academy & Festival—In the Fire of Conflict
2008. By the Elmer Iseler Singers and the Vancouver Chamber Choir—Psalm 91
2008. By the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Choir—From the Song of Songs
2007. By Shallaway—Newfoundland and Labrador Youth in Chorus with a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts—WATER
2007. By the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation—Easter Kontakion 2006.
By the Canada Council for the Arts—Mystical Visitations 2006.
By the Canada Council for the Arts—Tongues of Fire
2006. By the Ontario Arts Council—Wormwood
2005. By the Laidlaw Foundation—Wormwood
2005. By The Children of Chornobyl—Wormwood
2005. Composer Residency grant by the SOCAN Foundation to attend the premiere and CD recording of Telluric Dances.
2004. By Patricia Rosario and the English Chamber Choir with a grant from the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation—The Troparion of Kassiani
2004. By the Canada Council for the Arts and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation—Telluric Dances
2003. Travel Grant to Greece and Egypt. Department of Foreign Affairs (Gryphon Trio-Constantinople)
By the Canada Council for the Arts—Sepulcher of Life
2003. By the Laidlaw Foundation—Four Rituals
2003. By the Toronto Children’s Choir with a grant from the Ontario Arts Council—LIGHT (Arctic Dreams 2)
2002. By the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2004 for Jamie Sommerville and the CBC Radio Orchestra—Winter Solstice
2002. By Pilobolus Dance Theatre—My Brother’s Keeper
2002. By the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, 200—Light from the Cross
2001, 2000, 1999. By Rivka Golani and Beverley Johnston with grants from the Laidlaw Foundation, 2001, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2000 and the Ontario Arts Council—Pyrrichean Dances
By the Gryphon Trio with a grant from Music Canada 2000 and the Laidlaw Foundation, 1999—Constantinople
1998. By Music Canada 2000 for the Elmer Iseler Singers—Everlasting Light
1998. Grants to Composers Program, Toronto Arts Council—De Angelis
1998. By the Toronto Chamber Choir with a grant from the Ontario Arts Council—De Angelis
1998. By the Elmer Iseler Singers with a grant from the Canada Council—Everlasting Light
1997. Grants for Sound Recording. The Canada Council for the Arts—Footprints in New Snow (CD)
1997. By the Scotia Festival of Music for the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with a grant from the Nova Scotia Arts Council— Farewell to Bach
1997. Grants to Composers Program, Toronto Arts Council—Confessional
1997. By the St. Lawrence Quartet with a grant from the Ontario Arts Council—String Quartet No. 2 (The Gathering) 1997. By the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for the Millennium Project of the European Broadcasting Union—Viderunt Omnes
1997. By the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra—Farewell to Bach
1997. SOCAN Composer-in-residence program with the Bach Elgar Choir,—Kyrie
1996. By the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for Shauna Rolston and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra—Confessional
1996. By the Bach Elgar Choir with a grant from the Laidlaw Foundation, and the Ontario Arts Council—Kyrie
1996. Grants to Composers Program, Toronto Arts Council—Fertility Rites
1995. By Keith Horner with a grant from the Ontario Arts Council—Footprints in New Snow
1995. F.A.C.T.O.R. Independent Artists Recording Loan and Recording Program for Classical Music, Ontario Arts Council—Erotikos Logos (CD)

Commissions of incidental music

2003. The Movie Co-Op. Soundtrack for feature film—Mozart Loves Me

Contacts


To inquire about purchasing, rending or perusing scores of Christos Hatzis' music, please contact Promethean Editions directly:
PROMETHEAN EDITIONS LTD
PO Box 10 143
Wellington, New Zealand
info@promethean-editions.com
www.promethean-editions.com
Tel. +64 4 473 5033
Fax. +64 4 473 5066

To contact Christos Hatzis directly, write or e-write:
CHRISTOS HATZIS
Faculty of Music, University of Toronto,
80 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
A5S 2C5, Canada
christos.hatzis@utoronto.ca
Copyright © 2022 Christos Hatzis
Photos by Bo Huang
Website by P.P.