– Biography –

 

 

Versatile musician, composer, educator and researcher, Georgia Nicolaou (1990) was born and raised in Cyprus, while based in the Netherlands for the last thirteen years. Coming from a musical family, Georgia was influenced from her very early years by her island’s strong cultural tradition in music and dance. She started playing the piano at the age of five, and soon discovered the art of composing through her own little piano pieces. Besides piano, she followed intensive classes and workshops in Singing, Theatre – Stage Performance and Dance.

In 2009 she started her academic studies at the Ionian University, Department of Music in Corfu, Greece. There, she studied Composition with Joseph Papadatos and Dimitra Trypani and Jazz Vocals as a minor subject. In 2011 she was granted the Erasmus scholarship to study for one year at the Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands, where she later completed her studies, receiving a Bachelor of Music with Honours in Composition under the guidance of Jeroen D’Hoe and Caroline Ansink. In 2016 she completed her Master Studies in Composition at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, guided by the acclaimed composers and educators, Peter-Jan Wagemans, René Uijlenhoet, Paul van Brugge, Hans Koolmees and Klaas de Vries. In September 2016 she was awarded with the Tera de Marez Oyens prize during the Gaudemaus Muziekweek in Utrecht. She is currently a PhD candidate at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp and the University of Antwerp, supervised by Prof. Peter van Petegem, Prof. dr. Luc Nijs and dr. Bob Selderslaghs. She is also completing a Certification program on Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies with EMOVE Institute in Amsterdam.

Georgia’s works are distinguished for their liveliness, rhythmical complexities and modal character. Being active in the broader artistic world, the multidisciplinary aspect is evident in many of her works, adding a stimulating essence to the music itself. Her compositions vary from pieces for chamber ensembles to electronic music, as well as contemporary dance and experimental music theatre performances. Her works have been performed in prestigious contemporary music festivals, such as November Music 2018, Transit 2018, Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2016 & 2018, Operadagen Rotterdam 2019, De Parade 2019; as well as distinguished music and theatre halls in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Italy and Portugal. As a performer, she often performs with vocal and free improvisation ensembles, as well as for her own creations as a vocalist and dancer.

Currently, she works as a practitioner – researcher on her PhD project: “Moving towards Resilience: Joint Creation through Music and Movement for Local, Immigrant and Refugee Children”. Previously, she completed a research project entitled “Moving in Musicking: Promoting social inclusiveness for children at risk” within the research group CORPoREAL, at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp – AP University College. She was a member of the monitoring team of the Creative Europe Project “Resilience in resonance. Teaching children at risk to play an instrument through music and movement”, coordinated by Prof. dr. Luc Nijs. Besides, she is actively involved in the research platforms SIMM – Social Impact of Making Music and Music4Change, and she presented her work in various conferences (i.e., SIMM 2018 in Porto, SIMM 2021 in Paris, SIMM 2022 in London and Music4Change 2023 in Bergen). Her research has also been published in peer-reviewed journals (i.e., Frontiers in Educational Psychology). Furthermore, she works as a music and movement teacher and performer for the educational organization Musica Impulse Centre in Belgium.