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Dr. Evis Sammoutis (Sabbatical for Fall 2022) has had a busy September and October traveling to Germany, Switzerland and Cyprus for rehearsals and the world premiere of three new works. Pan pipes virtuoso Matthijs Koene premiered a new work that Professor Sammoutis composed for him (“Syrinx 2.0”) at the Nationaal MuziekInstrumenten Fonds Presentatiefestival in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, then again in Switzerland at the 2022 PanflötenFestival Schweiz and finally at the Shoe Factory in Nicosia, Cyprus, all in the space of 3 weeks. Koene and Professor Sammoutis will continue their collaboration for a larger scale work.  

In October, the premieres of two new major works took place in Germany and Cyprus. “In Darkness,” a 20-minute composition for five voices and bass clarinet, commissioned by Musik der Jahrhunderte and composed specifically for the Neue Vocalsolisten & Gareth Davis, was premiered at Mozart-Saal at the prestigious Donaueschinger Musiktage in Germany. The work will also be broadcast on SWR (German SouthWestern Radio).   

Shortly after the premiere of “In Darkness,” the Spanish group Trio Zukan premiered “Cellulae,” a 14-minute composition for Txistu (Basque Flute), Percussion and Accordion, in Nicosia Cyprus as part of the closing concert of the 13th Pharos Arts Foundation International Contemporary Music Festival. The group will perform the work again next December in Spain. 

The composition of “Cellulae”and “Syrinx 2.0” was supported thanks to a generous 2021 Ithaca College Summer Grant for Faculty Research. In September, piano faculty Professor Vadim Serebryany performed Professor Sammoutis’s solo piano work “Interpunct” in Toronto, Canada and then at Ithaca College as well.