Evis Sammoutis (Cyprus)

Evis Sammoutis’ works have been commissioned by festivals and organizations including the Venice Biennale, Klangspuren, Royaumont, the Barlow Endowment, the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, Chamber Music America, New Music USA, and the Internationaler Musikwettbewerb der ARD München. His music has been performed in more than 45 countries at leading festivals and contemporary music series, including Tanglewood, MusicNOW, Gaudeamus, Music of Today, and ISCM events, and broadcast on international radio stations such as BBC Radio 3, SWR2, Radio France, and RAI3.

His music explores the relationship between timbre and harmony, often bringing together extended instrumental and vocal techniques with more traditional forms of musical expression. Sounds not conventionally associated with music become an integral part of his musical language, creating distinctive sonic landscapes. His works frequently demand a high degree of virtuosity and precision from performers.

Sammoutis has received more than 50 compositional awards, prizes, and scholarships, as well as recognition at international competitions. His distinctions include the Royal Philharmonic Society Award (England), the Irino Prize (Japan), and the Franz Liszt Prize (Germany). He has won first prizes at the Roy Minoff (USA), Andrés Segovia (Spain), and Look and Listen (USA) competitions, and received a special prize at the Fifth Annual Composition Contest of the Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music (USA). He has also held a DAAD Research Fellowship (Germany) and received two Fulbright Scholarships for Advanced Research. In 2025, he was awarded a distinguished senior research fellowship through the GATES International Excellence in the Humanities Program at la Maison de la Création et de l’Innovation, Université Grenoble Alpes, France, and was a visiting fellow at St Cross College, University of Oxford. In 2026, he received a New Music USA Project Grant and was selected for a Barlow Endowment commission.

His music has been performed by leading ensembles and specialists in contemporary music, including Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Neue Vocalsolisten, the Arditti Quartet, Ensemble Nomad, the New York Woodwind Quintet, and Les Percussions de Strasbourg. Orchestras that have performed his works include the London Symphony Orchestra, Holland Symfonia, and the Orchestra of Opera North. His music has also been championed by soloists including Peter Sheppard Skærved, Uli Fussenegger, Matthijs Koene, Ria Ideta, Alan Thomas, Dieter Hennings Yeomans, and Rohan de Saram.

Sammoutis is Associate Professor of Composition at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, and co-founder and Artistic Director of the International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival in Cyprus, now in its 18th season. His catalogue comprises more than 80 works for a wide range of instrumental and vocal combinations. Since 2013, his works have been published exclusively by University of York Music Press, where he is a House Composer. His first monographic album was released by KAIROS in spring 2025 to critical acclaim, with two further monographic albums scheduled for release in 2027.

A committed advocate for contemporary music and music education, Sammoutis served a two-year term as an elected member of the Executive Board of the International Music Council (IMC) and a three-year term as an elected Council Member of the Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC).

For more information, visit www.evissammoutis.com.