About Effy
Effy Efthymiou is a London-based composer, and a creator and producer of multimedia stage works that harness music, movement, the body and the spoken word. Her work has been described as ‘Brilliantly realised’ by Tamara Guasi in Time Out, and as ‘a powerful statement for 21st century innovation’ (Timmy Fisher, Bachtrack, 2018).
Effy has won numerous awards to create and produce her work, including from PRSF (Women Make Music), Arts Council England, National Lottery, Wellcome Trust, Hinrichsen Foundation, RVW Trust and Playground Studio. Her work has been performed at festivals and venues across the UK, including at Kings Place (which has programmed three evening-long performances of her work), Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican, Sage Gateshead, St John's Smith Square, Handel and Hendrix in London, Kettle’s Yard, Westminster Abbey, Bridgewater Hall and the International Guitar Festival.
Effy teaches composition in higher education settings, including long-term engagements at King's College London, where she has taught undergraduate and post-graduate Composition modules. She has also been invited as a guest speaker to the Departments of Music of the University of Cambridge and the University of Southampton.
Effy studied Composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, with scholarships from the Leverhulme Trust and TCM Trust, and has an AHRC-sponsored Ph.D. in Composition from King’s College London. Her music is published by Edition HH.
List of works (selection)
Large Ensemble
Fluidity (chamber orchestra). Commissioned by Orchestra Vitae. Premiered at St John's Smith's Square on 6 October 2022. Conducted by Pablo Urbina.
I will wait, but not as I run (chamber orchestra). Premiered at the Equator Women of the World Festival, Kings Place, London, 20 October 2018. Performed by the Zeitgeist Chamber Orchestra. Conducted by Sam Poppleton.
Atsimevu (chamber orchestra). Premiered at Blackheath Halls, London, 2012. Conducted by Gregory Rose.
Strings (quartets, solos and duos)
I am Walking Here (solo viola). Premiered by Mark Gibbs at the Equator Women of the World Festival, Kings Place, London, 20 October 2018. Subsequent performances at All Hallows by the Tower, City of London, 26 October, and Blue Room, Lincoln, 8 November 2018. Funded by Hinrichsen Foundation.
Even if it is Only a Whisper (two violins). Shortlisted for Ivan Juritz Prize, 2018. Premiered at King’s College London in celebration of International Women’s Day, 8 March 2018.
Parting (string quartet). Premiered at Kings Place on 16 March 2014, as part of multimedia show, Parting. Supported by Arts Council England.
Grinder (solo violin). Premiered at Kings Place on 16 March 2014 as part of multimedia show, Parting. Supported by Arts Council England.
Psychophonic (violin and electronics). Premiered at Kings Place on 16 March 2014 as part of multimedia show, Parting. Supported by Arts Council England.
Foraging (string quartet). Winner of the Greenwich International String Quartet Composition Competition. Premiered at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, by the Wu Quartet, 2011.
Wherever I Hang (string quartet). Performed at Arcola Theatre, 14 and 15 September 2007 as part of Hip Hop Ballet, Wherever I Hang. Supported by the National Lottery and Scarman Trust.
Voice
The Crazed Moon (SSAATTBB). Composed for Cheltenham Composer Academy 2023, for the Carice Singers. Premiered at Cheltenham Music Festival, 14 July, 2023.
Their Lenses can Smile (two sopranos and piano). Performed at Kings Place by Susan Parkes, Susanna Fairbairn and Matthew Schellhorn, 16 March 2014. Supported by Arts Council England.
Nobody's Watching (soprano and piano). Performed at Kings Place by Susan Parkes and Matthew Schellhorn, 16 March 2014. Supported by Arts Council England.
A Boy in a Dress (soprano, piano and percussion). Premiered at Tête á Tête Opera Festival, Riverside Studios, 11 and 12 August 2012, as part of multimedia opera, Fragments of Sun.
Small ensemble
Bird with a Wolf Heart (flute, clarinet, alto sax, bassoon, trombone, cello). Commissioned by East London Music Group and CoMA. Premiered at The Octagon, Queen Mary, University of London, 3 December, 2022.
Swarming (flute and guitar). Commissined by the International Guitar Foundation. Premiered at Kings Place, London, 27 March 2022.
Two Reflections (violin and guitar). Published by Edition HH. Performed at London Guitar Festival, Venus Unwrapped series, Kings Place, 2019.
Where They Flocked (clarinet, violin, viola, cello, percussion). Premiered at King’s College London, in celebration of International Women’s Day, 8 March 2018.
Exhale (for pipa and piano). Commissioned by New Sound China UK. Premiered at Bridgewater Hall, 25 September 2015, with broadcast on BBC Radio Machester.
Deep Lakes (brass quartet). Commissioned by Meridian Brass. Premiered at the Sonic Coast Festival, 25 October 2014.
Pulser (recorder quintet). Commissioned by PRS Women Make Music and Consortium 5. Premiered at the Wilding Festival, St. George’s Bloomsbury, 16 June 2013, with subsequent performances nationwide.
Cajoniking (percussion quartet). Commissioned by Kettle’s Yard, for acclaimed percussion group, Ensemble Bash. Premiered by Ensemble Bash on 6 May 2012 at Kettle’s Yard.
Solo
Phrenetikos (organ). Premiered at Westminster Abbey on 30 May 2010 with a subsequent performance by organist William Whitehead at St. Michael’s Church on 25 February 2011.
States of Ice: Hail (classical guitar). Commissioned by the International Guitar Foundation. Performed at Kings Place, 27 October 2012; Sage Gateshead, 20 and 21 October 2012; and Bath Assembly Rooms, 24 and 25 July 2012. Subsequent performances at UK music festivals and regional chamber concerts (including in Sweden and Brighton, 2018; and Kings Place, Venus Unwrapped, 27 October 2019).
Electronomikos (harpsichord and electronics). Premiered at Handel and Hendrix in London by Jane Chapman, 4 June 2011.
Stage works
Rituals to Mould Her With (a multimedia collaboration with Litha Efthymiou, harpsichordist Jane Chapman, dancer Harriet Parker-Beldeau, and actor Esmé Patey-Ford). Performed at London's Kings Place on 5 February 2017; Handel and Hendrix in London, May 2017; RWA in Bristol, November 2016; and Southampton's Turner Sims in December 2016. Supported by Hinrichsen Foundation, RVW Trust, and the Brigstow Institute.
Parting (a multidisciplinary stage work for 13 musicians, two actors, dancer and two filmmakers, in collaboration with a psychologist from the Institute of Psychiatry). Commissioned by Kings Place and premiered on 16 March 2014; previews at National Maritime Museum and Blackheath Halls, 2012. Supported by Arts Council England.
Fragments of Sun (a multidisciplinary opera, with dance and live video projection). Commissioned by and performed at the Tête á Tête Opera Festival, Riverside Studios, 11 and 12 August 2012.
Reminiscence (a multidisciplinary stage work). Performed at Jacksons Lane Theatre, 9 - 20 September 2008. Supported by the Playground Studio, Arts Council England and Wellcome Trust.
Wherever I Hang: A Hip Hop Ballet (a multimedia work for string quartet and Hip Hop dancers). Performed at Arcola Theatre, 14 and 15 September 2007. Supported by the National Lottery.
Theatre and Film
The Fourth Dimension. Film premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on 10 October 2012.
The History of the Pomegranate. Theatre show (full production) performed at the Sir John Mills Theatre, Pulse Festival; Tower Bridge Gallery; and Stoke Newington International Airport throughout 2009. Ahh Productions.