Greek Composers’ Union
Greek Composers’ Union
The Greek Composers’ Union was founded on June 8th 1931. Its’ main aims are the protection and promotion of the Greek musical creations, the development of solidarity between the Greek composers, and the protection of their professional and artistic rights. Since 1931, the Union has not relented in pursuing these goals, even during the Second World War.
Its members include the most distinguished Greek composers such as Dimitris Mitropoulos, Manolis Kalomiris, Nikos Skalkottas, Antiochos Evangelatos, Iannis Xenakis, Jani Christou, George Sisilianos and Theodore Antoniou.
From 1989 until 2018 the president of the Greek Composers’ Union was Theodore Antoniou, Academician, composer, director and professor at the Boston University. During his presidency, the G.C.U. has expanded its activities considerably. Besides the organization of many concert series, the Greek Composers Union organizes two Pan – Hellenic composition competitions: “Yiannis A. Papaioannou” competition and “Dimitris Dragatakis” competition. Moreover, it organizes young composers’ workshops, lectures and congresses, and promotes the publication and release of different scores and CDs featuring contemporary music.
Since 2003 the Greek Composers’ Union has its own magazine “music Polytonon”, a bimonthly publication, whose main aim is to promote and disseminate Greek and international contemporary music to the wider public. The magazine also serves as an information and communication channel between the Greek musical community.
Greek Composers’ Union is a member of the International Society for Contemporary Music (I.S.C.M.) since 2002.