Donemus Webwinkel — Skordis, Andys

Andys Skordis was born in Lefkosia, Cyprus in 1983. He has been dealing with music from a young age by playing electric guitar and writing songs for his bands, playing euphonium at various marching bands, playing percussion in traditional ensembles, experimenting with free improvisation and noise, and composing acoustical music for concerts and short films. Andys graduated with Magna Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music in Composition and in Film Scoring in 2007 and gained his Master’s degree in Composition in 2011 from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Zeer Goed. In the meantime he studied Karnatic music for 5 years with Dr. Rafael Reina, Javanese Gamelan with Elsje Plantema and Balinese Gamelan at ISI Denpasar.

Andys music has been performed in Europe, America and Asia and has been awarded with various prizes including the BUMA Toonzetters prize in 2012, the 1st and 2nd prizes from Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and 2011, the 2nd prize at the International competition for Piano quintet in Korea, and many more. Andys has also been the recipient of scholarships and artistic subsidies from Cyprus, The Netherlands and Indonesia. Besides composing he is the founder of the free improvisation collective “The Brain Masturbation”.

Andys music is inspired by his personal experiences and mind states over time, and he considers music as a time sculpture that adopts form in the context it is performed. He experiences music as a primitive need and function and as a ritual and ceremonial occurrence more than anything else.