Nickitas Demos
Professor Composition Area Coordinator School of Music- Specializations
Foundation Studies:
- Biography
Nickitas Demos (b. 1962) holds a DMA from the Cleveland Institute of Music, a MM from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and a BM from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His principal teachers were Donald Erb (1927-2008) and Roger Hannay (1930-2006).
Commissions include works for the Cleveland Orchestra, Atlanta Ballet, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Chamber Players, and the National Association of College Wind & Percussion Instructors. Awards include Special Distinction in the 43rd Annual ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize (2023); Winner of the 2021 American Prize in Composition – Chamber Music; Finalist in the 2016 American Prize in Composition – Orchestra; MacDowell Fellowship (2012); Grand Prize in the 2004 Millennium Arts International Competition for Composers; Grand Prize in the 2005 Holyoke Civic Symphony Composition Competition; and 24 ASCAP Awards. His works have been programmed at festivals and conferences including the Bellingham Festival of Music; Dimitria Festival (Thessaloniki, Greece); International Review of Composers (Belgrade Serbia); and at National and Regional Conferences of the Society of Composers, Inc. and the College Music Society. His music is self-published through Sylvan Lake Press (ASCAP) and recorded on Ablaze Records, Albany Records, Petrichor Records, MSR Classics, Neuma Records, and Capstone Records.
Demos is Professor and Coordinator of Composition Studies at the Georgia State University School of Music and the Artistic Director of the neoPhonia New Music Ensemble. He served as Director of the GSU School of Music (2017-2021) and Director of the Center for Collaboration & Innovation in the Arts (2016 – 2021). Demos served on the Board of Directors for MacDowell (2013-2016), the Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. (2005-2014), and was a Co-Founder of Bent Frequency, a professional contemporary music ensemble based in Atlanta, serving as Composer-In-Residence and Artistic Board member (2003-2008). He is the Co-Artistic Director of the SoundNOW Contemporary Music Festival (2015 to present).
For current information, score samples, audio excerpts, videos, blog and much more, please visit: nickitasdemos.com/