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M A R T I N G E O R G I E V
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M A R I K E V A N A E R D E
M A R T I N G E O R G I E V
Composer
Martin Georgiev’s award-winning compositions have been played and commissioned worldwide by numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the Brussels Philharmonic, Heidelberg Philharmonic Orchestra (where he was Composer in Residence - 'Komponist für Heidelberg 2012|13"), the BBC Symphony Orchestra (where he was SAM Embedded Composer in Residence 2010-11), the Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, the Azalea Ensemble, Sofia National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cosmic Voices choir, Varna Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles; conducted by Michel Tabachnik, Fabien Gabel, Jessica Cottis, Vania Moneva, Franck Ollu, Gary Walker, Rossen Milanov, Jacques Cohen, Dian Tchobanov, Keith Bragg, Plamen Markov, performed by Tatiana Koleva, Stankov Ensemble, Sarah Cresswell, Berten D'Hollander; Valia Dervenska & Nadja Höbjärt, Ivo Varbanov & Fiammetta Tarli, Forte Quartet, Frosch Quartet, Carolyn Stuart & Svetozar Ivanov, Helena Nichols & Charlene Farrugia, Antonia Nikova-Georgieva, Raya Kostova-Humphries.
Dr. Georgiev has completed his PhD in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, University of London, in 2013. His doctoral research with principal supervisor Dr. Philip Cashian and subsidiary supervision with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Julian Anderson and Sir Harrison Birtwistle was supported by the Wingate Foundation, Alan&Nesta Ferguson Trust and Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust. Central to it was the development of an innovative technique, described by him as 'Morphing Modality', which is a systematic approach to aspects of music composition, inspired by the technique of ‘morphing images’ from the visual arts, integrating fundamental principles from the theory and practice of Bulgarian-Orthodox and Byzantine Chant, and informed by music psychology, perception and cognition.
For a more detailed biography, click here.
M A R I K E V A N A E R D E
Librettist
Dutch author Marike van Aerde has been pursuing the literary and theatrical arts alongside her academic career in Classics and Archaeology. She holds a cum laude MA degree in Classical Poetry and Drama, developing a keen interest in contemporary theatre simultaneously. In 2014 she completed her PhD degree in Archaeology at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, following four years of research in both the UK and Italy. She has been awarded scholarships from the Royal Dutch Institute in Rome and the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund for the Arts and Humanities from 2010-2013.
In London Marike has worked as designer and stage manager for productions of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Preface Theatre, directed by Michael Bradley), Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Bloomsbury Festival, conducted by Jessica Cottis and directed by Jorge Balça) in 2007. She produced a new staging of Mozart’s Don Giovanni for Bloomsbury Opera in 2008, for which she also co-wrote the new English libretto with director Jorge Balça. She was a competitor at the National Poetry Contest 2008, and in 2009 she produced a new staging of Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus for Bloomsbury Opera (conducted by Jessica Cottis and Martin Georgiev, and directed by Ian MacKenzie-Thurley).
She is the author of the original libretto for Bulgarian-British composer Martin Georgiev’s first chamber opera The Mirror, which premiered at The Royal Academy of Music in London in 2009 to critical acclaim. “Marike van Aerde’s intelligent libretto, with its references to Dante and T.S. Eliot, is the lynchpin.” — Serena Fenwick, Musical Pointers.
Marike is currently working full-time as archaeologist, frequently writing for academic publications, most recently The British Museum Journal for Studies of Ancient Egypt, and appearing at conferences worldwide. She meanwhile continues her collaboration with Martin Georgiev on several new opera projects.
For her official page at Leiden University, click here.
