AGGA-GAGA is an adventurous music-making electric guitar duo formed in March 2022 by performer-composers Alkis Nicolaides and Georgios Bizios.
Their performances explore the intersection of diverse musical logics and traditions, ranging from jazz, rock and pop to avant-garde and noise music, through various types of compositional and improvisational forms.
At an AGGA-GAGA concert, the audience will have the opportunity to experience a musical conversation in a wide sonic spectrum produced by a plethora of effect pedals, non-conventional guitar techniques as well as non-musical objects and materials.
The duo’s current work focuses on scores that combine traditional western notation with textual and graphic representation of music that rely on the performer’s real-time interpretation.
AGGA-GAGA has performed at festivals for improvised and experimental music in Cyprus (Breach festival in Nicosia) and abroad (Irtijal festival Beirut, Lebanon).
Alkis Nicolaides / electric guitar (www.alkisnicolaides.com)
Georgios Bizios / electric guitar (IG: @therealbizneez)
Artos cultural and research house, Nicosia
Friday, March 31, 2023
Doors open at 20.00
Music starts at 20.30
Entrance fee: 10 euros (cash only)
Reservations: 99161977 (call or text)
Short bios:
Alkis Nicolaides is a guitarist, improviser, composer and educator from Nicosia, Cyprus. His original work takes many forms, and it is influenced by a wide array of musical traditions. Performances of original explosive jazz-influenced metal music – battle jazz – ASMR cooking performance art, contemporary western art chamber music, music for home appliances, and improvised duets with his pseudo-AI computer instrument named Challenger. His interest in exploring many styles and performance methods is rooted to Edgar Varese’s definition of music: “What is music but organized noise?” and on David Rosenboom’s words- “What is music? I hope we never see a day when we believe we know the answer. For that day would close down music as a viable art form.”
During the last few years, Nicolaides has been performing and recording in the greater L.A. area. He has performed in venues such as Blue Whale, Troubadour, The World Stage, The Mint, Coaxial Arts Foundation, and Art Share with the legendary Bennie Maupin, prolific woodwind extraordinaire Vinny Golia, experimental black-doom metal band Blood Oath, and experimental electroacoustic trio Petrichor.
Nicolaides studied jazz composition at Berklee College of Music (BMus), jazz guitar (MFA) and composition and performance (DMA) at California Institute of the Arts under the mentorship of David Rosenboom, Vinny Golia, and Steve Lehman.
George Bizios (1993) is a guitarist, composer, improviser and interdisciplinary artist from Limassol, Cyprus. In 2019 he graduated from the ArtEZ conservatory in Arnhem, the Netherlands with a degree in jazz and modern guitar. Since then he has been active in Cyprus working on numerous projects as a leader and collaborator including music ensembles, interdisciplinary art projects, performance art, contemporary dance and theater productions.
Bizios’ practice explores ideas like improvisation in different contexts and structures, contemporary compositional forms and extended guitar techniques.
Some of his personal works were presented in several festivals and residency programs in Cyprus such as Xarkis (2019), The yard.residency (2019), Cyprus Jazz and World Music Showcase (2018, 2020, 2021), Nicosia Pop Up Festival (2021), Lemesos International Documentary Festival (2021), The Animattikon Project (2021, 2022), Irtijal Festival for Improvised and Experimental music (Beirut, 2022), Open House Festival (2022) and more.