Zesses Seglias

Zesses Seglias’s compositional work focuses on sonic bodies and linguistic structures. He explores the relationship between sound, voice, and its semiology. In recent pieces, he fuses music and speech to create a hybrid of sound and meaning, which he refers to as spoken sound theatre. His music is characterized by long durational forms, an emphasis on sonic detail, narrative devices borrowed from other art forms, distinctive vocal qualities, sharp contrasts with the occasional grotesque element, and slow, static structures interspersed with dense episodes. 

Seglias (Edessa, 1984) studied composition and music theatre at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with Michalis Lapidakis and at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria, with Beat Furrer. He pursued further education with Georges Aperghis, Brian Ferneyhough, Pierluigi Billone, Mark Andre, Chaya Czernowin, and others. He completed his PhD and postdoctoral research at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with Dimitris Papageorgiou. He has taught music and composition at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Macedonia, the University of Thessaly, and the University of Western Macedonia. 

One highlight of Seglias’s international career is the opera To the Lighthouse (2017), commissioned by the Bregenz Opera Festival in Austria, with a libretto by Ernst Binder/Virginia Woolf. The piece Not I (2023), based on a text by Samuel Beckett, was commissioned by the Greek National Opera, and was realized with the theatre group Zero Point directed by Savvas Stroumpos. In 2014, his mini-opera hystéra was presented at the Graz Opera under the direction of Beat Furrer.  

In 2018, Musikfabrik recorded his piece madrigali al vento e ai sospiri. His work madrigali alla luce e al sangue (2021) was performed by Ensemble Phace under Nacho de Paz in Krems, Austria, and in 2022 in Salzburg, under Lars Mlekush. Between 2020 and 2022, his trilogy Conversations was presented in New York, Toronto, and Vienna by Jana Luksts, the Longleash Trio, and the Schallfeld Ensemble. In 2014, his piece her was featured in the celebration concert for Beat Furrer’s 60th birthday, performed by Klangforum Wien under Peter Rundel. In 2024, Seglias took part in the 70th birthday concert of Furrer at Radialsystem in Berlin. 

For a premiere in 2026, Seglias has been commissioned a new music theatre piece titled Qu4d, based on Beckett’s television play Quad by the Konzerthaus Wien in Austria, which will be created with the ensembles ExVoCo (Stuttgart) and Crossing Lines (Barcelona). Also in 2026, 

KNM Berlin will premiere his work …a drop on my fingers, two lips as a fuzz, a sun on our heads (is the pattern) for ensemble and lights, both at the Greek National Opera and in Berlin. 

In the academic year 2025–2026, he will curate and teach the program Composing Sound Paintings, aimed at children aged 5–10 at the Museum of Modern Art. 

As of October 2025