Yannis Kyriakides was born in Limassol, Cyprus in 1969, emigrated to Britain in 1975 and has been living in the Netherlands since 1992. He studied musicology at York University, and later composition with Louis Andriessen. He received a PhD from Leiden University on his thesis 'Imagined Voices’. As a composer and sound artist he looks for ways of creating new forms and hybrids of media. He has written over one hundred and fifty compositions, comprising mostly of music theatre, audiovisual installations and electroacoustic works for chamber and large ensembles. Prizes have included the Gaudeamus prize, the French Qwartz award, the International Rostrum of Composers prize and recently the Johan Wagenaar prize for his entire oeuvre. He founded and runs the record label 'Unsounds', is a member of the ensemble Maze, and teaches composition at the Royal Conservatory, The Hague.
"I’ve had the chance to collaborate with Silbersee as a composer on a few projects in the past with Homo Instrumentalis, Naked Lunch (with Slagwerk Den Haag and Club Guy & Roni) and One Hundred Years with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s always a privilege to work such a sensitive and intelligent group of singers. They can do anything when it comes to voice - and they do it superbly."