John Psathas shot to worldwide attention when his music was heard at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics. Since then the composer has built a wide ranging network of international collaborators, with his music being performed on all seven continents including Antarctica. In this interview, John discusses how he came to composition, his compositional process, percussion, multimedia musical projects and more.

For more information on the Sonic Speculations podcast visit https://nathanielotley.com/sonic-speculations/

For more information about John Psathas please see: https://www.johnpsathas.com/

Links to work discussed:

Waiting for the Aeroplane: https://open.spotify.com/track/5gMDsPzKkU7ducGwREZCrn?si=92b63ed59a23487a

Between Zero and One: https://www.johnpsathas.com/catalogue-1/2018/1/29/between-zero-and-one-2013

Leviathan: https://www.johnpsathas.com/catalogue-1/2020/3/28/leviathan-percussion-concerto-2020?rq=leviathan

Matres Dance: https://open.spotify.com/track/46fTLwbkS9eKBwTvB0Mr3K?si=0dd0264351464883

View From Olympus: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLe6QIpB-jM_Y74doudU4GKIabk7x2B45

Music for the Olympics:

https://www.johnpsathas.com/catalogue-1/2018/4/10/athens-2004-ceremonies-2004?rq=olympics

Abhisheka: https://youtu.be/WAnDpfHcKLQ

No Man’s Land: https://youtu.be/bVQPjdd5JCs