T he Living Composers Project

Virsaladze, Maya (b. May 23, 1971, Tbilisi). Georgian composer of mostly chamber, choral, vocal, and piano works that have been performed throughout Europe.

Ms. Virsaladze finished her studies at the Z. Paliashvili Special School of Music in Tbilisi in 1989 and studied composition with Bidzina Kvernadze at the Conservatory of Music in Tbilisi from 1990-95, where she also studied musicology with Lia Dolidze 1994-96 and graduated with honors in both subjects. She then had post-graduate studies in composition with Nodar Mamisashvili there from 1996-98. She attended masterclasses with Osvaldas Balakauskas and Folke Rabe in Buckow, Germany in 1999 and was a guest composition student of Walter Zimmermann at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin in 2000-01.

Her honors include the Georgian Ministry of Culture Prize (1994, for Three Romances) and a listing in the directory Outstanding Musicians of the 20^th Century (2000, Cambridge Biographical Centre). She later served as composer-in-residence at the Menhir festival in Falera, Switzerland (2005). Her music has been performed in Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, and Ukraine.

Ms. Virsaladze is also active in other positions. She co-founded the Union of Young Georgian Composers and Musicologists in Tbilisi in 1998. She currently works for the organization FDHR in Tbilisi with funding from the Dutch creative therapy project War Child.

CONTACT INFORMATION

E-mail address: mavilumka@hotmail.com

Street address: Ms. Maya Virsaladze, Krilow St. 9, 380002 Tbilisi, Georgia

Telephone: + 995 3295 0962

Fax: + 995 3232 0307

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

STAGE: Mirror (ballet, scenario by the composer), mixed chorus, synthesizer, orchestra, 1998

ORCHESTRAL: Piece, 1994; Variations, small orchestra, 1996

CHAMBER MUSIC: Piece, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, 1990; Piece, string quartet, 1990; Invention, flute, piano, 1992; Duet, flute, piano, 1994; Duet, flute, harp, 1994; Trio, flute, clarinet, piano, 1994; Sketches, clarinet, percussion, 1997; Enigma No. 1, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion, 1999; Enigma No. 2, clarinet, piano, 1999; Alternative, ensemble, 1999; Ostinato, ensemble, 2001; Stars, flute, 2001; Two Wings, violin, bayan/accordion, 2001; Weeping about the Moon, flute, guitar, 2002; Remembrance, 4 saxophones, 2003 (also version for flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, vibraphone [+ cymbals], 2004); The Future Is Sacred, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, French horn, violin, cello, 2004

CHORAL: You Georgian Sky (text by Anna Kalandaze), mixed chorus, 1990; Piece (texts from Georgian folk poems), mixed chorus, 1993; Psalms, soloists, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1995; Kaleidoscope of Dreams (texts by Anna Kalandaze, Valerina Gaphrindashvili), mixed chorus, 2000; Alma Mater (cantata, text from a medieval Latin church chorale), mixed chorus, 2001; Holy God (song-cycle), female chorus, 2002; The Blessed Virgin, mixed chorus, 2002

VOCAL: You at the Seashore (text by Galaktion Tabidze), soprano, piano, 1990; Four Romances (text by Terenty Granely), soprano, piano, 1994; Three Romances (texts by Grigol Robakidze, Paolo Iashvili), soprano, piano, 1994; Volchonok (text by Vladimir Nabokov), soprano, piano, 1996; Triptych (texts by Grigol Robakidze, Paolo Iashvili), soprano, small orchestra, 1997; Aphorisms (text by Shota Rustaveli), soloists, ensemble, 1998; Stars, speaker, flute, percussion, 2001; Through a Thousand Glasses (triptych, text by Teresa Riuters Seeli), soprano, orchestra, 2005

PIANO: Piece, 1990; Three Pieces, 1991; Theme and Variations, 1991; Sonata No. 1, 1993; Sonata No. 2, 1996; Concert Piece, 1996; Maestoso, 1999; Millennium, 2000

(Last updated on December 6, 2005)