The Art of Collaboration: William Antoniou & Katia Paschou
To collaborate is to work together. Through artistic collaboration an idea becomes a fully realized creation of something new and original. In the case of Katia (singer/director) and William (composer) that something is a cutting-edge opera; a team effort that comes from the heart, a synergy fueled by inspiration and the hard work of collaboration. Collaboration is not always easy. It takes wanting to learn from the other, patience, flexibility, honesty, and conviction. It takes being able to balance between being an individual and being on the team. It gets easier through experience and a healthy practice of self-awareness, always remembering that collaboration is a process. A process that is necessary for growth in every single area of our lives and relationships. At its simplest level collaboration is what we were all taught in kindergarten - play together / share your toys / be kind / give hugs at the end of the day / be curious and have fun!
Meet This Episode's Guests
WILLiam ANTONIOU
William is a composer and instrumentalist. Born in Boston, and raised in New York, he began his studies and career at an unusually early age. After studying privately with Richard Danielpour, Lucas Foss, Neil Ginsberg, Roger Ames, Dan Carter and Kim D. Sherman, he was accepted to the Tisch School Of The Arts Music Theater Summer Program at age 14, and then to The New Dramatists’ Composer/Librettist Studio at age 16. Since then he has worked with many theater and film artists in the United States and abroad including Lee Breuer, Giles Foreman, Eamonn Farrell, Christa Maiwald, Will Taylor, Ersi Pita, Panagiotis Christopoulos, Dimitris Kollatos, and Phaedra Soutou. His songs have been performed by renown singers such as Isaias Matiaba, Janelle Lannan, Jason Papowitz and Margarita Sygeniotou. In addition to his theater and film work, William’s compositions have been performed by many classical ensembles and soloists such as The National Opera of Greece, L’Anima String Quartet, Aeolos Woodwind Quintet, The Greek Contemporary Music Ensemble, The Municipal Orchestra of Athens, The Orchestra of Patras, Nikos Zarkos, Thanasis Zervas, Saulius Sondeckis, ALEA III, and Idee Fix. In 2014 William, along with librettist Eamonn Farrell, was a finalist for the Jonathan Larson Grant, an award given for outstanding achievements in Music Theater, and in 2015 William was given the L.A. Shorts award for Best Original Score for his music in the film “Lucy” (2015). In 2016 William was appointed to the board of directors of the ALEA III New Music Ensemble.
KATIA PASCHOU
Katia recently appeared as Papagena in the Magic Flute (October 2015 conductors: Michalis Economou, George Petrou) and Musetta in La Bohème (December 2014) under the baton of Loukas Karytinos at the National Greek Opera, after her successful debut as Adele in Die Fledermaus, which showed her a dynamic interpreter both her vocal and acting qualities. In 2012 and 2013 Katia was praised as Valencienne at the National Greek Opera’s production of the Merry Widow for the sauciness and youthful vitality of her presence (J. Svolos, To pontiki, Athens).
Born in Athens, Katia Paschou holds a BA in Theatre Studies from the University of Athens, School of Philosophy, a Diploma in Voice from Mannes College of Music. She is an alumna of Operaworks, CA and has been a member at Sande Shurin’s Transformational Acting Studio, NY, during 2005-2008. After relocating back to Greece, since 2010 Katia Paschou’s name is connected with the innovating side of the opera in Greece with projects such as “Interactive Opera”, “Three tea Sopranos”, “Nuit d’etoiles”. In 2015-2017 Katia created “The Katia Paschou Project”, a holistic approach-educational program for young singers and musicians, as artist in residence at the Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts & Music.
