CRYSTALLA
Crystalla is a classically trained Composer, Pianist, Singer, Conductor and Music Director. After graduating with a First Class Honours from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as a BMus Honours Composition student, Crystalla has recently completed a Masters of Music in Composition, achieving a Distinction, at London’s Royal Academy of Music. Since leaving Cyprus, Crystalla has fully indulged herself into the UK’s music scene, composing and performing in various musical genres for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Riot Ensemble, Red Note Ensemble, CHROMA Ensemble, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s Chorus, Edinburgh Quartet, Edinburgh Art Festival and the Glasgow Short Film Festival. Crystalla has received various nominations for a short film, including ‘Best Composition,’ for the Glasgow Film Festival, British Short Film Awards and Norwich Film Festival 2021. She recently composed, conducted and adjudicated for the Florence International Choral Festival 2022 in Florence.
Her most recent projects took place over the summer where she was a composer for Cheltenham Music Festival’s Composer Academy, where she worked with Mahan Esfahani, Fenella Humphreys and Daniel Kidane. She also took part in Dartington Summer Festival, where she composed for Quatuor Bozzini. Her new music ensemble, ‘Dias Ensemble’ had a summer concert in the Duke’s Hall, premiering two new chamber works, celebrating the Royal Academy of Music turning 200.
Crystalla is currently based in London and is writing a multi-genre ‘Popera’ called ‘Chronicles of Millennial Dating.’ She is also a part of Psappha’s ‘Composing For…’ scheme, where she is writing a solo percussion work for Delia Stevens, and she is one of the selected composers for Britten Sinfonia’s Magnum Opus scheme 2023, where she will be composing a chamber concerto at the end of her residency. She has upcoming premieres of her work at the Royal Academy of Music in March 2023.
Crystalla is a multi-genre performer. Although she is a classically-trained singer and pianist, achieving diploma level in both, she has experience performing in various genres including: Classical, Contemporary, Pop, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Opera and traditional, Greek-Cypriot Music.
Outside of the classical realm, Crystalla is also a singer/songwriter of pop music. Her style is influenced by pop, funk, RnB, neo-soul and classical. Blending different genres is a big part of her musical identity, where she often incorporates her classical background into the pop world.
Crystalla is a multi-genre performer. Although she is a classically-trained singer and pianist, achieving diploma level in both, she has experience performing in various genres including: Classical, Contemporary, Pop, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Opera and traditional, Greek-Cypriot Music.
Outside of the classical realm, Crystalla is also a singer/songwriter of pop music. Her style is influenced by pop, funk, RnB, neo-soul and classical. Blending different genres is a big part of her musical identity, where she often incorporates her classical background into the pop world.
Throughout her compositional training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Royal Academy of Music, Crystalla also undertook a second study in conducting, where she trained with Nigel Boddice, Dominic Grier and Sian Edwards. She has six years of conducting experience and particularly enjoys contemporary repertoire.
Crystalla has been running her own new music ensemble, ‘Dias Ensemble,’ for four years where she takes on the role of Music Director, Conductor and Composer. Dias Ensemble strives to create more performance opportunities for young, emerging composers. They also aim to attract wider audiences into the contemporary music world through fresh and diverse programming ideas.
As well as running her own ensemble, she has further experience conducting for both choral and chamber work. She took on the roles of conductor and adjudicator at the Florence International Choral Festival 2022, where she worked with international choirs. She has conducted and led graphic score workshops for CoMA Glasgow. She led her music ensemble through their London debut concert which took place in the Duke’s Hall, July 2022. They premiered six new works by composers from the composition department at the Royal Academy of Music and featured new works from the 200 PIECES project to celebrate the Academy turning 200.
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