1993:  Lawrence Cherney
1994:  Andrew Dawes
1995:  Esprit Orchestra
1996:  Robert Aitken
1997:  Peter Paul Koprowski
1998:  Christos Hatzis
1999:  Mario Bernardi
2000:  Piano Six
2001:  Ben Heppner



Hatzis’ record of compositional achievement speaks for itself through his many recordings, commissions, and awards. Often, when I have mentioned his work to friends who are not musicians, they have heard his work on radio, on discs, or at concerts and are always complimentary and enthusiastic in their response to it. One person said that she thought that Hatzis would turn out to be one of the most important composers of our time. Having heard many of his works, this is an assessment with which I would agree. Hatzis has the ability to write works that are brilliant, complex and intellectually and emotionally challenging but which can still touch the heart of the average listener. This is rare amongst 20th century composers.

The composition Nunavut for string quartet and computer generated tape is a brilliant work bringing together such disparate elements as Inuit throat singers, railway sounds and string quartet in a synthesis that is unique to the Canadian landscape and psyche. In it I hear echoes of the expansiveness and loneliness of the Canadian north. To me, this work is a moving reflesction of both the fears and hopes of our human condition in sounds that seem to be singularly Canadian in perspective.

I feel that Christos Hatzis is a truly outstanding composer, and his work Nunavut is a remarkable and inspiring composition. I am pleased to nominate them for the Jean A . Chalmers National Music Award 1998.

From the nomination letter by
Paul Pedersen, composer
(former Dean of the Faculty of Music, McGill University
and the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.)

Prix Italia
Premio Speciale, 1996.

for Footprints in New Snow


In the 50 year history of the Prix Italia, this was the first time this prestigious broadcasting prize was awarded to a Canadian composer.

In winning the Special Prize in the Radio Music Category [of the Prix Italia], Hatzis' work [Footprints in New Snow] was singled out by a distinguished international group of broadcasters as the single most important musical composition, created for the radio medium, to have been broadcast in 1996. Since that announcement last June, the work has been broadcast dozens of times in the participating countries (including Canada). Listeners in this country and around the world have responded by asking for the work on CD, even though it's not yet available in that form. We at CBC Radio Music have felt proud to see the success of Christos' (and our) work. It is a haunting, yet intimate composition, blending the elements of story-telling, native speech and throat-singing, the sounds of the Arctic environment, and music, all blended masterfully into a great, transporting, listening experience.

Wendy Reid, Head
Radio Music,
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

(Governor~General)
Jules Léger Prize, 1996.

for Erotikos Logos


Awarded annually, the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music is a competition for Canadian composers that is designed to encourage the creation of new chamber music and to foster its performance by Canadian chamber groups. The $7,500 prize was established in 1978 by the Right Honourable Jules Léger, then Governor General of Canada.

The competition for the prize is administered by the Canadian Music Centre. The Canada Council for the Arts funds the award, selects the peer assessment committee and promotes the winner. CBC Radio Two and la Chaîne culturelle de Radio-Canada broadcast the winning composition on their English-language and French-language stereo network.




 

 

 

2008 JUNO AWARD
Nomination
in the Classical Composition
of the Year category.
for Constantinople

 

 

2008 JUNO AWARD
Nomination
Classical Album: Vocal or Choral Performance
category.
for Constantinople

 

 

Dancing in the Light
nominated for a
2007 East Coast Music Award
in the Classical Recording of the Year
category
 

 

2005 JUNO AWARD
Nomination
in the Classical Composition
of the Year category.
for String Quartet No. 1 (The Awakening)

 

 

2003 JUNO AWARD
Nomination
in the Classical Composition
of the Year category.
for Everlasting Light

 

2002 JUNO AWARD
Nomination
in the Classical Composition
of the Year category.
for Orbiting Garden

 

1996 Jean A. Chalmers Award
for Composition,
Finalist - Burial Ground.

Orchestral Music Competition
of the City of Athens 1991
Third Prize - Beyond the Pillars of Hercules

 

 

If you have not already visited Christos Hatzis' Home Page click here: