Born in Athens in 1945, he has lived and worked in Paris since  1963. His work is notably characterised by asking questions about  languages and meaning. His compositions, whether instrumental,  vocal or for the stage, explore the boundaries of the intelligible.  He likes to create twisted tracks, which allows him to keep the listener active: stories emerge but are suddenly refuted.  

His music is not strictly linked to any dominant contemporary  musical aesthetics but follows his century through a dialogue  with other forms of art and an extreme openness to various intellectual, scientific and social fields. 

This otherness is combined with innovations when he includes  electronics, video, machines, and automata or robots in his performances. He works closely with a group of performers who are  entirely part of the creative process: actors Edith Scob, Michael  Lonsdale, Valérie Dréville, Jos Houben; instrumentalists JeanPierre Drouet, Richard Dubelski, Geneviève Strosser, Nicolas  Hodges, Uli Fussenegger; vocalists Martine Viard, Donatienne  Michel-Dansac, and Lionel Peintre. Since the 1990s he has  formed new artistic cooperations with dancers Johanne Saunier,  Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, and visual artists Daniel Lévy, Kurt  D’Haeseleer, and Hans Op de Beeck. Major European contemporary music ensembles including Ictus, Klangforum Wien, Remix,  Musikfabrik, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain,  Vocalsolisten, and the SWR Choir have developed a working relationship with Aperghis through commissions that have become  part of their repertoires.  

Georges Aperghis received the Mauricio Kagel Prize in 2011,  the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Music  Biennale in 2015, and the Frontiers of Knowledge BBVA Foundation Award in 2016 for contemporary music.  His self-published music is available for free download from  the website aperghis.com (developed by Francine Lajournade /  Didascalia). His other pieces have been published by Éditions  Durand (Universal Music Publishing Classical): www.durand-salabert-eschig.com.

Selected works (since 2000): La nuit en tête for soprano and  instrumental sextet (2000), Machinations for four female voices,  electronics and video projection (2000), Le petit chaperon rouge  for children and six instruments, after Charles Perrault (2001),  Quatorze jactations for baritone (2001), Petrrohl for six voices  (2001), I. X. for violin (2001–2), Print Music for piano (2002),  Dark Side, monodrama for mezzo-soprano and 18 musicians  based on Aeschylus’s Oresteia translated by François Regnault  (2002), Paysage sous surveillance for two actors, two clarinets, two  cellos and two synthesizers, to words by Heiner Müller (2002),  Le reste du temps for cello, dulcimer and ensemble (2003), AlterFace for two pianos (2004), Avis de tempête, opera to a libretto  by the composer after Peter Szendy, Melville, Kafka and Hugo  (2004), Wölfii-Kantata for six soloists and mixed choir to texts  by Adolf Wölfii (2005), Contre temps for soprano and ensemble (2006), Bloody Luna for cello and ensemble (2007), Happy  End for ensemble, electronics and animated film by Hans Op  de Beeck after Charles Perrault (2007), Teeter-Totter for ensemble (2008), See Saw for ensemble (2008), Quartet Movement for  quartet (2009), P.S. for saxophone (2010), Les Boulingrin, opera  buffa after Georges Courteline (2010), Luna Park, stage work  for four performers to a libretto by Georges Aperghis and Fran- çois Regnault (2011) Études pour orchestre (2012–15), Le soldat  inconnu for baritone and ensemble (2013), Retrouvailles for two percussion (2013), Wild Romance for soprano and ensemble  (2013), Pubs – Reklamen for soprano (2000–15), Concerto for  accordion (2015), Intermezzi for ensemble (2015–16), Passwords  for six singers (2016), Migrants for two female voices and ensemble (2016–17), Thinking Things, show for four performers, robotic  extensions, video, lights and electronics (2018), Obstinate for  double bass (2018), Der Lauf des Lebens for 23 musicians and six  singers (2018), The Messenger for zarb (2019), Breaths for piano  (2019), Merry Go Round for accordion (2019).