Lydia Kakabadse

British born Lydia Kakabadse is a “phenomenon” (Gapplegate Classical Modern Music) A “very gifted and accessible composer” (Music Web International), Lydia composes choral, chamber and vocal music. Her works have been released on CD under the Naxos and Divine Art labels and have been widely performed, commissioned and broadcast. They have also been included in music festivals both in the UK (including the Three Choirs Festival Eucharist and Chatsworth Arts Festival) and abroad. Her string quartet Russian Tableaux has twice been played on BBC Radio 3 to mark International Women’s Day.

Lydia started composing at the age of 13 and her works include string quartets, a string duet, mixed ensembles, songs, musical dramas, a cantata, a concert Requiem Mass and sacred/secular choral works for male voices, mixed choir (SATBB) and children’s choir. Her unique compositional style incorporates tonal and modal harmonies with Middle Eastern and medieval traits infused with rich melody. She also draws inspiration from Greek and Russian Orthodox liturgical music – “Kakabadse’s talent at writing in the Greek Orthodox music style is supreme” (Tamvakos Archive).

Choral commissions include I Remember commissioned by Forest Preparatory School (Greater Manchester) for the Bellevue Education Northern Music Festival, and Odyssey and Thirty Steps both commissioned by the Hellenic Institute at Royal Holloway University of London to mark its 25^th and 30^th anniversaries in 2018 and 2023 respectively. An excerpt from her choral album Cantica Sacra was included in a dance act on TV show Britain’s Got Talent in May 2020.

Beginning piano lessons at the age of five and later studying the double bass under Ida Carroll OBE, Lydia graduated with a degree in music from Royal Holloway University of London where she is currently undertaking a PhD in ethnomusicology. She spent several years studying and performing Greek and Middle Eastern dance which she also taught at adult education centres. Rhythmic and melodic influences from these dances feature predominantly in her chamber music. Keen to promote the double bass in all her chamber works, Lydia’s string quartets are scored for violin, viola, cello and double bass – a timbral combination which works well, with the double bass adding a great richness and abundance of colour to the quartet’s sonority. Her album, Kefi, released in 2024, features a more diverse genre of music than previous albums, incorporating the Greek bouzouki into western classical chamber music – “she has a terrific ear for colour and combines instruments in a highly imaginative way” (Fanfare).

An avid Latin enthusiast, Lydia has written original texts in Latin for her vocal works. She has a keen interest in law in which subject she holds a master’s degree (distinction), and in the past she worked as a solicitor (lawyer) to fund her many music projects. Her choral work I Remember is published by Banks Music Publications; her piano work Variation on a Theme by Anton Diabelli is published by Furore Verlag (Germany). All her other works are published by Naxos Sheet Music.

www.lydiakakabadse.com