The Saxophone Symposium
Journal of the North American Saxophone Alliance
Volume 36-37: 2013-2014
Review: CD Recording Citizens of Nowhere
“Nickitas Demos’s (b. 1962) Citizens of Nowhere is one of two pieces on the recording commissioned and premiered by Baker and Long. Composed in 2011, Demos mentions in the liner notes that the title is from a 2003 article in the The New Statesman and is based somewhat on the ideas presented in that article. Meant to be ‘generally rootless and constantly shifting,’ this is an exciting and rhythmically driving work, with both performers seemingly playing off one another until the very end. Both performers switch instruments during the performance, including soprano/alto saxophone and Bb/bass clarinet. The switching of instruments is very well done and each of the changes is incredibly effective.”
- Stephen Fischer
The Atlanta Journal Constitution – Saturday, April 5, 2008
"Nickitas Demos is ... possibly Atlanta's most prolific composer — every few weeks there seems to be another Demos premiere. His eight-minute 'passing vanities...' is scored for the unlikely combination of clarinet, violin and DJ — the last of which Demos referred to as 'the 21st century piano.' First, Ted Gurch's clarinet scurried to and fro, joined by Helen Hwaya Kim's soaring violin. They scampered a while, evoking Stravinsky's "Histoire du Soldat, [sic.]" till DJ Little Jen (aka Jennifer Mitchell, a local club DJ and classical composer) slipped in, adding club-electronica rhythms and improvising on top of that. The best moments crashed "jungle" dance beats against fierce, agitated lines from the acoustic duo. It sounded like an ecstatic jam session, a constant delight."
- Pierre Ruhe
The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Sunday, March. 23, 2008
“Scored for mezzo and ensemble of piano, violin, cello and guitar, the 16-minute [Elegy for Myris] roiled in a ‘baroque’ groove - not as neo-Vivaldi, but in the term’s original meaning of an irregularly shaped pearl…bursting with details and energy…Demos is among the major voices on Atlanta’s scene, and every new-music group in the city seems to program him, often world premieres. One reward of regular concert attendance is hearing his development, piece by piece. You hear the inner struggle, the honesty, the…drive to communicate.”
- Pierre Ruhe
American Record Guide - March / April 2007
Review of CD Aegean Counterpoint: “[Demos influences] lend color and atmosphere to his writing...There is an attractive variety of moods here, and Demos works with breadth, working out one mood before contrasting it with another...Demos clearly has something to say....”
The Atlanta Journal Constitution – Friday, December 30, 2005
“A quick look at the best of 2005 in classical music. On stage: ‘Waltzing Through the Endtime,’ music by Nickitas J. Demos with texts by Georgia poet laureate David Bottoms, commissioned and performed by the Atlanta Chamber Players. To celebrate her group’s 3oth anniversary, pianist Paula Peace looked no further than her colleagues from Georgia State University. Loping along to the sounds of Americana, Demos’ ‘Endtime’ is tender and gripping, a substantive reimaging of Bottoms’ memory-filled poetry.”
- Pierre Ruhe
The Atlanta Journal Constitution – Thursday, October 13, 2005
“…[Waltzing Through the Endtime] is Demos’ most ambitious work and, in important ways, a substantive advance of his art. From the opening sounds…Demos instantly evoked lost time and space. In elaborating the poetry, the music forces us to tap our own inner history…Midway into the performance, Waltzing seemed to be…a masterpiece…the instrumental interludes grip a listener like nothing else I’ve heard from this composer. By extending the range of his emotions, empathizing with voices both common and unfamiliar, Demos has created a hybrid chamber cantata of remarkable substance and power…with sounds by Demos…sticking with me after the [concert was] over, it seemed a healthy sign: Atlanta composers who can hold your attention with something meaningful to say.”
- Pierre Ruhe
The Birmingham News – Monday, August 29, 2005
“Nickitas Demos’ ‘Tonoi IV’ for solo electric cello pulsated with energy. A digital delay, in which Hultgren played and the electronics echoed, kept the work interesting…Demos took the $1,000 Birmingham Prize…a good decision…”
- Michael Huebner
The Atlanta Journal Constitution – Thursday, February 17, 2005
“A gossamer, high-wire act, [Tonoi V] recalled the music of a young John Adams…”
- Pierre Ruhe
The Birmingham News – Friday, May 28, 2004
“Nickitas Demos’ ‘Toys & Hammers’ continued the intensity, but with introspective, often reflective, diversions. This difficult score for piano and toy piano was performed by Laura Gordy, who handled the two keyboards and inside-the-piano percussion effects with remarkable grace.”
- Michael Huebner
GRAMOPHONE Magazine – April 2004
“[Georgia State University’s] faculty and student new-music group called NeoPhonia [sic.], covers a range of 20th-century classics, interspersed with faculty compositions, most memorably by Nikitas [sic.] J. Demos. Bent Frequency, a self-styled hipster collective which Demos anchors, is one of the brightest ensembles on the scene…”
- Pierre Ruhe
The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Saturday, April 3, 2004
“No composer in Atlanta has it better than Nickitas J. Demos. A professor at Georgia State University, Demos is co-founder of the professional ensemble Bent Frequency which regularly plays his music. He’s also the artistic director of GSU’s neoPhonia new music series…The final concert of neoPhonia’s season…opened with Demos’ Toys & Hammers…an 18 minute study in contrasts: loud vs. quiet, hard vs. soft, simple vs. complex rhythms, mature vs. innocent, reality vs. memory…Demos borrows a tough, knotty vocabulary and pianistic gestures from Hungarian masters Béla Bartók and György Ligeti; this might be nicknamed Demos’ Hungarian Sonatina.”
- Pierre Ruhe
The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Tuesday, November 4, 2003
“A rowdy departure… ‘Slaves To Passion’ got the strongest ovation from the capacity audience.”
- Pierre Ruhe
The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Wednesday, May 14, 2003
"...[notes from the Edge of the Millennium was] …lively and attractive…”
- Pierre Ruhe
Georgia Music News – Vol. 63, No. 3, Spring 2003
"...[Behind The Blue Sky is] …compelling…deeply evocative music…well worth exploring..”
- Robert J. Ambrose (Director of Bands at Georgia State University)
The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Saturday, April 5, 2003
“[Play THAT!] was a fun piece, exploring the sonorities of the clarinet family, making sounds at once slippery, sweet and velvety rich.”
- Pierre Ruhe
The Nashville Scene – October 17, 2002
"...[Long Journey Home] is a reclamation of a tradition stretching from earliest history down to now, and in live performance it should affirm the connections between classical and folk musics in fresh and exhilarating ways.”
- Marcel Smith
The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Thursday, September 12, 2002
"...[Another Sky To Dwell In is] …powerful [and]…intriguing…memorial art.”
- Pierre Ruhe
The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Monday, February 19, 2001
“...[Tonoi II is]…attractive, kinetic and pianistic…a dense, intriguing work.”
- Pierre Ruhe
The New Music Connoisseur - ISSN 1081-2709, Vol. 8, No. 2 – Summer 2000
"...[notes from the Edge of the Millennium is]…ambitious…sophisticated...[and]…a reflection of the current mix of styles and aesthetic postures.”
- Barry L. Cohen