Stratis Minakakis is a composer, conductor and pedagogue whose work engages with memory, cultural identity, and art as social testimony; it also explores the rich possibilities engendered by the interaction between arts and sciences.

Described as “emotional, to the point of viscerality” (Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project) and “an alluring haze” (New York Times), his music has been commissioned and performed by leading contemporary music soloists and ensembles across Europe, North America, and Japan, including the Grammy award-wining Crossing Choir, Prism Saxophone Quartet, and Partch Ensemble. Other notable recent collaborators include saxophonist Don-Paul Kahl, violinist Gabriella Diaz, cellists TJ Borden and Annie Jacobs-Perkins, Duo Axis, bassoonist Ben Roidl-Ward, the Valencia International Contemporary Ensemble, pianist Jihye Chang, Court Circuit, Ergon Ensemble, soprano Nina Dante, flutists Dalia Chin and Orlando Cela, Ensemble du Bout du Monde, Ensemble Counter)induction, percussionist Harrison Honor, and baritone Tyler Bouque. Upcoming projects include a concerto for two pianos tuned one quarter-tone apart and wind orchestra, commissioned by Stephen Drury, a concerto for baritone saxophone and chamber ensemble, commissioned by Don-Paul Kahl and the Kuraia Ensemble, a new work for Duo Entre Nous, and a new work for the Loadbang ensemble.

As a conductor, Stratis Minakakis has directed and coached numerous chamber music and larger ensembles in contemporary music. Performance highlights include the U.S. premiere of Sciarrino’s monumental Quaderno di Strada (Alinèa Ensemble), the Boston premiere of Ligeti’s Nouvelles Aventures (Alinèa Ensemble), and the world premieres of  Mathew Rosenblum’s Gymnopédies Nos. 3-7/Kiki Wears Tasha (NotaRiotous Ensemble),  Ken Ueno’s New Lilacs and his own Skiagrafies (Partch Ensemble; Prism Saxophone Quartet; released on XAS records) and John Aylward’s opera Oblivion (Nina Guo, soprano; Lukas Papenfussclein, tenor; Tyler Bouque, Cailin Marcel Manson, baritones; ECCE ensemble; released on New Focus Recordings). His list of world or Boston premieres also includes works by Katherine Balch, Isaac Blumfield, Linxi Chen, Xiaofeng Jiang, Fabien Levy, Julien Malaussena, John Mallia, Katarina Miljkovic, Dimitris Minakakis, Ezra Sims, and Samuel Taylor. 

A highly sought-after instructor and lecturer, he has been teaching in the Composition and Music Theory Departments of New England Conservatory since 2008. Alumni of his studio have pursued distinguished international careers and received prestigious awards, including the Rome Prize and the Voix Nouvelles Prize. His pedagogical interests extend to innovative curriculum building in the areas of 21st-century musicianship and computational creativity. As a member of the “Theory Reimagined” team, he was instrumental in creating the “Music Literacy and Musicianship" curriculum at New England Conservatory. As the Co-Chair of NEC-NEXT, he coordinated the development of the Computational Creativity Program and introduced the Computer-Assisted Analysis and Composition elective course. He has presented lectures on his music, as well as the music of Xenakis, Ligeti, Lachenmann and Carter in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Recent engagements include the Third Program of the Greek National Radio, the Valencia International Performance Academy, Ithaca College, Mannes Conservatory, and the University of California, Berkeley. 

His compositional and academic work have been supported by grants and fellowships from the New England Conservatory, the Pew Center of Arts and Heritage, Fondation Royaumont, the International Society of Contemporary Music, the Aikaterini Laskaridou Foundation, and the George and Elizabeth Crumb Fellowship in Music Composition. He was awarded the Composition Prize at the Takefu International Festival. During his doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania he received the Nitze Prize in Composition (2007, 2008), the Dean’s Scholar Award (2007), and the Hallstead Prize in Composition (2005, 2006). He also received the Prism Young Composers’ Award of Prism Saxophone Quartet (2005) and the Toru Takemitsu Award of the US-Japan Society of Boston (2004). His pedagogical work at the New England Conservatory has received two Board of Trustees Commendations (2024, 2021) and the prestigious Louis Krasner Award for Teaching Excellence (2015), the youngest faculty to have ever received this award in the history of the institution. At the University of Pennsylvania he received the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching (2007) and the Teaching Award by Graduate Students (2007).

Stratis Minakakis completed his PhD in Composition at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior studied include a MM in Composition at the New England Conservatory (summa cum laude, distinction in performance, Pi Kappa Lambda) and an AB at Princeton University (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa). He currently lives in Sudbury, Massachusetts with his family and teaches Composition and Music Theory at the New England Conservatory.