Laonikos Psimikakis Chalkokondylis (b. 1989) is a Greek composer, shakuhachi player, and performer based in London. Drawing from his training as a wilderness guide and many years living in Finland, his practice and philosophy is inspired by a relationship to the more-than-human – how can we blend in with the world around us in a way that is playful, creative, nourishing? Laonikos shares a passion for collaborative practice and slow-working. His music sits between acoustic ecology, improvisation, ambient electronic, slow music. He performs and teaches on the shakuhachi, and is an accredited professional coach supporting artists to grow towards their goals and tap into their full potential.
Released in October 2022, Laonikos’ album ‘loess’ (Slow Tone Collages) brings together long improvisations with shakuhachi and electronics on the banks of River Lea across two years. Laonikos is a Making Tracks Fellow (2020) and was awarded a DYCP Grant by Arts Council England in 2022 to deepen his shakuhachi practice. He has performed in venues such as Barbican Centre, Kings Place, The Place, Sarawak Parliament (Malaysia), Helsinki City Centre (Finland), and Hoxton Underground, and has appeared on BBC3 ‘Hear and now’ and Resonance FM. Laonikos studied composition with Paul Newland at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and holds a Global Music Masters from Sibelius Academy (University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland), studying with Nathan Riki Thomson and Outi Pulkkinen.
While Laonikos continues to explore place-based improvisation in different ways, he is driven by the possibilities for music and the arts to be a part of how we can re-imagine our place in the world: music as a force for peace and solidarity.
“The original accompaniment by Laonikos rippled over sharp gestures, springy bends and the warming companionship amongst the dancers like a sound wave.”
– Celia Moran, The Place
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