Tilemachos Moussas is an Athens-based composer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, researcher, and educator, whose work bridges jazz improvisation, artificial intelligence, embodied performance, and sound art. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Department of Music Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, where he also works as Laboratory Teaching Staff . His research focuses on the intersection of AI, real-time sound synthesis, and multimodal human-machine interaction.
His artistic and academic practice centers around interactive music systems, combining gesture recognition, AI improvisation, and sensor-based technologies. He is the creator of Kinesthesis 2.0, a gesture-controlled musical instrument designed to foster embodied expression and inclusive performance, particularly for artists with diverse abilities. His work frequently employs tools such as SOMAX2, OpenCV, MediaPipe, Max/MSP, and custom Python-based MIDI and OSC systems, enabling real-time collaboration between human musicians and machine learning algorithms.
Tilemachos has more than 25 years of experience as an educator, working extensively in both general and Special Needs education. For five years, he served as deputy director of a public Special Education school, where he developed innovative, technology-assisted learning strategies rooted in multisensory and inclusive pedagogies, particularly in music education.
His creative work explores the poetics of gesture, lament, and improvisation, drawing from Greek traditions, experimental music, instant composing, and opera-theater. Deeply invested in subversive musical forms, he merges speech, poetry, jazz, contemporary classical, and electronic sound art into original compositions and performances. His current projects include interactive sound installations and live AI-enhanced performances, where gesture, somatosensory feedback, and machine learning co-create immersive soundscapes in real time.
He holds a Master of Music from the Department of Music Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Educational Studies and in the Science of Agronomy.
He has composed music for 75 theatre & dance performances, and also for films, and has collaborated with institutions including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Stanford University’s CCRMA, IRCAM Centre Pompidou, Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal, Operadagen Festival, the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, the National Theatre of Greece, the Greek National Opera, the Athens Concert Hall, Onassis STEGI, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, the Cyprus Theatre Organization, TEDx University of Piraeus, and more. He has also served as an executive at Educational Radiotelevision & Digital Media of the Greek Ministry of Education.
He is a founding member of the ODC theater company, with which he has developed award-winning interdisciplinary performances.
His accolades include:
- The International “Music Theater Now” Award (2018)
- First Prize at the BE Festival (Birmingham)
- Nomination for the Music Composition Award by the Greek Association of Theatre and Performing Arts Critics (2024)
He has performed at international festivals and venues such as Copenhagen Opera Festival, BAM/NYC, Aalborg Opera Festival, Operadagen Festival of Rotterdam, Neukollner Oper Berlin, Singapore Arts Festival, Musiktheatertage Wien, Malta Cultural Capital of Europe, SANI Jazz Festival and more.
Selected scientific publications:
- “Kinesthesis: An Interactive Voice Software for Intertextual Improvisation in Theatre Performance”, *SMC-22 Sound and Music Computing*, Saint-Étienne, France.
- “Performing Voices in Immersive Theater: Kinesthesis 2.0 for Embodied Performance”, *SMC-24 Sound and Music Computing*, Porto, Portugal.
- “Micropolyphony and Stochastic Compositional Techniques as Tools for the Sonification of Magnetic Storms”, Audio Mostly 2024, University of Milan, Italy.
- “Kinesthesis: An Interactive Tool for Expressive Gesture Voicing in Arts Education”, WAAE (World Alliance for Arts Education), ATHENS SUMMIT 2024.
- “Art Forms and the Subject of School Career Guidance in Unified Special Vocational Gymnasia-Lyceums (EN.E.E.GY.L.)”, Scientific Conference on Counseling-Orientation – The Art in Career Counseling, Education, and Employment, Webster Athens Cultural Center, Plaka, 2018.
- “Sonification of Magnetic Storms Using Stochastic Compositional
Techniques”, Panhellenic Conference on ACOUSTICS 2024, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Rethymno.
He has worked with many important musicians such as:
Damo Suzuki, Savina Yannatou, Blaine Reininger, Julia Kent, Pamelia (Stickney) Kurstin, Misha Piatigorsky, Lena Norin, Michel Hatzigeorgiou, Missirli Ahmet, George Kontrafouris, Georgia Sylleou, Thanos Anestopoulos, K. Maginas, M.Voumvaki, D. Kamarotos, Nikos Giousef and has performed with artists such as Chico Freeman, Sheila Jordan, Jerome Rothenberg .
Tilemachos and his band have played as guest in concerts for bands and musicians such as: Anouar Brahem, Nouvelle Vague, Brendan Perry (Dead Can Dance), Ozric Tentacles, Manhattan Vibes etc.
He has also performed with bands such as Ble, Ypogeia Revmata, Xaxakes, LoveLab, Acetic Voice, Medieval Death.
