With the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, this year’s İzmir New Days, organized by Füsun Koksal, took place as a workshop residency in collaboration with ensemble [hand werk], composer Vassos Nicolaou and a select group of emerging composers. Nicolaou’s new work, Eiron for ensemble, received its premiere on October 12, 2025 during the Festival.

February 2025: Vassos Nicolaou is appointed Professor of Composition at the Joseph Haydn Privathochschule Eisenstadt in Austria. On May 9, the Orchestra of the Musikhochschule performed Stretti at the Kultur Kongress Zentrum under the direction of Ola Rudner.

To mark the 300th anniversary of Immanuel Kant’s birth, Nicolaou composed two new works commissioned by the University of Bonn, which were premiered by Ensemble Musikfabrik in the Aula of the University in September 2024.