British born Lydia Kakabadse “is a phenomenon” (Gapplegate Classical Modern Music).   A “very gifted and accessible composer” (MusicWeb International), Lydia composes choral, chamber and vocal music.  Of Russian/Georgian and Greek/Austrian parentage, she grew up in Cheshire and started composing at the age of 13.  Her works include string quartets, string duet, mixed ensembles, songs, musical drama, cantata, concert Requiem Mass and sacred/ secular choral works for male voices, mixed choir (SATBB) and children’s choir.  Of her early compositions, only The Song of the Shirt, written aged 15, is  performed in its original form.  Demonstrating “a mastery of counterpoint and a richness of ideas“ (MusicWeb International), her distinctive style incorporates tonal and modal harmonies with Middle Eastern and medieval traits, infused with rich melody.   She also draws inspiration from poets of the Romantic era and Greek/Russian Orthodox liturgical music – “Kakabadse’s talent at writing in the Greek Orthodox music style is supreme” (Tamvakos Archive).  

Lydia’s works have been released on CD under the Naxos and Divine Art labels to critical acclaim: “highly recommended disc” (Music for Several Instruments); “most enjoyable disc of music” (Fanfare); “superb…one of the best CD’s of the decade” (Tamvakos Archive); “a must-have CD” (The Chronicle).  Her works have been widely performed and broadcast and her very popular string quartet Russian Tableaux has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 to mark International Women’s Day.  Keen to promote the double bass in her chamber works, Lydia’s string quartets are scored for violin, viola, cello & double bass – a timbral combination which works well, with the double bass adding a great richness and abundance of colour to the quartet’s sonority.  Her latest album, Kefi, released by Divine Art in 2024, features a more diverse genre of music than previous albums, incorporating the Greek bouzouki into western classical chamber music – “she has a terrific ear for colour and combines instruments in a highly imaginative way” (Fanfare).

Choral commissions include I Remember for children’s voices, commissioned by Forest Preparatory School (Altrincham),  Odyssey and Thirty Steps both commissioned by the Hellenic Institute at Royal Holloway, University of London to mark its 25th and 30th anniversaries in 2018 and 2023 respectively.  Several of her works have been included in music festivals both in the UK and abroad, more recently in the Three Choirs Festival Eucharist and Chatsworth Arts Festival.  Excerpts from her choral album Cantica Sacra were included in a dance act on TV show “Britain’s Got Talent” in 2020.  Her works have been performed by acclaimed chamber ensembles and choirs, including The Rossetti Ensemble,  Choir of Gloucester Cathedral and collegiate Choirs of Gonville & Caius College Cambridge, Clare College Cambridge and Royal Holloway.  

Beginning piano lessons at the age of five and later studying the double bass under Ida Carroll OBE, Lydia read music at Royal Holloway, University of London.  She then spent several years studying and performing Greek and Middle Eastern dance, which she also taught at adult education centres.  Rhythmic and melodic influences from these dances feature predominantly in her chamber music, most notably the “gorgeous Arabian Rhapsody Suite ” (New Classics).  Lydia is currently undertaking a PhD in ethnomusicology at Royal Holloway. 

Lydia has a keen interest in law, in which subject she holds a master’s degree and worked as a commercial solicitor (lawyer) to fund her many music projects.  An avid writer, she has written original texts in Latin as well as English for her vocal works.  During Covid lockdown, she wrote a mystery novel The Specially Chosen and a collection of eight short stories Entwined in Deceit.