Elena Christodoulou – Biography

Greek concert pianist Elena Christodoulou has pursued a career of remarkable diversity. Regarded for her “…exquisite and crystal clear ability of her fingers…worth jealous control of sound, phrasing and musical intentions…extrovert martellato sound, impressive technical skills…”(Musical Tone, Greece), she has given numerous piano recitals and chamber music concerts in four continents: North America, Europe, Asia, Africa. She has appeared in Austria (Salzburg); in U.S.A. (Boston, Salt Lake City, Dayton e.t.c.); in Italy (Rome) as well as in such prestigious concert halls as Cairo Opera House and Alexandria Opera House, Egypt; Athens Megaron Concert Hall and Thessaloniki Megaron Concert Hall, Greece; Vahdat Hall and Roudaki Hall, Iran to name a few. She has performed as a soloist with various orchestras in Greece and abroad. She has also recorded for the Greek National Radio, TV, and the Greek Radio broadcasting in Boston.

In Greece Elena Christodoulou has collaborated with numerous Embassies, such as the American, Swiss, Italian, Egyptian, and Serbian Embassy (under the patronage of Princess Katherine of Serbia), with the aim of promoting the Greek, American, and European classical music. She has been awarded by Lions Club (Greece) for her musical contribution. Even though she holds a diverse repertoire from the piano literature, ranging from the Baroque era to 21st century, she often feels the need to interpret works by contemporary composers, many of which have dedicated their works to her.

Elena Christodoulou has given a series of piano masterclasses in Iran, in collaboration with The Tehran Arts University, as well as in the International Summer Festival and Summer Academy in Loutraki, Greece (organized in cooperation with Vladimir Spivakov and Vladimir Krainev International Charity Foundation) since 2015.

Elena Christodoulou was chosen to lead a special program funded by European Union called “Solidarity and Management of Immigration Flow into European Union” which took place in Greece. She designed and composed an original educational method of teaching the Greek language to young immigrants through music. This method was implemented on Greek schools and was attended by music professors from Italy, France, Cyprus and Greece.

Elena received her Piano Diploma with Honors, first prize, and a gold medal under the instruction of Dimitris Toufexis. She graduated from The American College of Greece (Deree College), where she received a B.A. in Music, with Highest Distinction. As a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship and the Onassis Foundation Scholarship, she earned the Master’s Degree in Piano Performance from The Boston Conservatory of Music under the instruction of Michael Lewin. She also studied with other great pianists, such as Leon Fleisher, Jacob Lateiner (Mozarteum Academy, Austria), Aquilles delle Vigne, Nicolae Petrof, Marcella Crudelli. In recognition of her contribution to the artistic activities of The American College of Greece, she was awarded with the Special Artistic Award, the second award given in the history of the College. She is a prize winner in several piano competitions in Greece and abroad (Rome, Boston – Concerto competition).

Theodore Kerkezos – Biography

“…one of the most astounding performers of the day.” Gramophone (“Editor’s Choice”  winner)

He has performed and recorded the entire standard repertoire for solo saxophone with orchestras including the London Symphony, Boston Symphony, the Philharmonia (of London), London Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Phil.,  “Tchaikovsky” Moscow Radio Symp., Zurich Symp., Berlin Symp., Nuremberg Symp, Mediterraneo of Spain, Bilbao Symp., Bucharest “G. Enescu” Phil., Bucharest Radio Symp. Athens State Phil., Thessaloniki State Symp., Athens Radio Symp., Slovak Philh., Slovak Radio, Thüringen Phil., Busan Phil. (S.Korea), Opera of Bolshoi, Vincenzo Bellini Opera Theater Symp., Brasov Phil., Moscow Soloists, Ensemble Modern-Franfurt, Konstanza Phil., Cyprus Symp., Meinengen Opera Symp., Sofia Radio, Iasi-Moldova Phil. and Armenian Phil.,  appearing at venues such as: the Carnegie Hall-New York, Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall – London, “Tchaikovsky” Moscow Conservatoire, Tonhalle-Zurich, Opera of Rome, Athens Megaron Concert Hall, Beijing Concert Hall, “Shostakovich” Grand Hall, and Herod Atticus Theatre (Athens-Parthenon).

He works with Yuri Bashmet, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Michael Nyman, Yuri Simonov.

He was twice nominated for the USA 50th Grammy Awards in New York, and he has been awarded with the Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts  from the IAACC/ UNESCO for his outstanding services as performer and professor at the international music stage; in 2012 the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences & Arts and the United Nations, unanimously elected him as Honorary Member of the Academy. In 12/2016 he received the “Artist of the Year”  by the Gina Bachauer Awards and for 2019-2020 will be Artist in Residence in Thüringen Philharmonie.

Works have been dedicated to him by leading composers such as Iannis Xenakis, Friedrich Cerha and Mikis Theodorakis.

He studied saxophone and advance theory at the Athens Conservatoire (Babis Farantatos’ class) and continued in Paris with Daniel Deffayet and in Bordeaux with Jean-Marie Londeix.

In 1999 he started a fruitful collaboration with the “Alphonse Leduc Editions Musicales-Paris” writing musical books.

He is a visiting professor giving master classes at Universities of: Boston, Harvard, Princeton, Louisiana, at the Conservatories of: Boston, New England, Moscow State, and at the Academies of: Gnesin (Moscow), Chopin (Warsaw) and Kiev.

His discography with the Philharmonia, London Symphony and London Philharmonic has won many prestigious awards.