ABOUT
Panagiotis Liaropoulos is a Greek composer and pianist. He was born in Athens, Greece and since 1997 he resides in Boston, Massachusetts. He holds a Doctoral Degree in Composition from Boston University where he studied with Theodore Antoniou and Lukas Foss. He pursued his graduate studies on a Fulbright Grant and he was the recipient of the 2001 Boston University Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theory and Composition.
Dr. Liaropoulos completed his undergraduate studies in Music Studies/Musicology in the School of Fine Arts at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He also holds degrees in Harmony, Counterpoint, Fugue, Composition, and Piano from the National Conservatory of Athens, Greece.
His compositions include music for solo instruments, various ensembles, chorus, and orchestra and his works have been performed and awarded in Europe and the United States. Among his national and international distinctions are the first prize in the ALEA III International Composition Competition (2002) for his piece Orientations Beta, the second prize in the prestigious Dimitri Mitropoulos International Composition Competition (2005) for his Concerto for Flute and Orchestra and the first prize at the Composers' National Workshop at Athens Megaron Concert Hall in Athens, Greece (1999), for his piece Lament for String Quartet and Tape. In addition, he has been the recipient of several awards, scholarships, and residencies, that include, among others, an Honorary Mention at the Uuno Clami International Composition Competition (Finland, 2004) for his piece Journal Intime d' Un Avril Invisible for Mezzo Soprano and Chamber Orchestra, and residencies at the Aspen Music Festival and School (2004), and the Yaddo Artistic Community (2005).
For the past two decades, Dr. Liaropoulos has been composing works of several different styles and mediums. By drawing his inspiration and creative ideas from both the Western and the Eastern musical traditions, he has established a compositional style that is based on the dramatic interaction of diverse musical elements deriving from these traditions. This compositional approach led him to the creation of a distinctive musical language founded on the sophisticated integration of Western contemporary compositional theories, techniques and processes with elements drawn from the musical legacy of Greece, Byzantium, the Balkans, and the Eastern Mediterranean, and with principles drawn from the ritualistic character of the ancient Greek drama.
Dr. Liaropoulos' music has been commissioned and performed by several distinguished ensembles, musical organizations, and performers that include, among others, the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra, the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Alea III Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Greek Ensemble for Contemporary Music, the Athens Megaron Concert Hall, the Louisiana Sinfonieta, the New Paths in Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Boston University Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, the Kassatt String Quartet, and the Neopolitan Chamber Orchestra.
Dr. Liaropoulos currently serves as a faculty member in the Composition Department at Berklee College of Music and the Department of Performing Arts at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He also performs as a freelance pianist specializing in a wide repertoire that includes classical music, contemporary genres such as pop, jazz and ethnic music, as well as traditional and modern Greek music.
He is also the founder and music director of the Greek Music Ensemble, a Boston-based group that focuses on performing Greek art music as well as other ethnic music of the Eastern Mediterranean. The group aspires to promote Greek art music as part of the World Music scene. To this end, the Greek Music Ensemble specializes in performing selected genres of Greek music that have informed and shaped the history of Greek twentieth century art music. The group's approach to performance is based on a critical exploration and interpretation of the unique stylistic and technical aspects of genuine Greek music, and on a highly skilled, elaborate and inspired presentation of it, that represents its true spirit and stylistic nuances.
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