Going through its 34th cycle, the concert series "The Young for the Young" is a platform for expression and an important institution for the promotion of elite young performers of classical music. A young pianist with a variety of interests and distinctions, Vassilis Karatzanos, gives a recital on Saturday, April 8 at 8 p.m. at the Philippos Nakas Concert Hall.
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Vassilis Karatzanos was born in Athens in March 2006. He started his first piano lessons at the age of 6.5 in the class of pianist and music teacher Evi Marinaki at the Athens Conservatory and studying on full scholarship from the 2014 academic year he completed his studies in June 2022 at the age of 16 obtaining a Piano Diploma with grade “Excellent and First Prize”. He also holds Piano Grade 4, 5, 6 and 8 in Music Performance with Distinction from London College of Music. From October 2022 he started a course with the internationally renowned soloist Martino Tirimo.
He has participated and distinguished himself in international piano competitions such as the "de Bach au Jazz" competition in 2018 where he won the 3rd Prize in the 3rd category, but also in pan-Hellenic competitions such as a competition-seminar with Aline Artignan, Art Director Festival Marais-Paris in 2013, where he won the 1st Prize and the 1st Audience Prize. In 2014 he participated in the 29th Panhellenic Competition of the Youth Choir & Orchestra (H.O.N.) where he received the 1st Prize, while in 2018 in the 33rd Panhellenic Competition of H.O.N. he received the 1st Prize with the highest score in the 3rd category. Also, in October 2020 he won the 2nd Prize in his category at the 5th Panhellenic Music Competition 2020 for the UNESCO Group of Arts, Language and Sciences of Greece, while in October 2022 he received the 3rd Prize in the corresponding 7th competition. In April 2022, he won the 1st Prize in the 3rd category at the 8th Panhellenic Maria Hairiorgou-Sigara Music Competition at the Athens Concert Hall, while in October 2022 he qualified as a finalist in the final of the 10th Panhellenic Competition for Young Pianists.
He has attended piano seminars with leading Greek and foreign soloists and teachers such as Martino Tirimo (2019, 2020, 2022), Aline Artignan (2013), Pavlos Giallourakis (2014, 2015, 2017, 2020), Lilia Boyadjieva (2018, 2022), Dimitrios Toufexis (in 2017 as part of the Thessaloniki piano festival at the Greek National Theater and in 2022), Alexia Mouza (2019), Natalia Michailidou (in February 2022 and 2023 at the Athens Conservatory for the Life of Beethoven through his Sonatas), Christos Papageorgiou and Prodromos Symeonidis (in 2022 as part of the Thessaloniki Piano Festival at the Parnassos Philological Association).
He has appeared in concerts and events in artistic venues such as the Athens Concert Hall, the "Parnassos" Philological Association, the Theocharakis Foundation, the Alternative Stage of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Imbrian Association, the "Anna and Maria Kalouta" Multipurpose Hall, the Megaro O.L.P., in the "Aris Garoufallis" hall of the Athens Conservatory, in the "Karolos Koun" theater stage, in the Benaki Museum, etc. as well as live streaming on Youtube.
Furthermore, he has participated with the Youth Choir of the Athenian Conservatory in many events, tributes and competitions, such as the tribute "We will meet again..." by Notis Mavroudis at the Herodes Atticus Theater in June 2016, in a charity Christmas event at the Foundation of Greater Hellenism, in the 11th International Festival of Choirs at the Athens Concert Hall e.tc.
Vassilis is currently a 2nd High School student and for the year 2021-2022 he was a member of the Youth Parliament. Besides playing the piano, he loves painting and literature. His work has been awarded at the International Cartoon Festival in 2016 and he has been commended for participating in a literary competition in 2020 with the theme "Staying at home...". He has distinguished himself in mathematics and physics competitions and has been awarded for his high performance in Verbal and Quantitative Ability by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth.
PROGRAM
J.S. Bach: Partita No. 6 in E minor BWV 830
F. Schubert: Impromptu Op. 90 No. 2 in E flat major
A. Scriabin: Etude Op. 8 No. 12
L.v. Beethoven: Sonata No. 23 Op. 57 “Appassionata” in F minor
F. Chopin: Scherzo No. 1 Op. 20 in B minor
M. Ravel: Jeux d'eau
F. Liszt: Grandes Etudes de Paganini S.141 No. 3 “La Campanella”
SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2023
AT 20:00 HRS
FREE ENTRANCE
PHILIPPOS NAKAS CONCERT HALL | IPPOKRATOUS 41 ATHENS | TEL.: 2103634000