Wednesday 5 March 2008, Rialto Theatre, Lemesos, 20:30
Thursday 6 March 2008, Markideion Theatre, Pafos, 20:30
Friday 7 March 2008, Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Lefkosia, 20:30
Soloist: Manolis Nephytou (piano)
Music Direction: Spiros Pisinos
Programme:
S. Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op.18 in C minor
P. Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture
A. Borodin: Polovtsian Dances (from the opera Prince Igor)
I. Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (1919)
Tickets available at the Theatres’ box office at €9 and at €5 for pensioners
Free entrance for students, soldiers, student card and EURO<26 card holders
Sponsored by the Russian Commercial Bank
Manolis Neophytou was born in Lemesos, Cyprus in 1977. He received his first piano lessons at the age of seven by Dr. Nefen Michaelides. At the age of eleven he entered the Moscow Central Special State CyYSO Academy of the ex- Soviet Union with Prof. Rudolf Kehrer, where he obtained the Leaving Certificate with Honours-Distinction. Thereafter he studied at the Moscow TchaikovskyState Conservatoire on scholarship awarded by the Nicolas Economou Foundation, where he studied with Prof. Irina Plotnikova and Arkadii Sevidov and graduated in 2002. He then undertook postgraduate studies at the Ecole Normale in Paris on scholarship awarded by the Albert Roussel Foundation. In 2004 he obtained the Masters in Performance and Related Studies degree from Goldsmiths College, University of London with Professor Andrew Zolinsky. Since 2005 he works on his PhD Thesis titled “Piano Pedagogy in the Soviet Union (Russia)” at the same University, under the supervision of A. Ivashkin, on scholarship by the State Scholarships Foundation of Greece (I.K.Y.). Manolis Neophytou won First Prize at the Inter-Mediterranean Music Festival in Palermo (Italy), Second Prize at the Giorgos Thimis Piano competition in Thessalonica Megaron Hall (Greece) and Fourth Prize at the Senigallia Piano Competition (Italy). He has also represented Cyprus three times at the Eurovision Young Musicians Contests in Brussels (1992), Warsaw (1994) and Lisbon (1996). His performance activities include solo recitals and concerts in South Africa, Greece, Russia, Poland, Italy, France, Ireland, U.K., Korea, and Cyprus. As soloist, he has collaborated with orchestras such as the Cyprus State Orchestra, Thessalonica State Orchestra, Rostov Symphony Orchestra (Russia), Chestahova Symphony Orchestra (Poland) and Palermo Chamber Orchestra (Italy). Recent appearances include a tour in four cities of South Africa in collaboration with the University of South Africa, and his first piano masterclass at the University of Pretoria.
Spiros Pisinos was appointed conductor and artistic director of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in 2005. He has conducted London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, Mariinsky Young Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlo Felice Opera Orchestra, the West Australia Symphony, the Nuremberg Symphony and the Orchestre National de Montpellier, as well as at Dusseldorf’s Deutsche Oper am Rhein and at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. In 2001 Spiros Pisinos worked as cover conductor at the New York Philharmonic and in 2003 at the Orchestre National de France, both under Kurt Masur. He is the founder and director of the Ensemble Philharmonia composed by professional Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot and other European accomplished musicians, which has successfully performed both in Cyprus and abroad. He has also performed chamber music as pianist with ensembles including the Jerusalem String Quartet and the Vienna String Soloists. Spiros Pisinos began piano studies at the Ethnikon Odeon Kyprou under Loulou Symeonidou. In 1978, he successfully earned his diploma in piano performance and was granted the conservatory’s Medal of Outstanding Achievement. A recipient of the Leventis Foundation scholarship, Spiros Pisinos completed his studies in orchestral conducting at the Vienna Conservatory where he graduated in 1996. In 1982, prior to devoting himself exclusively to music, Spiros Pisinos had studied Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania and had subsequently carried out research at M.I.T.
