Thursday 8 May 2008, Rialto Theatre, Lemesos, 20:30
Friday 9 May 2008, Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Lefkosia, 20:30
Soloist: Vassilis Varvaresos (piano)
Music Direction: Spiros Pisinos
Programme:
F. Chopin: Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor, Op. 11
A. Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 (Transfigured Night)
Tickets available at the Theatres’ box office at €10 and at €5 for pensioners
Free entrance for students, soldiers, student card and EURO<26 card holders
As soloist with orchestra in the U.S., Vassilis Varvaresos has performed with the Hartford Symphony, the Statesboro-Georgia Southern Symphony, the Modesto (CA) Symphony, the Altoona (PA) Symphony and the Westmoreland Symphony (PA), among others. He has toured extensively across the U.S. in recital. Mr. Varvaresos’ performances in his native Greece include appearances in Athens Megaron Hall with Solon Michaelides’ Piano Concerto and in Thessaloniki Megaron Hall with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki in Rachmaninov’s Concerto No. 2. He has performed numerous times on Greek State Television, as well as on television in Belgrade and Sofia. Mr. Varvaresos has represented Greece in a special “EuroConcert” at the Museum of Modern Art in Helsinki, at the Greek Embassy in Milan, and in a performance for the U.S. Ambassador to Greece. In Lefkosia, Cyprus he appeared with the Symphony Orchestra of Prague under Cypriot conductor Kypros Markou. He has also performed in Austria, The Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Mr. Varvaresos won numerous 1st Prizes in competitions such as the 1995 Petar Konjovic International Competition in Belgrade and the 1996 Pan-Hellenic Young Artist Competition in Athens, and was chosen as one of eleven young musicians from around the world to perform in Monte Carlo in a special “Little Mozarts” concert organized by Italy’s RAI TV. He also won the 1st Prize at the 1998 Young Concert Artists International Auditions at the age of 14, and has been awarded the Diallo Prize and the Beracasa Foundation Prize. The Young Concert Artists Series presented his recital debuts in New York sponsored by the Jerome L. Greene Foundation Prize, in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center, and a performance at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 2002 as recipient of the Summis Auspiciis Prize.
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.
