| Dimitris Sgouros | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 August 1969 Athens, Greece |
| Genres | Classical music |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Website | www.sgouros-pianist.com |
Dimitris Sgouros (Greek: Δημήτρης Σγούρος; born 30 August 1969)[a] is a Greek classical pianist.[1] He began playing the piano at a young age, and received formal training in Athens, London, and New York. Widely acclaimed for his prodigious musical talent as a boy, Sgouros is one of the world's leading concert pianists. Arthur Rubinstein remarked that he had produced "the best playing I have ever heard."[2]
Contents |
Sgouros was born on 30 August 1969 in Athens, Greece,[1][2][3] the son of Sotirios and Marianthi Sgouros.[3] There was no notable record of musical talent in his family.[2] He began playing the piano at a young age and gave his first public performance at the age of seven.[2] At the age of eight, he entered the Athens Conservatoire, studying under Maria Herogiorgiou-Sigara.[1][2] Sgouros won several competitions between 1978 and 1983, including the UNICEF competition in Bulgaria (1979), a competition in Ancona, Italy (1980), and two competitions in his home city of Athens.[2] He was also the recipient of the 1982 Leonardo da Vinci International Award.[3][4]
In 1982, at the age of 12, Sgouros made his Carnegie Hall debut. He performed Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich.[1] In mid-1983, before he had turned 13, Sgouros graduated from the Conservatory with a Professor's Diploma, a Teacher's Diploma, a First Prize, and a Gold Medal.[2] Sgouros continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Arts of London and the University of Maryland, College Park, in the United States of America.[1] He graduated from Royal Academy with the highest marks the institution had ever awarded.[1] Besides his musical talents, Sgouros has undertaken postgraduate studies in mathematics at the University of Oxford.[5]
Performances around the world have included concerts in Australia,[6][7] Austria, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, France, Germany, Hong Kong,[8] Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand,[9] Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and Turkey.[10] Sgouros has performed for the royal families of Britain, Monaco,[11][12] and Sweden, and played under the baton of renowned conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Emil Tabakov, Kurt Masur, and Yevgeny Svetlanov.[13] He has recorded for various record labels, including Dino Music[14][15] and EMI.[16] Since March 1988, three Sgouros Festivals have been instituted, in Hamburg, Ljubljana, and Singapore.[17][18][19]
Sgouros has featured prominently in the media, having appeared on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson[20] and a television concert with Chopin's 1st Piano Concerto.[21][22] He has also been profiled by Oscar-winning director François Reichenbach in a feature length documentary film.[23][24]
a. ^ Sgouros's name sometimes appears as Dimitrios Sgouros.
