The technique of the violin as a whole.
The approach to works of a different era.
The creation of the personal interpretation.
The musician-audience relationship.
Chamber music ensamble.
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Bio
“The truly outstanding Andreas Papanikolaou is widely regarded as one of the leading violinists of his generation to emerge from his native Greece,” writes British music critic Robert Matthew-Walker.
Born in Thessaloniki in 1982, he began violin lessons at the age of six. In 2000, he completed his musical studies in Greece, obtaining his Violin Diploma with Distinction under Irina Dragneva at the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki. He continued his studies with distinguished violinist Taras Gabora at the Vancouver Academy of Music (B.C.O.U.) in Canada, as a scholarship recipient of the Friends of Music Society A. Triantis of the Athens Concert Hall, as well as the Vancouver Academy of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music in Performance.
He has received awards in competitions such as the V.A.M. Kay Meek Soloists, Elsje De Ridder Armstrong, and Friends of Chamber Music–Canada. He has also participated in numerous violin and chamber music seminars with internationally renowned soloists and professors.
At the age of 19, he joined the first violins of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, and in 2014 he was appointed Principal Second Violin, a position he holds to this day. Between 2008 and 2010, he served as concertmaster of the orchestra.
As an active violinist, he performs regularly in concerts and music festivals in Greece and abroad, in solo recitals and chamber music performances. He is co-founder of the Tantum Trio and the Emilios Riadis String Quartet, with which he has recorded and collaborated with distinguished Greek and international musicians. As a member of the contemporary music ensemble dissonArt, he has appeared at major international festivals, performing works of the 20th and 21st centuries.
He has appeared as a soloist with the most important Greek symphony orchestras, as well as with various ensembles, under the direction of internationally acclaimed conductors such as Marcus Bosch, Lionel Bringuier, Christoph Poppen, Martin Lebel, Mihkel Kütson, Antony Walker, Sydney Harth, Michael Charry, Vladimir Symeonidis, Michalis Economou, Byron Fidetzis, Stefanos Tsialis, among others.
He has taught at the postgraduate department of the University of Macedonia and is currently a violin professor at the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki, with his students receiving distinctions both in Greece and internationally. He is regularly invited to music seminars and festivals as a violin and chamber music instructor (Volax, Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, Synthermia Plus).
He is the founder of the non-profit organization Animus, through which he has given charity concerts for UNICEF, Hope House, and Doctors Without Borders.
He performs on an Italian violin, a copy of a P. Guarnerius instrument, dating back to around 1850.
“His interpretation is marked by unwavering, distinctive care, refined inwardness, and radiant brilliance, while his maturity and artistic qualities rarely leave even the most demanding listener unmoved.”
(A. Konstantinidis – Makedonia newspaper)
