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Biography

The young Greek conductor Dionysis Grammenos first established himself internationally as a clarinettist, winning a place on the ECHO Rising Stars programme in 2013/14 which led to performances with many major orchestras and in some of the most prestigious venues worldwide. In 2016 he received a Conducting Fellowship at Aspen Music Festival and since this time has conducted widely across the world both in the concert hall and opera pit, including a very last-minute jump-in at the Megaron Athens when he was invited to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Brahms 4, receiving a standing ovation and huge acclaim from both players and audience alike. In July 2024, he will make his USA debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He is praised regularly for his innate and instinctive musicianship, the clarity and efficiency of his conducting and his proficiency for shaping the sound of the orchestra. His performances are profoundly expressive, rich in colour and emotion, and he has been described by Die Welt as 'one of the most promising stars of tomorrow'.

In recent seasons Grammenos has conducted orchestras including the Cameristi della Scala, Belgian National Symphony, Malta Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Ulster Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Strings, Vienna Chamber, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Thailand Philharmonic, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Athens State Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, and with soloists such as Khatia Buniatishvili, Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Ottensamer and Anna Fedorova. 

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Passionate about opera, Grammenos made his opera conducting debut in Würzburg with Puccini Gianni Schicchi; he has assisted Johannes Debus on productions of Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin and Mozart The Abduction from the Seraglio at the Canadian Opera Company and conducted Mozart La Clemenza di Tito at the Aspen Music Festival and Verdi Il Trovatore at the Theatre Vorpommern. In 21/22 he was the Principal Conductor of English Touring Opera’s production of Puccini La Bohème and in Summer 2023 he made a highly successful debut at Nevill Holt conducting Rossini La Cenerentola.

Grammenos is Founder and Artistic Director of the Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra (GYSO). Under his leadership the GYSO joined the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras and was invited to perform at the opening concert of the Young Euro Classic Festival at the Berlin Konzerthaus, and then re-invited to perform there again in 2023. Since 2020, the GYSO has been Orchestra in Residence at the Megaron in Athens. In November 2024, the orchestra will perform at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Grammenos.

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Grammenos trained as a clarinettist at the University of Music “Franz Liszt” in Weimar, and in 2008 won the Grand Prix d’Eurovision from the European Broadcasting Union as well as the title European Young Musician of the Year, the first wind player ever to receive this title. As soloist he has performed at the Berlin Philharmonie and Carnegie Hall, with the Vienna Symphony, Norwegian Radio and ORF Vienna and as an ECHO Rising Star he has appeared in many of the world’s top venues including London’s Barbican Centre and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He has also made recordings for Naïve and Warner Classics.

In 2009 Grammenos was awarded the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts and the Gold Medal of the City of Athens. After his studies in Weimar, he studied conducting at the Würzburg Music University with Ari Rasilainen, and was invited to take part in conducting masterclasses with David Zinman, Bernhard Haitink, Patrick Summers and Robert Spano. In 2018 he was selected for the European Young Leaders programme, under the patronage of Jean-Claude Juncker, which aims to cultivate a European identity by engaging the most promising talents in initiatives destined to shape Europe’s future.

2023/24 season / 607 words. Not to be altered without permission.