Biography
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Aristotelis Papadimitriou was born in Athens. Raised in an artistic environment (his father was a poet) he received his first piano lessons at the age of four with Natalia Miroshnikova (pupil of Aleksei Zibtsev) ,Dr. Alexei Miroshnikov (pupil of Abraham Schatzkes) and Charalampos Aggelopoulos.(pupil of Dr.h.c. Arbo Valdma).
At the age of nine, he won the 2nd prize and the silver medal at the Greek-Cypriot Piano Competition "Golden Musa". As a teenager he became ten times a prizewinner in the German music competition "Jugend Musiziert".
Aristotelis Papadimitriou studied mainly piano in Athens, Frankfurt am Main, Paris, London and Zurich. At the age of 17, he earned the highest greek diploma in piano solo performance at the Conservatory of Nikos Skalkotas with the highest grade and the first prize in the class of Nathalie Michaelidou.
At the age of 18, he was admitted to the class of Prof. Catherine Vickers (student of Bernhard Ebert and Hans Leygraf) at the University of Music in Frankfurt. Under her direction he completed his bachelor's degree in Piano Performance with the grade "very good" and his Master in Piano Pedagogy in Frankfurt. He completed his Master in Piano Performance (Specialization: Concert) at the Zurich University of Arts in the class Prof. Eckart Heiligers (Trio Jean-Paul, student of Karlheinz Kämmerling and Leon Fleisher) with distinction and best possible grade for his repertory final exam and final recital (6.0). He has studied in the Soloist Diploma (Master in Specialized Performance) with Prof. Barbara Szczepanska (student of Victor Merzhanov) in Düsseldorf. He has completed his Artist Diploma in Performance in Royal College in London with professors Dr. Dorian Leljak (student of Boris Berman), Ian Jones and Sofia Gulyak (student of Boris Petrushansky) with a scholarship of the establishment. He studied also with scholarship with Prof. Boris Berman additional artist diplomas in Piano Performance in Accademia del Ridotto and with Gabiela Montero in O-Academy with a full scholarship of the institution.
He also received the Diplôme d' Enseignement, the Diplôme d'Execution, the Diplome Superieur d' Execution after competitions in the final exams in the classes of Nathalie Michaelidou, Henri Barda, Victoria Melki (pupil of Alfred Cortot) and Dana Ciocarlie at the Ecole Normale of the Musique de Paris as a scholarship holder of the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot. He has studied also at the postgraduate study program "Piano and Conducting from the keyboard" with Prof. Riccardo Castro at the prestigious Scuola Musica di Fiesole in Italy. In 2011 he earned the diploma in harmony from the National Conservatory in Athens with the grade "Excellent"(class of Konstantinos Tsilidis).
Aristotelis Papadimitriou has enjoyed big success in international piano competitions, ultimately winning more than 50 prizes. His prizes include World Piano Teachers Association Competition (2nd prize-Serbia (AAF)), Nomea (5th prize-Naples (AAF)), Young Euregio Piano Award (3rd prize-Geilenkirchen(AAF)), Leopold Bellan (2nd prize-Paris), Adilia Alieva (2nd prize-Geneva), Grand Concours (1st prize with unanimity-Paris), Lagny-sur-Marne (2nd prize-France), Cap Ferret (1st prize with unanimity-France), Montrond les Bains (1st prize with unanimity-France), Franz Liszt Center (1st prize-Spain), Conero (3rd prize-Italy(AAF)), Aldo Ciccolini (4th-prize-Italy), San Donà di Piave (1st prize and Special Prize for the best romantic piece-Italy(AAF)), Amigdala International Competition (2nd prize-Italy(AAF)),Chopin Hartford (6th prize(AAF)), Cles d'Or (1st prize with unanimity and congratulations of the Jury-Paris), Carles and Sofia Competition (1st prize, Girona (AAF)), Citta di Massa (1st prize), Citta di Stresa (1st prize),Citta di Barletta (1st prize),Wiener Danubia Talents (1st prize(AAF)), Rachmaninov Competition in Darmstadt (3rd prize). He was one of the finalists in the competitions "Val Tidone 2021(AAF)", "Orbetello 2021(AAF)", Windsor (2021(AAF)), "Anton Rubinstein Düsseldorf 2023" ,"Princeton Piano Festival 2021" and Prix Cortot (2019).
He currently combines his concerts, artistic research with teaching in Zurich. He is since September 2022 the President of the World Piano Teachers Association (WPTA) Switzerland.
During his studies of the modern piano in Frankfurt began also his love for the fortepiano. He studied fortepiano in the Frankfurt Music University of Arts with Prof. Jesper Christensen and Panos Linakis. He studied fortepiano at the Zurich University of Arts with Prof. Michael Biehl and with Prof. Constantino Mastropimiano at the Conservatorio Morlacchi di Perugia (Master Fortepiano-Biennio). He studied also cembalo with Prof. Michael Biehl at the Zurich University of Arts and took the Diploma of Advanced Studies in Cembalo.
He was a scholarship holder of DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), Society of Friends and Supporters of Hfmdk Frankfurt, Polytechnic Society Frankfurt, Royal College of Music in London, Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot.
He has performed as a guest artist at important festivals and concert venues, including the Thessaloniki Piano Festival in Greece, the Frankfurt liest ein Buch in Germany, the Sacred Music Festival in Athens (organized by the Greek National Opera) in Greece, the Contemporary Music Night in Frankfurt in Germany, the Saint Lizier Festival in France and in the most famous halls around the world such as Mozart Saal in Alte Oper Frankfurt, Megaron Mousikis in Athens, Salle Cortot in Paris, Rachmaninov Hall in Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and in the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in New York.
The young pianist also deals with works of New Music and had the opportunity to work with Helmut Lachenmann a Lachenmanns work.
He has collaborated successfully as a soloist with the following orchestras: Rousse State Opera Orchestra, Savaria Symphony Orchestra and Frankfurt Music University Orchestra. He collaborated as a soloist with the conductors Wojciech Rajski, Simon Krecic, Wolfgang Harrer and Martin Studer.
He has taken important artistic mentoring and advice in masterclasses with Maria Joao Pires, Menahem Pressler (chamber music), Paul Badura-Skoda, Robert Levin, Dmitri Bashkirov, Anatol Ugorski, Andre Watts, Sergey Dorensky, Jacques Rouvier, Jörg Demus, Michel Beroff, Anne Queffelec, Nikolai Demidenko, Jean-Philippe Collard, Philippe Entremont, Alexander Toradze, Vladimir Viardo, Joseph Banowetz, Dr. Milana Chernyavska (as a scholar of the Internationale Musikakademie Liechtenstein), David Lively, Jerome Rose, Dr. Matti Raekallio, Gabriel Tacchino, Dr. h. c. Arbo Valdma, Günther Ludwig, Friedemann Rieger, Helmut Deutsch (Lied Accompaniment Masterclass), Jacob Leuschner, Ralf Nattkemper and Malcolm Bilson (Fortepiano-Masterclass), Pierre Goy (Fortepiano-masterclass), Eugen Wangler (repetition), John Perry, Carmen Piazzini, Jesper Christensen (Fortepiano-Masterclass), Uta Weyand, Andrej Jasinski, Lucas Fels (New Music), Justas Dvarionas, Laurent Boullet (Piano technique and Piano Physiology), Peter Feuchtwanger (Piano Physiology).