Biography / Repertoire
Background

Sotirios Dimitriadis, Ph.D.
The man, the early years, the calling

"Magician of the piano", "an experience of the highest calibre!", "Intoxicating", "a really mystic event", "Unforgettable" … Thus the international specialist publications comments about the exceptional art of the renowned Greek concert pianist Sotirios Dimitriadis who was born November 1966 in Athens, the capital of Greece.

The parents

His parents were no professional musicians, nevertheless, music lovers filled with passion. The father's dearest hobby was the singing. As a bass vocalist, he was a famed member one of the qualitatively most demanding and best Byzantine choirs of Greece.

This choir appeared not only regularly in the Greek-orthodox churches in Athens and accompanied the liturgy acapella (without music) according to the Byzantine tradition, but proved by concert tours in the European foreign country and LP sound recordings, its excellent reputation over and over again.

His mother as well as his grandmother, have learned neither singing nor the instrument play, nevertheless, loved the classical music, especially the song cycles of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms and the symphonies of Beethoven and Brahms.

No day passed in the Dimitriadis residence, in which did not run classical music on the radio (which was put constantly on the frequency of the German Wave "Deutsche Welle").

How everything begun

One day the parents saw the young Sotirios, not yet even some three years old, standing on a backgammon board that he used as a conductor platform.

He moved his hands conducting directly in front of the large old radio, to the sounds of Beethoven's 9th symphony with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin philharmonic orchestra.

The special thing was that the boy, independent of rhythm and tempo change of the music, moved his hands always in the right manner according to the rhythm. This recurred in always shorter time intervals, so that his love for the music, was sensed by the parents in plain terms very soon.

The occasion

In spring of 1970, Sotirios being 3 years old, the parents went to a restaurant with live orchestra. The parents could not believe their eyes, when Sotirios stood on during the break, went to the conductor's platform and begun "conducting".

Some of the musicians who were still on their place found this amazing and started to play a waltz melody. Being curious, the rest musicians joined them soon. During their performance, they changed rhythm and melody frequently, to see if the boy can follow. However, Sotirios kept the right rhythm, even by complicate music.

The guests of the restaurant were thrilled, standing and applauded wildly. The conductor of the orchestra took the child hand in hand and went to the table of the parents. Astonished as he was, said to them enthusiastically: " The little one must go immediately at the conservatory. I have never experienced such a thing! In spite of his young age, please do not wait for it."

The decision

Now the question was, violin or piano. The parents took Sotirios to one violin and one piano recital. Because the boy should decide for himself. Observing with his eyes of a child, was the posture of the violinist so uncomfortable, that he decided on the piano.

That wonderful and majestic music instrument. Thus he already began to receive piano lessons in this very early age. At the age of ten years he gave in Athens his first public concert. His music life had taken his course in time.