02 Nov 2023
Read an article about the upcoming concert on 8th November at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation in Manchester
Dimitra Ananiadou: A musical odyssey for a pawsome cause
Join Dimitra Ananiadou and her ensemble on November 8th for a musical soirée that’s bound to make your heartstrings sing, all while supporting our four-legged friends in need
27 July 2023
Alex Apostolopoulos – ‘Must it be?’ for solo violin
This work was composed for friend and violinist Dimitra Ananiadou.
[first performance details TBD]
The research for this piece has been partially funded by the Harry Clough Award 2021 – a scholarship award provided by the Clough Family in honour of Harry Clough.
The composer:
Alex Apostolopoulos holds a degree from the Athens university of economics and business. He was awarded a Master of Music from Newcastle University, where he studied with John Kefala-Kerr and Prof. David Clarke, and a Master of Philosophy from Newcastle University for composing music under the supervision of Dr. Bennett Hogg and Prof. David Clarke.
Alex is a PhD composer at the University of Manchester, under the supervision of Dr. Richard Whalley and Dr. Leonidas Koutsougeras. His research is focused on the application of game theory in music composition as an approach to musical indeterminacy. The outcomes of this research are music compositions which involve some element of strategizing while performing live. Alex has been awarded the Harry Clough scholarship award to pursue his PhD at the University of Manchester.
Alex has collaborated with Distractfold on two projects, and had pieces workshopped by Opera North, Psappha, Solem Quartet, Quatuor Danel, and at the BFE-RMA Research Students’ Conference 2020. He has composed music for university students and coached them in rehearsals for premieres by student ensembles and the Manchester University Symphony Orchestra. The Manchester University Symphony Orchestra premiered Alex’s orchestral piece ‘Predatory Pricing’ in October 2022 at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, under the direction of Ben Nicoll.
Alex has presented his research in international conferences such as the Theory and Analysis Graduate Students’ Conference 2019 (Society for Music Analysis), the BFE-RMA Research Students’ Conference 2020, and the Penn State New-Music Festival and Symposium (both in 2021 and 2023). Recent on-going projects include composing a solo violin piece for violinist Dimitra Ananiadou, and a chamber vocal work based on the story of the sacrifice of Iphigenia for Aimee Wilmot and a group of talented music students at the University of Manchester.
12 July 2023
Dimitra Ananiadou Receives the Best Beethoven Performance Special Award in Beethoven International Music Competition
Candidates who have given an exceptional performance of a work written by Ludwig van Beethoven
12 July 2023
Dimitra Ananiadou Receives the Platinum Prize in Beethoven International Competition 2023 With 96+/100 points
Category Classical B (Over Age 17)
22 June 2023
University of Manchester News
15 June 2023
Award
Dimitra received the Silver Prize at the ‘Virtuoso International Music Awards 2023’.
21 May 2023
Review
Adding to the international feel, was the Greek violinist Dimitra Ananiadou. A graduate of the Universities of Greece, York and Manchester. Along with her violin playing she has master’s degrees in Musicology and Historical Performance and is a teaching assistant and doctoral researcher at the University of Manchester.
Dimitra opened with the challenging unaccompanied Chaconne in D minor by JS Bach. Like recent classical guitar and harp performances, such an accomplished player uses their full expressive range in the superb acoustic of St Mary in the Baum without amplification.
She was then joined by the industrious pianist and composer, Richard Whalley, Senior Lecturer in Composition at the University of Manchester, a York graduate and Harvard PhD.
Their performance of the dramatic Beethoven Violin Sonata Op. 30 No. 2 was compelling and stunning as it moved through changing moods from serenity to storms in the skilful and energetic hands of these fine interpreters.
Similarly, the highly charged ‘Praeludium and Allegro in the style of Pugnani’, a Romantic pastiche of Italian Baroque by Austrian violinist-composer Fritz Kreisler, was a delight.
What a glorious way to spend a lunchtime… and improve international relations.
Dimitra Ananiadou 