Born in Heraklion, Crete, Greece, Konstantinos Papadakis has been described by the press as “the greatest hopes of music”. He had his first piano lesson at the age of nine and a year later, having already won the First Prize at a Panhellenic Competition (including a Special Distinction for his own composition) he debuted as a soloist.  He subsequently received a fellowship at the Hellenic Conservatory of Athens, where he studied with Costis Gaetanos. Upon his graduation he received a Piano Diploma, First Prize, and a special Award in memory of Alex Thurneyssen, while at the same time he was honored with a Golden Medal for excellence (a superior distinction awarded for the first time to a pianist.) Mr. Papadakis pursued further studies in London with Martino Tirimo and Vladimir Ashkenazy, in Moscow with Nikolai Petrov and in United States with Anthony di Bonaventura.

After the success of his world-premiere recordings of 30 piano works by Greek composers (many of them written especially for him), he was honored by the Ministry of Culture of Cyprus with the "Best Performer of the year" Award, and he was invited to appear in a series of concerts as the soloist in S.Michaelidis Piano Concerto. Of these performances, the official publication of the Ministry of Culture of Cyprus, wrote: "..How can we forget his strong personality, his modesty, his unlimited passion for expression, his volatile temperament.. We are proud to have our national music superbly performed by this young virtuoso's hands!"  Mr. Papadakis has also participated in musical shows with the "Earth's Dance & Theater Ensemble" playing the role of Manos Hadjidakis, and performing the premiere of Hadjidakis's unfinished last song-cycle "The Songs of Sin".

Mr. Papadakis has performed extensively as soloist in numerous recitals, collaborated with renowned artists and orchestras, and has also participated in various music ensembles in major concert halls and artistic centers in Europe, Russia, Canada and United States including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Athens Concert Hall, St. Petersburg Concert Hall and many others.

He has won many prizes and distinctions at International Piano competitions and has performed and recorded several works especially written for him by contemporary composers, many of which have been broadcast on radio and television.  As a winner of '99 Concerto/Aria Competition at Boston University, Mr. Papadakis performed Liszt's Second Piano Concerto with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra at a special celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of the Tsai Performance Center. His broad repertoire ranges from Rameau to the avant-garde, including 40 piano concertos, over 300 works for solo piano, and many concertos by Greek composers. Currently he is recording the complete piano works of Theodore Antoniou. After his appearance with Chausson’s Double Concerto for piano and violin with Augustin Dumay, he has been invited to perform with Dumay the Brahm’s and Schumann’s Piano Quintets in Belgium. In summer 2003 Mr. Papadakis appeared in a series of performances of all Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas presented by 32 young pianists from all over the world at London’s Wigmore Hall. He has also been invited as artistic director and pianist for the Marathon Piano Series that will take place in Athens during the Summer Olympics 2004. Mr. Papadakis is an alumni of Boston University's School for the Arts, where he received an Artist Diploma in Piano performance. He joined the faculty of Boston University in 1990. He has been the recipient of the prestigious Yannis Vardinayannis Award, given for the first time to a piano performer, as well as the Esther & Albert Kahn Career Entry Award.

[EFTYCHIA PAPANIKOLAOU]