Vikentios Gionanidis

Vikentios Gionanidis is a Greek tuba player, teacher and brass arranger. His career was fully launched after winning honors in two major international competitions. At the Aeolus International Competition in Düsseldorf (2010), in addition to the first prize, he also won the special prize for contemporary music and the audience prize, in competition with other brass instruments, including trumpet and trombone. At the Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition (2012) Gionanidis won first prize. He also won prizes at the National Competition of the Music Academy of Lübeck (2011) and the International Brass Competition of Gdansk (2012).

Vikentios began his musical training in 1998 with the wind orchestra «Mantzaros» in Corfu, which included theory, percussion, euphonium and finally tuba. Later he studied at the Corfu Conservatory and in October 2007 he began his studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover, Germany, joining the famous tuba class of Prof. Jens Bjørn-Larsen. During his time there, he had the chance to participate in various chamber music ensembles as well as solo recitals and receive orchestral training, from which he graduated in February 2013.

He has performed as a soloist with notable orchestras, including the Plauen-Zwickau Theatre Orchestra, the Göttinger Symphoniker, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and the Folkwang Kammerorchester in Essen. His orchestral career includes performances with prestigious ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Frankfurt Symphony Radio, the Orchestre de la Suisse romande, the Hamburg Staatsoper, the Berlin Staatskapelle and many others.

Gionanidis' enthusiasm for chamber music led him to perform with such renowned bands as the Modern Ensemble, which specializes in contemporary music, the German Opera Brass (brass ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin), the Salaputia Brass, the 10-for Brass, the Stockholm Chamber Brass, the Trio 21meter60, to name a few.

Since 2014, Vikentios Gionanidis has been a professor at the Hochschule für Musik, the Theater und Medien in Hanover, where he teaches orchestral and solo literature. He has given masterclasses in many countries, including Greece, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Scotland and the United States. In addition to his career as a performer, Gionanidis is an active arranger of brass music, with his arrangements published and performed worldwide. His study books for tuba and trombone, 29 Bel Canto Studies and 24 Advanced Studies immediately became a success and serve as a companion and source of knowledge for many tuba and trombone players around the world.