Reflections for Two Pianos

Piano Duo Antithesis presents the prize-winning works of the Composition Competition for Two Pianos 2022 – 2023, dedicated to Theodore Antoniou and realised in Crete. Petros Moschos and Dimitris Karydis undertook to interpret the prize-winning works of the competition outside of Crete, alongside works from the mainstream repertoire for two pianos of the 20th century.

Traditional music along with jazz and Gershwin’s pieces reflect in various ways in the composers’ scores and become their source of inspiration.

Programme

Yiannis Constantinidis: Eight Greek Island Dances
Stamatis Pasopoulos: Μ-101118
Fazil Say: Black Earth
Efstathios Chomatsas: Kaleidoscope
Darius Milhaud: Scaramouche
Aggelos Mastrantonis: 3 Simulacra of Songs by George Gershwin
Percy Grainger: Fantasy on Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess
Piano duo Antithesis, Greek-born Petros Moschos and Dimitris Karydis, have been collaborating since they were studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Their musical vibrancy, unique ensemble playing and technical brilliance have been highly acclaimed by an ever-widening international audience. They have a keen interest in presenting innovating programmes as well as new works for the medium.

They have been the recipients of many top prizes and awards at major international piano duo competitions. Prizes include:

Bronze Medal, Murray Dranoff International Competition 2003, Miami, USA
First Prize, Donostia Hiria International Competition, 2003, Spain
Second Prize (First prize not awarded) Schubert Competition, 2001, Czech Republic
Aloise Slosila Special Prize for best performance of Schubert
First Prize, V. Bellini Citta di Caltanissetta International Competition, Italy, 2000
First Prize, Rovere d’Oro International Music Competition, Italy 1999
Athens Academy of Letters and Arts, Award for artistic activity, 2000 and 2001
They have performed in Germany, Italy, England, Switzerland, Greece, Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Ukraine, Israel, Canada Venezuela and USA. Performances have included concerts at the Brno International Festival, Janáček Festival, Athens and Epidavros Festival, the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Philharmonic Hall in Odessa, Olympia Theatre in Miami, Teresa Carreno Theatre in Caracas, South Bank Centre, Fairfield Hall and St. John’s Smith Square in London, and concerto appearances with Janacek Chamber Orchestra, University of London Symphony Orchestra, Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Israeli Festival Orchestra, Florida Classical Orchestra, Brampton Symphony Orchestra, Morley Chamber Orchestra and others.

Their first CD was with works by Mozart, Brahms and Schubert and was co-produced by Bavarian Radio and Genuin Musikproduktions. The second CD, The Carnival of the Animals, was a highly successful collaboration between Antithesis and the Nuremberg Youth Orchestra for educational purposes. They have also recorded for Czech, Israeli, Hellenic, Bavarian radios and BBC Radio 3.

Along with piano-duo work they are also involved in other multi-piano projects. They are part of the Tetrachord Piano Ensemble, a group of four pianists on two pianos, and they have been performing rare and newly commissioned works for this unusual combination. In 2019 they performed Gustav Holst’s The Planets arranged for eight pianists.

Petros Moschos and Dimitris Karydis studied in Athens with Dimitris Toufexis and Aliki Vatikioti and in London with Frank Wibaut and James Gibb. They both hold Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degrees from City University, where they have also been Honorary Visiting Fellows. Dimitris is Head of Classical Music at Morley College, London and Petros teaches piano at CityLit and Morley colleges as well as the Centre for Young Musicians – a division of Guildhall School of Music and Drama. They are also co-founders of the Heraklion Piano Festival in Greece.