Michalis Economou

Dirijor invitat / permanent

 

Is one of the most active conductors and composers of his generation, a significant figure of the Greek musical scene. He is music director of the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra, former music director of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and tenure chief conductor of the Athens Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as principal guest conductor of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra. A regular conductor of all Greek orchestras, he has also worked with more than 40 symphony orchestras in Europe, the United States and Asia.

As a composer, he is winner of twelve national and international competitions, including the ALEA III International Competition and the Dimitri Mitropoulos International Competition. His works have been performed all over the world and he has been commissioned to compose music for Carnegie Hall and among other venues, for the Athens Megaron Concert Hall.

Born in Greece in 1973, he studied musicology at the University of Athens, as well as violin, theory, and composition at the National Conservatory of Athens. He received five scholarships when he moved to Boston in 1997, where he studied orchestral conducting and composition with Lukas Foss, Theodore Antoniou, and David Hoose at Boston University. In 1999 he earned his “Master of Music” degree in Conducting and in 2001 he received his “Doctor of Musical Arts” in Composition. His conducting mentors also include the highly acclaimed international figures Jorma Panula and Gianluigi Gelmetti.

Michalis Economou is the current orchestral conducting professor at the historical Athens Conservatoire and Chairman of the Music Department at the Athens Technical University. He has trained at least 200 young conductors since 2003. He is also the founder and director of the annual national conducting masterclass with the Athens Symphony Orchestra that attracts at least 100 applicants per season. Additionally, he is the founder and tutor of some of the most important international conducting masterclasses today in Greece, Hungary, Malta, Romania, and Cyprus. His teaching clips have become viral on social media, and he is considered as one of the most significant teachers and mentors in the conducting field today.

Since 2012 Michalis Economou is represented internationally by IMG Artists