Tetraktys String Quartet

Tetraktys
String Quartet
The Quartet was formed in 2008 by Giorgos Panagiotidis (violin), Kostas
Panagiotidis (violin), Ali Başeğmezler (viola) and Dimitris Travlos (cello)
and has met resounding acclaim by the Greek audience and Press. The
Greek newspapers have described it as "The new up-and-coming quartet",
with various other critiques mentioning their "unique style", their "bright
and compact sound", their "virtuosic efficiency" and their "expressive
phrasing".
Each member of the Quartet is extremely talented, trained at world class
institutions and has performed with various orchestras and famous
conductors. Giorgos Panagiotidis is the assistant Concertmaster of the
Athens Camerata, Orchestra of the Friends of Music, Kostas Panagiotidis is
a member of the first violin section of the National Symphony Orchestra of
the Greek Radio-Television, Ali Başeğmezler is the principal viola player of
the Athens Camerata, Orchestra of the Friends of Music, and Dimitris
Travlos is a member of the Athens State Orchestra. They are also members
of the Ensemble Modern and Ergon Ensemble.
Tetraktys has been nominated by Megaron-The Athens Concert Hall as
ECHO Rising Stars for 2011-2012. In this framework the Quartet has
performed in most of the European Concert Halls, such Het Concertgebouw
Amsterdam, Cité de la Musique Paris (quartet biennale dedicated to
Wolfagang Rihm), Luxembourg Philharmonie, Palais des Beaux-Arts
Brussels, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie, Musikverein
Wien, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Town Hall & Symphony Hall Birmingham,
Stockholms Konserthus and L’Auditori Barcelona, receiving praising reviews
from the audience and the Press.
The Quartet's repertoire is diverse and exciting, trying to combine the
Classical period with the Contemporary: in their concerts they have
combined Ligeti with Mozart, Skalkottas with Haydn, Webern with
Beethoven. Currently they are exploring repertoire with electronics too.
Recordings of some of their performances, so as additional information can
be found at: www.tetraktysquartet.com
Facebook profile
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000171156769
Contact : contact@tetraktysquartet.com
Giorgos Panagiotidis, violin
He was born in Drama Greece in 1982
and started violin lessons with his father
at the age of 5. At the age of 13 he won
the first prize for young musicians at the
Kocian violin competition in Ústí nad
Orlicí of the Czech Republic. He was then
accepted in the Hochschule für Musik
und Theater in Munich where he studied
with Gottfried Schneider and graduating in 2004 with the loan of a
Nicolau Gagliano violin for 2 years. After graduation he joined Prof.
Lydia Dubrovskaya’s class and in 2007 he returned to Greece to take
up the position of assistant Concertmaster of the Athens Camerata –
Orchestra of the Friends of Music.
He has worked with many other ensembles including the Ensemble
Modern Frankfurt, the Bayerisher Rundfunk Orchestra and has
collaborated with famous conductors, such as Zubin Mehta, Pierre
Boulez and Sir Neville Marriner. He has performed in many European
concert halls, among which the Concertgebouw Amsterdam,
Herkulessaal München, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and Salle Pleyel
Paris.
He is founding member of ERGON Ensemble and also a member of the
Tetraktys Quartet.
Kostas Panagiotidis, violin
He was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1977 and
started violin lessons with his father at the age of 7.
Having shown excellent progress, he received his
violin diploma with Honors at the age of 15 from the
Kavalla Municipal Conservatory. He was awarded a
scholarship from the State Conservatory of Northern
Greece, in order to attend Ginga Gitshova’s violin
classes at the Music Academy of Sofia. In 1995 he
continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik
und Theater in Munich with Gottfried Schneider and
graduated in 1999. He received his postgraduate
diploma in 2001 (Meisterklasse Podium).
He has attended seminars and masterclasses and participated in
recitals and chamber music concerts in Greece, Austria, Italy and
Germany. He has performed as a soloist with the Athens State
Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Sofia. He has been a
member of the Athens State Orchestra (2003-2008), the Athens
Camerata – Orchestra of the Friends of Music (until 2010) and the
National Symphonic Orchestra of the Greek Radio-Television.
He is member of ERGON Ensemble and also a member of the
Tetraktys Quartet.
Ali Başeğmezler, viola
He was born in Ankara Turkey. He started his
music education in Ankara Conservatory with Feza
Gökmen. After his graduation he went to Leipzig
"Hochschule für Musik und Theater – Felix
Mendelssohn Bartholdy" to continue studying with
Prof.
Tatjana
Masurenko
in
2001.
By the time he also played as a tutti viola in "Halle
Opernhaus" (2002-2004) and practiced under the
guidance of world famous viola players such as
Bruno Guiranna, Stefan Kamasa and Nobuko Imai.
He finished his graduate (2006) and masters degree (2008) with the
title "very good".
Since 1997 he has played with many orchestras through Europe as a
guest or as a soloist. He performed Nejat Basegmezler’s Viola Concerto
"Lausanne" as a World premiere with the Presidential Symphony
Orchestra Ankara in 2008.
Since 2005, he is the principal violist of Camerata – The Friends of
Music orchestra in Athens.
He is a member of Tetraktys quartet and ERGON Ensemble.
Dimitris Travlos, cello
He was born in 1978 in Berlin. He started his cello
lessons at the age of four with Dana Chatzigeorgiou
and continued his studies with Renato Ripo. He
received his diploma in 1998.
Further studies in the Vienna Academy for Music and
Performing Arts with Prof. Johannes Meissl and Prof.
Josef Luitz. He has participated in master classes with
Anatol Krastev, David Strange, Maria Kliegel, Maria
Tchaikovska, Heinrich Schiff, Vincent Stadlmair,
Kerstin Feltz, along with chamber music seminars with the Artis
Quartet and the Altenburg Trio.
He is a member of Tetraktys quartet, a founding member of ERGON
Ensemble and since 2003, a member of the Athens State Orchestra.
Links to press reviews (in Greek):
Eleftherotypia, 28/10/2010
http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.article&id=236547
To Vima, 13/12/2009
http://www.tovima.gr/culture/article/?aid=304629
Kathimerini, 22/11/2009
http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_civ_2_22/11/2009_362008
Kathimerini, 18/10/2009
http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_civ_2_18/10/2009_333631
Tetraktys photos (by Giorgos Mavropoulos)
Rising Stars 2011/12
The European Concert Hall Organisation constitutes a platform for
open exchange and for joint thinking on the opportunities,
developments and shared challenges central to the lives of concert
halls in the 21st century. The ECHO member halls come together to
learn from, and be inspired by each other and to initiate ambitious
international shared initiatives.
As individual institutions the ECHO halls demonstrate huge variety –
both artistically and organisationally – but what unites them is a
shared ambition to present the highest quality performances to the
widest possible audiences. All of the ECHO halls are producing
institutions and demonstrate a high level of artistic integrity
presenting a significant level of ‘own productions’ in the performance
series they offer.
Each year the European Concert Hall Organisation selects six
outstanding artists to become its Rising Stars. The selected Rising
Stars perform a concert tour across the halls of the ECHO network.
The ECHO Rising Stars series has existed since 1995 and has shaped
the musical careers of many of today’s world class artists.
The aim of the Rising Stars series is to bring exceptional young artists
to new international audiences. The selected artists are offered
unparalleled performance opportunities to present musical
programmes of their choice in the major concert halls of Europe. The
focus of the series is musical excellence; the artists presented in the
series are the best in their chosen field and are hand-selected by the
Artistic Directors of the ECHO member halls.
Tetraktys string quartet is the official nomination of Megaron –
The Athens Concert Hall for the artistic period 2011/12.