Born in Athens, Greece in September of 1996, son to a ballet dancer, a banker and future brother to a then unborn sister, at the age of 5, I declared my love for the flute, practiced and performed in all the places I have lived and in the airplane in between.
When I realised my love for music and after a long year of trying to persuade both of my parents, I enrolled at the National Conservatory in Athens and received my first lessons from Ms. Myrto Tsakiri.
After having moved to Bulgaria with my family, at the age of 13 I was accepted at the National Music School of Sofia “NMU Lyubomir Pipkov”, to study under Prof. Georgi Spassov. In 2011, after participating in Prof. Robert Winn’s masterclass, I was lucky enough to begin working with him, on an intermittent basis. In 2012 ,thanks to his referral, I met Prof. Greiss-Armin and her assistant Matthias Allin at their annual masterclass in Thomashoff, a meeting that marked the next stage of my musical development.
In June of 2013, at the age of 16, I was accepted to study with them at the Music University of Karlsruhe and graduated in July of 2018 with distinctions. In February 2016, I was selected to be the only student representative in the committee that would select the new flute professor in our university, Prof. Pirmin Grehl.
During my studies, I regularly premiered different pieces from the composition class of Prof. W. Rihm and was often invited to perform as a member of both youth and professional orchestras like the State Theater of Karlsruhe, Kölner Kammerorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France between others.
Searching for inspiration is a never-ending and vitally crucial journey in one's life. In my case some of the most inspiring figures have been Maestro Zubin Mehta whom I saw for the first time on stage in 2005 conducting "Carmen", Maestro Christoph Eschenbach whose recordings I grew up with, Maestro Yutaka Sado conducting one of the most impressive performances of the "Requiem" by G. Verdi. I consider myself extraordinarily lucky and privileged to have had the opportunity to learn from and be invited to collaborate with them as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician.
In June of 2021 I had the great honour of being invited as a soloist with the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra under the baton of the legendary Mo. Gergiev.
As a chamber musician I have collaborated with artists like Vilde Frang, Matthias Goerne, Nicolas Altstaedt, Daniel Hope, Vilde Frang, Chen Reiss, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Noah Bendix-Balgley and Marisol Montalvo between others and have had teacher and mentors like Mathieu Dufour, Vangelis Papathanassiou, Petra Müllejans, Henrick Wiese, Peter Lukas Graf.
As a soloist I have been honoured with the “Music: Landschaft Westfalen Festival Award”(2021), the "Leonard Bernstein Award" from the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival (2020), the "Lotto Prize" from the Rheingau Festival (2019) and have been awarded with numerous prizes from International Competitions. In 2021 I was accepted into the Development Programme of the Orpheum Foundation for the Advancement of Young Soloists.
Past and upcoming performances and recordings include : the World Premiere of "für Inge" of Leonard Bernstein and "Lamentation" of Craig Urquhart, the World Premiere of the "Zorbas Suite" by M. Theodorakis and A. Wastor which I commissioned together with the Young Euro Classic Festival, the NCPA Orchestra (Beijing), Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra (St. Petersburg), Athens State Symphony Orchestra (Greece), HR Symphony Orchestra (Frankfurt), Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), Munich Symphony Orchestra between many others.
My ultimate dream is to understand and serve music to its fullest extent, which has led me to explore all possible variations of my instrument like the Shakuhachi and the Traverse flute to the Contrabass flute. Keen on musical experimentation, I have often joined different bands, groups and world renowned artists on stage like Richard Smith, Tico Pierhagen, Vassilis Rakopoulos with whom we meander through musical forms ranging from free jazz to hard rock.
In 2016 I assisted in organizing the 3rd edition of the “Santorini Arts Factory” festival and the following year I was appointed “Music Director”. Shortly after, I was appointed First Principal Flute of the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, a post that I left in July of 2018 to continue my studies with Prof. Bernold at the Conservatoire National Superieur in Paris and to further pursue my career.
The search for inspiration is a never-ending and vital journey in a person's life. In the case of Stathis Karapanos, he was able to find this inspiration by playing the flute. He studied at the National Conservatory in Athens and the University of Music in Karlsruhe, which he completed with distinction in 2018. During his studies, he was often invited to perform as a member of youth and professional orchestras, such as the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and others. During these years, he had teachers and mentors such as Mathieu Dufour, Vangelis Papathanassiou, Petra Müllejans, Henrick Wiese, Peter Lukas Graf, as well as Prof. Philippe Bernold at the Conservatoire National Superieur in Paris. After his graduation, he was appointed principal flute of the Athens State Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2018, Stathis Karapanos has been invited to perform with renowned conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev and Yutaka Sado. As a chamber musician, he has performed with artists such as Vilde Frang, Matthias Goerne, Nicolas Altstaedt, Daniel Hope, Chen Reiss and Marisol Montalvo.
Stathis Karapanos has received several awards for his musical skills, such as the "Bernstein Award" of the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival (2020), the "Lotto Prize" of the Rheingau Festival (2019), and numerous prizes at international competitions.
Past and upcoming highlights include: his London debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a tour with Maestro Yutaka Sado and the Tonkunstler Orchestra performing Leonard Bernstein’s "Halil", the recording of the Khatchaturian Flute Concerto with Flanders Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kristiina Poska; the world premiere of "for Inge" by Leonard Bernstein and "Lamentation" by Craig Urquhart as well as the world premiere of the "Zorbas Suite" by Mikis Theodorakis and Achilleas Wastor and the 2024 release of the complete works for Flute by Paul Hindemith for the label ONDINE. In August 2023, he recordeded a CD featuring the complete works for flute and orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki with the Prague Philharmonia Orchestra, Stefan Asbury and Krzysztof Grzybowski for Warner Music.
Stathis Karapanos lives in Berlin and Paris.
Angel Studio
w/ Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Michael Shapiro (Conductor)
Stathis Karapanos (Flute)
Recording M. Shapiro's- ‘In the Light of the Sun’ Flute Concerto (written for and dedicated to S.K.)