Stathis Karapanos — My story

I decided I wanted to play the flute when I was five. It took another year to persuade my parents. I was born in Athens in 1996, the son of a ballet dancer and a banker, and music has travelled with me ever since — through the places I have lived, and even on the aeroplanes between them.

My first lessons were with Myrto Tsakiri at the National Conservatory in Athens. After my family moved to Bulgaria, I entered Sofia’s National Music School at thirteen to study with Georgi Spassov. Working with Robert Winn led me to Renate Greiss-Armin and Matthias Allin. At sixteen, I moved to Karlsruhe to study with them, graduating with distinction in 2018. I later continued my studies with Philippe Bernold in Paris.

Inspiration has often arrived through other musicians. I first saw Zubin Mehta conduct in 2005, in Carmen; I grew up with Christoph Eschenbach’s recordings; and a performance of Verdi’s Requiem conducted by Yutaka Sado stayed with me. Years later, I found myself working with the musicians I had listened to and learned from.

New music was part of my life from the beginning of my studies, when I regularly premiered works from Wolfgang Rihm’s composition class. That work has continued through premieres including Leonard Bernstein’s For Inge and the Zorbas Suite by Mikis Theodorakis and Achilleas Wastor. My recordings include Hindemith’s complete works for flute and Penderecki’s complete music for flute and orchestra, recorded with Prague Philharmonia and Stefan Asbury.

Alongside the flute, conducting has become an essential part of my musical life. From 2018 to 2024 I worked around the world as Christoph Eschenbach’s assistant conductor. Since then, invitations have brought me into contact with ensembles and artists including Kremerata Baltica, the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, Gidon Kremer and Pepe Romero.

I want to understand and serve music as fully as I can. That means exploring instruments from the shakuhachi and traverso to the contrabass flute, and making room for free jazz, rock and other forms of musical experimentation. As Artistic Liaison to Greenpeace, I also bring music and film into dialogue with the natural world.

The Leonard Bernstein Award in 2020 and the Rheingau Musik Festival’s LOTTO Prize in 2019 mark important moments along the way. The work continues — on stage, in the studio and through the musicians I meet.