(1985-08-29) 29 August 1985 (age 39) Athens, Greece
Occupation(s)
Musician, trombone professor
Instrument
Trombone
Musical artist
Achilles Liarmakopoulos (Greek: Αχιλλέας Λιαρμακόπουλος; born 29 August 1985) is a Greek trombonist. He has been a member of the Canadian Brass since 2011.
Early life and education
Born in Athens, Greece, Liarmakopoulos started trombone lessons at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory, graduating with Excellent Unanimous and first prize.[citation needed] At the age of 18, Liarmakopoulos performed as a soloist at the Walt Disney Hall as the Grand Prize Winner of the Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition, judged by members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.[1]
Liarmakopoulos holds degrees from the Yale School of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music (class of 2008),[2] the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the Philippos Nakas Conservatory in his hometown of Athens, Greece.[3] His studies have been supported by merit-based scholarships, Bok Foundation and Milton L. Rock Annual Fellowships and scholarships from the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund, Alexandros S. Onassis Foundation, and the Greek State Scholarship Foundation. Yale University awarded him the Philip Francis Nelson Prize for outstanding musicianship.[citation needed]
In April 2011, he was invited to audition for the Canadian Brass, and since then, he has been their trombonist, touring with the group all over the world.
Liarmakopoulos has received awards in the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe and the 2nd Christian Lindberg International Trombone competition.[citation needed]
In 2013, Liarmakopoulos released his second solo album titled Discoveries[5] with new works for trombone and piano, collaborating with piano soloist Amy J. Yang.[6]
In January 2013, Liarmakopoulos was invited to play with the Oregon-based genre-bending ensemble Pink Martini. Since then, he has performed with them regularly all over the world.[3]
Liarmakopoulos' third album Trombone Atrevido[7] with choro music from Brazil was released in July 2015 on the ODEG label. The album was produced by guitarist Spiros Exaras and mastered by Bernie Grundman at the Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios-Los Angeles, CA.[8]
In 2017, he released his fourth solo album titled Ethereal.[9][10][11] The album features six brand new compositions and five arrangements with an exceptional roster of musicians from all over the world, including Fernando Suarez Paz from Astor Piazzolla's legendary Tango Quintet.[12]
In 2018, he formed Cuatrombon[15] with Jorge Glem on cuatro, Manuel Rangel on maracas, and Bam Bam Rodriguez on bass. Together they released three singles of Venezuelan music and, in 2020, an album entitled "Volar."
Premieres
Liarmakopoulos is a supporter of new music and new works for trombone, and has premiered a number of pieces by new composers. Four Trombone concertos and several chamber pieces have been written specifically for him . He premiered Dream (for trombone solo, string orchestra and harp) by Andrew Cadima at the Curtis Institute of Music in May 2008.[16]
Dedicated works
"Anaklasis" for Solo Trombone - Vagelis Simsiris (1998)
Concerto" for Trombone and Orchestra - John Ellis
"Dream" - Concerto for Trombone and Strings - Andrew Cadima (2008)
"Opening of the 2nd Gate" - Concerto for Trombone - Joowan Kim (2008)
"Indigo" for Trombone and Piano - John Ellis (2009)
"Tango Paradiso" for Trombone and piano - John Ellis (2009)
"The bounds of Spring" for Trombone and Harp- Taylor Roland (2010)
"Ypopsia" for Trombone and Piano- Andrew Cadima (2010)
"Chinese suite" for Trombone and Piano - Hua Yang (2010)
"Krakatoa" for Trombone and Marimba - Stephen Feigenbaum (2010)
"Concertino" for Trombone and Strings - Dinos Costantinides (2012)
