Dimitris Sgouros (Greek: Δημήτρης Σγούρος; born 30 August 1969)[a] is a Greek classical pianist.[1] Widely acclaimed for his prodigious musical talent as a boy, Sgouros is one of the world's leading concert pianists.[2][3]Arthur Rubinstein remarked that he had produced "the best playing I have ever heard;".[4]
Biography
Dimitris Sgouros is an Aromanian,[5] having declared that "I am Vlach with a capital V", Vlach being the common name for the Aromanians in Greece.[6] Sgouros is the son of Sotirios and Marianthi Sgouros.[7] There was no notable record of musical talent in his family.[4] He began playing the piano when he was six-years old[8] and gave his first public performance a year later.[4] At the age of eight, he entered the Athens Conservatoire, studying under Maria Herogiorgiou-Sigara.[1][4] Sgouros won several competitions between 1978 and 1983, including the UNICEF competition in Bulgaria (1979), a competition in Ancona, Italy (1980), and two competitions in his home city of Athens.[4] He was also the recipient of the 1982 Leonardo da Vinci International Award.[7][9]
Performances around the world have included concerts in Australia,[12][13] Austria, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, France, Germany, Hong Kong,[14] Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand,[15] Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and Turkey.[16] Sgouros has performed for the royal families of Britain, Monaco,[17][18] and Sweden, and played under the baton of renowned conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Emil Tabakov, Kurt Masur, and Yevgeny Svetlanov.[19] He has recorded for various record labels, including Dino Music[20][21] and EMI.[22] Since March 1988, three Sgouros Festivals have been instituted, in Hamburg, Ljubljana, and Singapore.[23][24][25]
Sgouros has featured prominently in the media, having appeared on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson[26] and a television concert with Chopin's 1st Piano Concerto.[27][28] He has also been profiled by Oscar-winning director François Reichenbach in a feature-length documentary film.[29][30]
