Georgia Lazaridou was born in Thessaloniki in 1997 (December) in a musical family – her grandfather, Tassos Pappas being one of the most prominent conductors in Greece and reputable professors at the State Conservatoire. Her first musical experiences were at her mother’s studio, where she experienced the process of piano lessons on a daily basis, her mother being a prominent piano teacher herself (Letti Pappa).
Georgia’s formal piano education started at age 6. She studied the piano at the Macedonian Conservatoire of Thessaloniki under professor Christos Noulis and graduated with a First Class and First Prize Piano Diploma in June 2014. After having studied for a year at Trinity Laban Conservatoire under professor Douglas Finch (2015-2016), she was accepted by means of audition at the Kutztown University music department as a scholar of the prestigious President’s International Piano and String Quartet Scholarship to study in the class of professor Maria Asteriadou (2016-2017).
She has attended private lessons and Masterclasses with Martino Tirimo, Domna Evnouhidou (student of Ciccolini and Pollini), Maria Asteriadou (professor of piano at the Manhattan School of Music and Kutztown university), Dimitri Toufexis (soloist, professor at Deree College), George-Emmanuel Lazaridis, Tessa Nicholson (professor at the Royal Academy of Music), Vasilis Varvaresos, Ekaterina Lebedeva (professor at the Royal Academy of Music ) and Anthony Williams (soloist, professor at Radley College UK). She has attended Chetham’s International Piano Festival and Summer School regularly from 2008 to 2012, where she has had the opportunity to work extensively with Murray McLachlan, Masayuki Tayama, Steven Osborn, Bryce Morrison, Peter Donohoe, Penelope Roskell, and Alicia Fiderkiewich. She was offered a scholarship at the Kutztown Festival in the USA, where she performed solo and chamber works with great success (2012-2013-2014-2015).
Georgia gave her debut solo recital at the age of 11 at the Athens Museum Concert Hall. She has performed as a soloist with orchestra, as a recitalist and a chamber musician extensively.
She has also performed at prestigious venues and music festivals such as the “Gina Bachauer”(Athens) 2nd International Piano Forum and Festival in Rhodes, New Artists’ Generation of Thessaloniki Festival and the Naxos International Festival. In February 2014 she took part in the keyboard forum “listen…the keys!” at the Athens Megaron 2013, the Piano Festival of Thessaloniki 2014,Lunchtime concert at City Lit in London 2016 and Fundraising Concert at the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building in Oxford 2016.
In June 2015 she played as soloist with the Symphony Orchestra of Municipality of Thessaloniki in Megaron …….with the pops Orchestra in Reading Pennsylvania (USA).
Georgia has won national and international piano prizes and awards to rave critical acclaim:
International Piano Competition Roma 2010, 3rd prize
Maria Chairogiorgou-Sigara Panhellenic Piano Competition 2010,1st prize
Gina Bachauer Pan-Hellenic Music Competition 2011, 1st prize
Orpheus Soloists Panhellenic Chamber Music Competition 2014,1st prize.
Musical-Odyssey International masterclasses 2015 Nafplion ,1st prize .
John Halford Competition for piano and Composition in Trinity-Laban 2016 ,1st prize.
American Protege International Concerto competition 2016 ,2nd prize.
Great Composers International Music Competition -Master of piano concerto ,1st prize.
Kutztown concerto competition for all instruments 2016 , 2nd prize.
