YIANNIS HADJILOIZOU

Born in a family of musicians in Nicosia, Cyprus - the only divided capital in the world, Yiannis developed unparalleled sensitivities, purpose, and skill at a very young age. His father and mentor, Michael, the national composer of Cyprus with 6 operas in his portfolio, and his soprano mother, Mary, knew well how a genius should be raised alongside his pianist-composer younger brother, Photos.

 

Yiannis studied piano, harmony, theory, history, clarinet, trumpet, guitar, counterpoint, conducting, and composition with his father. He graduated from the Cyprus Academy of Music (Established 1956), the American Conservatory of Music and Roosevelt University (Chicago, IL), the University of Oklahoma, and Boston University. His natural born charisma allowed him to travel around the world since the age of 7. He has performed as pianist, conductor, and composer across Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States, China, Middle East, India, Russia, Scandinavia, and South Africa, enriching his personality with a vast variety of unique intercultural experiences. Further, his 7-year collaboration with the Jazz Diplomacy of the US State Department beginning in 2010, expanded his artistic vocabulary in ways one can witness in his music making and emblematic presence on and off the stage.

 

Yiannis Hadjiloizou started a 20 year run as assistant to his father at the Nicosia Music Society (Established 1971) in 1983, and was appointed President & Artistic Director of the Cyprus Academy of Music in 1998, by its founder, Madame Despo Hadjiloizou-Frangakou. In 2008 he started a partnership that would last a decade as Artistic & Music Director of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra’s community outreach, education, family, and special programs. During the same time, he also served as General Manager and Artistic & Music Director of the British choir Orphean Singers Cyprus, leading them to their first European tours and international recognition.

 

Yiannis Hadjiloizou is the only artist to have performed by invitation for all Presidents of the Republic of Cyprus at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia. In 2012 he was honoured as Ambassador Artist of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In 2014 he was honorarily named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International for his artistic, cultural, and humanitarian contribution to society. The following year he became the first and only Greek conductor to receive an invitation to direct the “Oster Sontag Nacht Konzert” at Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral presenting Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, which followed a special performance at Église de la Madeleine in Paris, and another at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia in 2016. In 2017 he was appointed Music Director for Pafos2017 European Capital of Culture, composing the music for its largest live events, and conducting Beethoven 9 for the Official Handover Ceremony. In 2018 he moved to Athens, making his impactful debut with his Athens Philharmonic at Megaron in April 2019 conducting Dvořák’s Symphony From the New World and Mozart’s Requiem. His “Carnegie Hall triumph” (Joshua Bell, Violinist) later in the same year is perhaps the greatest ever debut at New York’s iconic institution. In December 2021 he received an honorary invitation from The Vatican to conduct Handel's Messiah during the official welcome of Pope Francis at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, broadcasted live worldwide.

 

Hailed by New York Press “for his auspicious Carnegie Hall debut with the then newly founded Athens Philharmonic, Yiannis Hadjiloizou made the extraordinarily bold choice of the mammoth Mahler 2nd Symphony, Resurrection - quite possibly the most ambitious orchestral piece he could have picked, especially for an orchestra only one year old, yet they approached it with a maturity and style one would expect from any other established world-class orchestra. The sold-out house and prolonged standing ovation announced that Yiannis Hadjiloizou is no longer a stranger to New York.” (Broadway World Classical & Sean Park)

 

Known for his immense musicianship, his inspiring takes on large-scale repertoire, and his gift to captivate musicians and audiences alike, Yiannis is surely among the best conductor-pianists in the world today. He is equally comfortable conducting a Mahler symphony, a Wagner opera, accompanying singers, playing Jazz Classics, or conducting from the piano. His all Beethoven program at Piraeus Municipal Theatre in 2022 with Overture to Egmont, Choral Fantasy, and Eroica, triggered astonishing reviews. "Hadjiloizou has the passion of Solti, the finesse of Abbado, the austerity of Barenboim, the star quality of Bernstein, the charm of a prince, plus himself.” (Culture Point)

 

As a composer, his music has been performed worldwide in such venues as Vienna’s Musikverein and New York’s Carnegie Hall, awarded at Festival de Cannes and Monaco International Film Festival, and commissioned by the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra and the European Capital of Culture. He has composed soundtracks for cinema and documentaries, large scale spectacles, as well as for such theatre productions as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince, Tennessee Williams’ Iguana, and Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters, for which he also portrayed the role of Fyodor Ilyich Kulygin, performing his own soundtrack live at the piano as Masha's older husband and Latin teacher at the high school. His Cyprus Dance No.1 Servikos (2010) is the most performed work of orchestral repertoire in Cyprus, to date.

 

Yiannis continues the legacy of the greats of the past, while at the same time inspiring a new tradition of his own. “He is a magisterial figure, holds his long baton with authority, knows his orchestra well, and has the experience to hold them in check." (ConcertoNet) “Tall and erect, Hadjiloizou cut a Solti-like figure on the podium, though his gestural style was both more fluid and contained than the late Hungarian maestro’s hyperactive style." (New York Classical Review) "Maestro Hadjiloizou was impressive. He has a commanding presence on the podium, his direction is crisp, his motions are precise and economical, and his mastery of the score was much in evidence.” (New York Concert Review) 

 

He has produced numerous Artistic and Cultural events, such as the Opening Ceremony of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union at Nicosia’s Municipal Palace, the Cyprus Peace Concert at the abandoned Nicosia International Airport, the first complete performance of an Opera by a Cypriot Composer staged by Cypriot Artists at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre, the opening of the new Larnaca International Airport, the Nicosia Music Festival, and other special projects in five continents.

 

Yiannis is a global ambassador for world peace. He initiates cross-cultural and inter-religious dialogue as a means of fostering greater understanding, tolerance, and acceptance across the world, and believes that Art in all its forms has the power to bridge any and all differences and encourage betterment of the humankind. Especially, he pays great emphasis on providing children and people in need with education, experiences, and inspiration. He has mentored such young talent as baritone Yiorgo Ioannou, currently a member of the Académie of Opéra de Paris, and has worked with such organisations as UNICEF and Make a Wish Foundation, and has been honoured as a Goodwill Ambassador for Red Cross.

 

As conductor Franz Anton Krager states, “Yiannis Hadjiloizou is a person of the highest humanity, artistic sensitivity, and integrity. I see something in him that not only sets him apart musically from so many others, but makes him a leader of men. This natural leadership is born from his love of life and people, and it serves him like a bright beacon of light in the night sky."

 

Yiannis Hadjiloizou is Music & Artistic Director of the Athens Philharmonic.

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www.yiannishadjiloizou.com