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Born in Greece, Achilles Liarmakopoulos is the trombonist of the legendary Canadian Brass, an eager chamber musician and a trombone soloist dedicated to an expanding, attractive repertoire of important works revived from the archives as well as standard repertoire. He holds degrees from Yale University School of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, San Francisco Conservatory and Philippos Nakas Conservatory. All of his studies have been financially supported by merit-based scholarships from each institution, as well as from the Alexandros S. Onassis Foundation and the Greek State Scholarships Foundation. In 2004, at the age of 19, he 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, and has been awarded prizes in many prestigious competitions, including the II Christian Lindberg International Competition, Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe (YMFE), the International Trombone Festivals’ Robert Marsteller/Conn-Selmer, Solo, and Larry Wiehe, among others. He has given solo recitals in the United States, China, Spain, France, The Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Greece, and has performed as a member of many orchestras worldwide. In the fall of 2010 he was appointed principal trombonist of the Greek Radio Symphony-ERT. Piazzolla’s Tango Distinto (Naxos 8.572596) marks his début recording for Naxos.
Born in the Argentine, the composer, conductor and bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla spent much of his childhood and adolescence in New York, where he was taken by his family in 1925. He established himself in Buenos Aires from 1937 as a player of the bandoneon (a German-invented form of concertina popular in Argentinian tango bands) and came to enjoy an international reputation with the various ensembles that he established and led.
Music
Piazzolla was associated in particular with the development of the so-called ‘nuevo tango’ (‘new tango’), for concert use rather than dancing. His compositions include a Bandoneon Concerto and a suite for bandoneon and chamber orchestra called Punta del Este. His music, much of it preserved in the recordings he made, has provided concert items for various instruments and performers.
