Achilles Liarmakopoulos (born 29 August 1985) is a Greek trombonist. He has been a member of the Canadian Br* since 2011.

Contents

• 1 Early life and education
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 Premieres
  • 2.2 Dedicated works
• 3 Compe*ions and awards
• 4 Discography
  • 4.1 Solo
  • 4.2 With the Canadian Br*
• 5 Notes
• 6 Footnotes
• 7 External links

Early life and education

Born in Athens, Greece, Liarmakopoulos started trombone lessons at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory, graduating with Excellent Unanimous and first prize. 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 Compe*ion, judged by members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Liarmakopoulos holds degrees from the Yale School of Music, the Curtis Ins*ute of Music (cl* of 2008), the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the Philippos Nakas Conservatory in his hometown of Athens, Greece. 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. On*is Foundation, and the Greek State Scholarship Foundation. Yale University awarded him the Philip Francis Nelson Prize for outstanding musicianship.

Career

In December 2010, Liarmakopoulos won the position of principal trombone of the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra, where he played for one season before joining the Canadian Br*. He has also performed with the Malaysian Philharmonic, Jacksonville Symphony, and European Union Youth Orchestra.

In April 2011, he was invited to audition for the Canadian Br*, 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 compe*ion.

His debut solo album, Ástor Piazzolla: Tango Distinto was released by Naxos Records in 2011. It is the first full album to feature Astor Piazzolla's music on solo trombone.

In 2013, Liarmakopoulos released his second solo album *led Discoveries with new works for trombone and piano, collaborating with piano soloist Amy J. Yang.

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.

Liarmakopoulos' third album Trombone Atrevido 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.

In 2017, he released his fourth solo album *led Ethereal. 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.

Liarmakopoulos is an adjunct trombone professor at Brooklyn College in New York City.

In 2018, he formed Cuatrombon with Jorge Glem on cuatro, Manuel Rangel on maracas, and Bam Bam Rodriguez on b*. Together they released three singles of Venezuelan music and, in 2020, an album en*led "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 Ins*ute of Music in May 2008.

Dedicated works

• Anaklasis - Vagelis Simsiris (1998)
• Concerto for Trombone - 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 - Taylor Roland (2010)
• Chinese suite - Hua Yang (2010)
• Krakatoa for Trombone and Marimba - Stephen Feigenbaum (2010)
• Concertino for Trombone and Strings - Dinos Costantinides (2012)
• Chorinho do sol - Spiros Exaras (2014)
• Distance for Trombone and Trombone Choir - Andrew Cadima (2015)
• Sleepwalker for Trombone and harp - Andrew Cadima (2016)
• Trombonsillo for Trombone and piano - Carolina Calvache (2016)
• Nostos for trombone and harp - Spiros Exaras (2017)
• Tango y Milonga - Pablo Estigarribia (2018)
• In memoriam Theodore Antoniou for trombone and harp - Michalis Andronikou (2019)
• Endlessness for solo trombone - Brandon Ridenour (2019)
• The Dwarf Planets - Spiros Exaras (2020)
• Dance of Tears - Spiros Exaras (2021)

Compe*ions and awards

• Second Christian Lindberg International Solo Compe*ion: Second Prize
• International Trombone Festival Robert Marsteller/Conn-Selmer Compe*ion: Winner
• International Trombone Festival Solo Compe*ion: Winner
• International Trombone Festival Larry Wiehe Compe*ion: Winner
• San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Compe*ion: Winner
• Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Compe*ion: Grand-prize winner
• 2010 Yale School of Music Woolsey Hall Concerto Compe*ion: Honorable Mention

Discography

Solo

• Tango Distinto – Astor Piazzolla (2011, Naxos Records)
• Discoveries – New works for trombone and piano (2014, ODEG)
• Trombone Atrevido - Choro music from Brazil (2015, ODEG)
• Ethereal - (2017, AL)
• Obvious - with harpist Coline-Marie Orliac - (2018, AL)
• Volar - with Cuatrombón - (2020, AL)

EP album

• Chorinho a Tres (2009)
• Tango y Milonga (2019)
• The Dwarf Planets (2020)

Singles

• Distance - with The University of Oklahoma Trombone Choir under the direction of Irvin Wagner - Andrew Cadima - 2020
• Transitions - with Andreas Rolandos Theodorou - composed by Carolina Calvache (2020)
• Milonga en Re - Astor Piazzolla (2011)
• Color Perfume - Fervorchestra conducted by Gabriel Senanes (2019)
• Teu Aniversario - Pixinguinha (2019)
• Ahora - with Manuel Rangel (2019)
• Chorando em Sao Paolo - with Vitor Goncalvez & Sergio Krakowksi
• Transitions - with Andreas Rolandos Theodorou - composed by Carolina Calvache (2020)
• I will never forget - composed and performed along Spiros Exaras (2019

With the Canadian Br*

• Canadian Br* Takes Flight (2011)
• Br* Romance (2012, single)
• Carnaval (Robert Schumann's Kinderszenen and Carnaval) (2013)
• Christmas Time is Here (2013)
• Great Wall of China (2014)
• Perfect Landing (2015)
• Volks Lieder - Canadian Br* with the Hannover Boy Choir (2019)

Notes

Footnotes

External links

• Liarmakopoulos in the Canadian Br*
• Spanish-language review of Ástor Piazzolla: Tango Distinto