Theodore Kerkezos

Theodore Kerkezos graduated with the highest honours from the Athens Conservatory with Babis Farantatos and continued his musical training in Bordeaux with Jean-Marie Londeix and in Paris with Daniel Deffayet. He received the Papaioannou Award in 1992 and 1993.

He has performed the complete classical repertoire for solo saxophone and orchestra, and has appeared with major orchestras throughout Europe, e.g. the London Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the Berliner Symphoniker, the Nürnberger Symphoniker, the Südwestfalische Philharmoniker, the Ensemble Modern-Frankfurt, the St Petersburg Philharmonic, the Tchaikovsky Symphony of Moscow Radio, the New Opera of Moscow, the Athens State Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Symphony, the Athens Radio Symphony, the Bucharest Philharmonic, the Bucharest Radio Symphony, the Slovak Philharmonic, and the Mediterraneo Symphony of Spain.

Theodore Kerkezos has performed at the Royal Festival Hall, the Wigmore Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the Carnegie Hall (Weill Hall), the Great Halls of St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow, the Athens Megaron Concert Hall, and the Odeon of Herode Atticus (Athens Festival). Works have been dedicated to him by leading composers including Iannis Xenakis, Mikis Theodorakis, Theodore Antoniou, etc.
Theodore Kerkezos has been awarded with the Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts from the IAACC/ UNESCO, unanimously elected him as Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences & Arts and in 12/2016 received the Artists of the Year by the Gina Bachauer Awards. He was twice nominated for the USA 50th Grammy Awards in New York.
Since 1999 he has collaborated with publishers “Alphonse Leduc-Paris” promoting new works written for the saxophone. He is professor at the Athens Conservatory and has given masterclasses at conservatories in Moscow, Boston, New England, at Princeton University, Chopin, Gnesin and Kiev Academies. Many of his foreign students are winners of international competitions. He plays H. SELMER-PARIS saxophones specially made for him. He is director of the Piraeus Prefecture Saxophone Orchestra.

His album “Music for Saxophone and Orchestra” with the Philharmonia Orchestra was awarded the title “CD of the month” in October 2002. In February 2005 the German magazine Fono Forum nominated his album “Ballades for Saxophone and Orchestra” with the London Philharmonic, as one of the ten best classical saxophone albums available. His performances and recordings have received excellent reviews from prestigious music magazines and newspapers such as the BBC Magazine, the Independent, the American Record Guide, the Musical Opinion, Fanfare-USA, the Fono Forum etc. In 2018 he made his debut with the Vienna Chamber Orchester.