Karafillidis, Vangelis

Vangelis Karafillidis

Prize winner composer of the Composition competition “The contemporary piano 2017″ for his work for piano “Toccata”

Vangelis Karafillidis was born in 1971 in Alexandroupolis, Greece. He has graduated from the Physics Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. After studying under Nicolas Astrinidis at the Macedonian Conservatory of Thessaloniki, he received his Piano Diploma with honors and 1st prize voted unanimously, in 1994.

After studying under Alkis Baltas at the Music College of Thessaloniki, he received his Diploma of Composition voted unanimously with honors in 1996.

His works have been performed in Greece, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania.

As a pianist, he has performed in concerts in various Greek cities.

He is an official member of the Greek Composers’ Union. He has taken part in a series of conferences and symposia in Greece, Romania, Moldova and Lithuania. By participating in national and international composition contests, he has received up until now seven prizes and two honorable mention citations. His 1st String Quartet under the title “The Darkness of Time” has been published on CD, performed by the “Ars Musica” Quartet (Sofia, Bulgaria) representing Greece in this project. He has also been awarded a prize at the “Excellence institution and promotion of good practices in Primary and Secondary Education 2012” held by the Greek Ministry of Education. He works as Piano Teacher at the State Music High School of Komotini, Greece.

Toccata for solo piano (1995)

Vangelis Karafillidis composed his ‘Toccata’ between late 1994 and early 1995. This work is a virtuosic piano piece. Its structure follows the sonata form, since it consists of an exposition, a development and a recapitulation section. The “themes” of the ‘Toccata’ are actually melodic, harmonic and rhythmical motives, which are transfigured and combined during the development section. Additionally, the work integrates in “micrography” the individual movements of a sonata work. The harmonic context of the piece is mainly based on minor chords. This work has been awarded the 2nd prize in the category ‘solo instrument’ at the 9th International Composition Competition, held by the ‘Yorgos Foudoulis’ Conservatory in Volos (Greece) in 2011 and a prize at the International Composition Competition “The Contemporary Piano 2017”, held by AN ART ARTISTRY in Athens.

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