K. Athanasakos has been invited by major concert halls, festivals, institutions and as a collaborator to legendary artists. He has presented a repertoire ranging from the 12-tone complex compositions of N. Skalkottas to the Tango Nuevo music of A. Piazzolla, from the unknown works of Theodorakis and Hatzidakes to the Beethoven piano-violin sonatas, from his collaboration with esteemed singers in lieder recitals dedicated to Schubert and Wolf to the piano trios and quintet of J. Brahms, and from his performances in festivals dedicated to the piano works of J.S. Bach and C. Debussy, to collaborations with jazz musicians in improvisatory recital evenings and radio broadcasts.
Major concert halls in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, and in London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Bonn, Rome, Milan, and Athens have extended invitations to Mr. Athanasakos, including the Kammermusiksaal of the Berlin Philharmonie, Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt, the Northeastern and Harvard Universities, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Wigmore Hall, Jordan Hall, Bonn’s Beethoven-Haus, Humboldt University and Universität der Kunste in Berlin, Amnesty International, Camerata Europaea, the American College of Greece-Deree, the ‘Great Interpreters Series’ of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, Banff Center of the Arts in Canada, Nice International Festival in France, Cite des Arts in Paris, Goethe Forum in Munich, Belgisches Haus in Cologne, are just a sample list of his invitations.
He has been presented as ‘a genius of international standing’ on Greek National Television ET-3, on BR-Klassik ‘live’ broadcast from Goethe Forum Munich, multiple times on RBB-Funkhaus Europa in Berlin, on Spain’s National Radio Network and on numerous newspapers including Tagesspiegel Germany, National Herald New York, La Verdad and La Opinion in Spain, Eleftherotypia and Eleftheros Typos in Greece, and many others. He is a prize winner of several competitions, including 1st Prize in the ‘2003 F.Clidat Piano Competition’ in Paris.
Widely considered an artistic ambassador of his native Greece abroad, Athanasakos has received congratulatory letters and endorsements by religious and political leaders, including the President of Greece Mr. K. Stephanopoulos (1995-2005). At the request of the President of Germany Mr. Steinmeier, Athanasakos was the pianist of choice to welcome the President of Greece Mr. P. Pavlopoulos at Schloss Bellevue in Berlin in 2017. Mr. Athanasakos was also the pianist for pop-icon V.Leandros at the premiere night of the first Greek Film Festival in Berlin, the pianist of Sonia Theodoridou under the auspices of the Embassy of Cyprus, the first recitalist to premiere the new building of the Greek Consulate in Düsseldorf, the pianist of choice to perform the mighty ‘Passacaglia’ of N. Skalkottas for the Skalkottas Anniversary under the auspices of the Greek Embassy in Berlin, and in concerts under the auspices of the Embassies of Spain, Argentina, the French Institute, Amnesty International, and the Greek Ministry of Tourism.
Konstantinos Athanasakos has won awards and grants from the A. Onassis Foundation, Bodossakis Foundation of Science, Goulandris Foundation and Goulandris Museum of Art, Athanasiadis Foundation in New York, the New York Hellenic Times News Agency, and from numerous industries such as the ‘Karelia Tobacco Company Inc.’ and ‘3E Bottling Company Inc.’
Mr. Athanasakos was a Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University/Bloomington at the age of 22 under the mentorship of distinguished professors M. Pressler and F. Gulli. He has participated in master-classes of L. Fleisher, R. Sherman, V. Yochum and had the privilege to observe the pedagogical methods of such luminaries as pianists M. Perahia, A. Schiff, C. Eschenbach, Fou Ts’Ong, M.J. Jude, violinists I.Gitlis, Z. Bron, and G. Shaham, bass-baritone José van Dam, cellists L. Lesser and C. Carr, and many others.
He had previously earned both a Masters degree (with academic honors) and a Postgraduate Diploma (with distinction for outstanding achievement in performance) from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston MA, where he worked very closely with conductor and motivational speaker/author B. Zander, pianists G. Chodos, P.Zander and three members of Borromeo Quartet. He is also a graduate of the coveted Artist Diploma program of Ecole Normale de Musique De Paris, which he joined by invitation.
Early on as a pupil, Athanasakos was one of the youngest top graduates of the Athens Conservatory of Music and Drama, winning national competitions since the age of 14. His first major newspaper interview was at the age of 7 for Ethnos, discussing the similarity between piano playing and martial arts.