In recent seasons Grammenos has conducted orchestras including the Cameristi della Scala, Belgian National Symphony, Malta Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Ulster Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Strings, Vienna Chamber, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Thailand Philharmonic, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Athens State Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, and with soloists such as Khatia Buniatishvili, Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Ottensamer and Anna Fedorova.
Passionate about opera, Grammenos made his opera conducting debut in Würzburg with Puccini Gianni Schicchi; he has assisted Johannes Debus on productions of Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin and Mozart The Abduction from the Seraglio at the Canadian Opera Company and conducted Mozart La Clemenza di Tito at the Aspen Music Festival and Verdi Il Trovatore at the Theatre Vorpommern. In 2021/22 he was the Principal Conductor of English Touring Opera’s production of Puccini La bohème and in Summer 2023 he made a highly successful debut at Nevill Holt conducting Rossini La Cenerentola.
Grammenos is Founder and Artistic Director of the Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra (GYSO). Under his leadership the GYSO joined the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras and was invited to perform at the opening concert of the Young Euro Classic Festival at the Berlin Konzerthaus, and then re-invited to perform there again in 2023. Since 2020, the GYSO has been Orchestra in Residence at the Megaron in Athens.
Grammenos trained as a clarinettist at the University of Music “Franz Liszt” in Weimar, and in 2008 won the Grand Prix d’Eurovision from the European Broadcasting Union as well as the title European Young Musician of the Year, the first wind player ever to receive this title. As soloist he has performed at the Berlin Philharmonie and Carnegie Hall, with the Vienna Symphony, Norwegian Radio and ORF Vienna and as an ECHO Rising Star he has appeared in many of the world’s top venues including London’s Barbican Centre and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He has also made recordings for Naïve and Warner Classics.
In 2009 Grammenos was awarded the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts and the Gold Medal of the City of Athens. After his studies in Weimar, he studied conducting at the Würzburg Music University with Ari Rasilainen, and was invited to take part in conducting masterclasses with David Zinman, Bernhard Haitink, Patrick Summers and Robert Spano. In 2018 he was selected for the European Young Leaders programme, under the patronage of Jean-Claude Juncker, which aims to cultivate a European identity by engaging the most promising talents in initiatives destined to shape Europe’s future.
2023/24 season / 576 words. Not to be altered without permission.