Vikentios Gionanidis is a Greek tuba player, pedagogue and arranger for brass. His career was fully launched after achieving top honours in two major international competitions. At the International Aeolus Competition in Düsseldorf (2010), apart from the first prize, he also won the special prize for contemporary music and the audience award, competing against other brass instruments including the trumpet and the trombone. At the International Instrumental Competition in Markneukirchen (2012) Gionanidis won the first prize. He also won prizes at the National Music Academy Competition in Lübeck (2011) and the International Brass Competition in Gdansk (2012).
Vikentios began his musical education in 1998 at the wind band “Mantzaros” in Corfu, witch included theory, percussion, euphonium and finally the tuba. Later, he Studied at the Conservatory of Corfu and in October 2007 he began his studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover, Germany joining the famous tuba class of Prof. Jens Bjørn-Larsen. During his time there, he had the chance to participate in various chamber music ensembles as well as performing solo recitals and receiving orchestral training, graduating in February 2013.
He has performed as a soloist with notable orchestras including the Orchestra of the Plauen-Zwickau Theater, the Göttinger Symphoniker, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and the Folkwang Kammerorchester in Essen. His orchestral career includes performances with prestigious ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian State Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Staatsoper Hamburg, Staatskapelle Berlin, and many more.
Gionanidis’s enthusiasm for chamber music has led him to perform with esteemed groups such as the Ensemble Modern, which specialises in contemporary music, the German Opera Brass (brass ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin), the Salaputia Brass, the 10-for Brass, the Stockholm Chamber Brass, the Trio 21meter60, to name a few.
Since 2014 Vikentios Gionanidis has been lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien, Hannover, teaching orchestral and solo literature. He has given masterclasses in many countries, including Greece, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Scotland and the USA.
In addition to his performance career, Gionanidis is an active arranger of brass music, with his arrangements published and performed globally. His etude books for tuba and trombone, 29 Bel Canto Studies and 24 Advanced Studies became immediately successful and serve as a companion and source of knowledge for many tuba and trombone players around the globe.
Since the season 2013/2014 Vikentios holds the position of Principal Tuba in the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin.
Vikentios is a Buffet Crampon artist and plays B&S tubas