Alexandra Papastefanou

Born into a musical family, Alexandra Papastefanou graduated from Athens Conservatoire, where she studied piano under Aliki Vatikioti. She followed her studies with Olga Zhukova at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, with Peter Solymos, at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest and, on a scholarship from the Alexander Onassis Foundation, at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, with György Sebők. She has also taken lessons from Alfred Brendel who praised her playing and as well as her edition of The Well-Tempered Clavier (Ph. Nakas Music Publications).

Papastefanou was a finalist at the Clara Haskil Competition in Switzerland and received the Liebstoeckl and Fazioli Prizes at the International Geneva Competition, as well as the Spyros Motsenigos Prize from the Academy of Athens.

Whilst pursuing her piano studies, Papastefanou took up music theory and composition, firstly with I. A. Papaioannou, and then later, in the United States, with Frederic Fox.

Along with her activity as a performer, Papastefanou pursued her in-depth study of
J.S. Bach’s music, the meaning and enduring appeal of which she examined in a lecture series. Her book ‘JS Bach, the musician of the Infinite’ on the aesthetics and performance of Bach’s music was published in greek language in February 2022 (Papagrigoriou-Nakas publications). She has performed all of Bach’s keyboard works and, in a series of recitals, has presented his complete Well-Tempered Clavier, Goldberg Variations, The Art of Fugue, and The Musical Offering as well as his keyboard concertos. She has also performed and recorded the works of Robert Schumann.

In 2018, Papastefanou recorded J.S. Bach’s complete Well-Tempered Clavier for FHR [FHR65] to much critical acclaim .She was awarded the ‘Best Recording of 2018’ for the album by the The Union of Greek Theatre and Music Critics ‘for the virtuoso and expressively impeccable approach of a monument of the world’s pianistic literature, crowning a distinguished, consistent, long-lasting personal artistic journey.’ Her release in 2019 of the complete French Suites of J.S. Bach also for FHR [FHR70] ranked among the best of recordings of the Suites according to the international critics. In 2020 she recorded the Complete piano works of Schumann written in 1839 [FHR112]. and in July 2021 she released Goldberg Variations of J.S.Bach [FHR110),

Papastefanou’s diverse repertoire extends from composers of the baroque era to more recent composers such as George Crumb, György Ligeti, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Toru Takemitsu. She has also repeatedly performed and recorded the piano works of major Greek composers Dimitris Mitropoulos, Nikos Skalkottas, George Koumendakis, I.A. Papaioannou and Vangelis Katsoulis. Her musical career has also extended to lecture-recitals, featuring innovative thematic cycles.

Papastefanou has appeared, always to enthusiastic acclaim, with symphony orchestras, in solo recitals and with chamber music groups across Europe (Germany, France, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Finland and Hungary), the United States and Canada.

Papastefanou has also recently released as a composer, her album entitled ‘Pasiphae’ a collection of songs on lyrics of the greek surrealist poet Miltos Sachtouris (Polyphoniki Records). Her composition cycle 12 Minerals for solo piano, and 12+1 Shells and Shadows for voice and piano, were recently published by Ph. Nakas Music Publications and the album Minerals for solo piano was digitally released by Subways Music.

In February 2023 she released her last CD ‘Tears from Babylon, her piano trancriptions on different JS Bach Cantatas and organ works (FHR141)

Source: AlexandraPapastefanou.com