Biography

The search for inspiration is a never-ending and vital journey in a person‘s life. In the case of the Greek artist Stathis Karapanos, he found this inspiration by playing the flute and conducting. His international career spans solo, orchestral, chamber, and increasingly, symphonic repertoire. He studied at the National Conservatory in Athens and the University of Music in Karlsruhe, which he completed with distinction in 2018.

He has performed as a member of youth and professional orchestras, such as the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and others. His teachers and mentors included Mathieu Dufour, Vangelis Papathanassiou, and Peter Lukas Graf, as well as Prof. Philippe Bernold at the Conservatoire National Superieur in Paris. After his graduation, he was appointed principal flute of the Athens State Symphony Orchestra.

Since 2018, Karapanos has been invited to perform with renowned conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, and Yutaka Sado; orchestras like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, and NHK Symphony Orchestra; and artists such as Gidon Kremer, Vilde Frang, Matthias Goerne, Nicolas Altstaedt, Daniel Hope, Chen Reiss, and Marisol Montalvo.

In May 2024, Karapanos released a critically praised album, Hindemith’s Complete Works for Flute on Ondine Records, followed by recordings of Michael Shapiro’s In the Light of the Sun with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been featured on international podcasts and media and is increasingly active in environmental and cross-cultural projects.

In 2025, he was named Flutist Artistic Liaison to Greenpeace, reflecting his commitment to musical ‘artivism’ and together they have released a series of videos on online platforms to help raise awareness of some of today’s most pressing environmental issues.

Karapanos has received several awards for his musical skills, such as the Bernstein Award of the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival (2020), the Lotto Prize of the Rheingau Festival (2019), and numerous prizes at international competitions.

He regularly performs on a wide range of flutes including alto, bass, contrabass, piccolo, pan-flute, recorder, conch shell, and ancient Greek lyra—blending classical, contemporary, and traditional idioms into a distinctive artistic voice.