Dimos Dimitriadis

Saxophonist and composer Dimos Dimitriadis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. After studying piano and guitar he started performing with one of the pioneering jazz groups in Greece. Moving to the US he earned his Bachelor of Music in Performance with honors (Cum Laude) at Berklee College of Music studying jazz saxophone, flute and composition. He later earned a Master of Arts in Music at Bennington College focusing on contemporary composition and fusing traditional Greek music with jazz improvisation. During his 7 year stay in the US he built his musical skills working with the legendary educator Joe Viola, and the powerful instrumentalists George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, and Hal Crook. He has shaped his personal vision for jazz during his subsequent extensive trips to Italy, France and Scandinavia, drawing inspiration from the diverse European cultures and the groundbreaking work of his mentor, the great soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy, as well as pianist Mal Waldron and trumpeter Bill Dixon. In his professional life he has worked with artists from the US like Keith Copeland, Ricky Ford, Tim Hagans, Sheila Jordan, Ran Blake, J.R. Monterose, Jonathan Kreisberg, and musicians of different musical orientations from central and eastern Europe, Scandinavia and the Balkans (Ronan Guilfoyle, Olivier Gatto, Bruno Tommaso, Theodosii Spassov, Stephane Galland, Michel Hatzigeorgiou, Gianni Lenoci, Günter Sommer, Jarmo Savolainen, Anatoly Vapirov, Ivo Van der Borght, Jussi Lehtonen, Stepko Gut, Jari Perkiomaki, Jukkis Uotila, Floros Floridis) Dimos Dimitriadis performs in many countries (USA, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria) while also being active on the Greek scene. His musical qualities and experience allow him to work in jazz, avant-rock, ethnic music, or free improvisation while maintaining his personal concept of music. Playing in the Sonny Clark Project (with Keith Copeland and George Kontrafouris) is an example of working on the historical jazz repertoire while his significant contribution to the extraordinary group Mode Plagal is playing Byzantine and Balkan music in a contemporary way. Besides composing, performing and recording, Dimitriadis is also known for his pioneering work in jazz education in Greece. He is the founder of a unique Jazz and Improvisation Program at the Ionian University in Corfu where he is appointed Assistant Professor of Saxophone and Director of Jazz Studies, the first and only academic position given to a jazz musician in this country. He has taught jazz seminars at the Sibelius Academy Jazz Department in Finland, the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York and the Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts in Ohio. He is the Artistic Director of the Summer Jazz Academy and the Ionian Jazz Concerts in Corfu, organizing numerous concerts and seminars by international artists and a frequent contributor to the Greek “Jazz & Tzaz” magazine. In 2003 he was elected Treasurer of the Daily Board of the “International Association of Schools of Jazz” (IASJ) (Dave Liebman is the founder and artistic director) and member of the advisory board of the International Society for Improvised Music (ISIM). In 2007 he received a Fulbright Artist/Scholar grant to work in New York as a musician and composer and teach at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.