Grammy nominee and Echo Klassik winner George Petrou is a highly distinguished conductor brilliant international career.

He is the Artistic director of the Internationale Händel Festspiele-Göttingen and the Artistic director of the renowned Athens based orchestra Armonia Atenea, with which he tours and records extensively, performing both on period or modern instruments.

From 2020 until 2022 he was the Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of the Greek Radio.

In addition to his conducting activities, George Petrou has developed a vivid interest in stage directing and has signed several successful European productions.

Most recently he has conducted Purcell’s Miranda at the Oper in Köln; Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride at the Opernhaus in Zurich; Handel’s Semele at the Olympia theatre in Athens; Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro; staged and conducted Handel’s Semele at the Internationale Händel Festspiele- Goettingen (along with Handel’s Hercules and Benda’s Medea); Die Zauberflöte in Stuttgart; Messiah at the Megaron Concert Hall in Athens; a concert with the Fondazione Arturo Toscanini in Modena and Parma and Rossini’s Tancredi in Rouen; Idomeneo in Athens and L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Opera in Köln; Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Arena di Verona; Handel's Messiah at the Komische Oper in Berlin; and a new production of Händel's Partenope at the Frankfurt Opera.

Future engagements include: Don Giovanni in Dortmund; Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro Regio in Parma; and Handel's Deidamìa at the Wexford Opera Festival.

George Petrou has staged and conducted Vivaldi’s Il Giustino at the Drottningholm Slottsteater in Stockholm, Händel’s Giulio Cesare at the Nederlandse Reisopera and at the Internationale Händel-Festspiele Göttingen and Mozart’s Idomeneo at the Olympia Theatre in Athens.

Other highlights include Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Oper Köln, Porpora’s Carlo il Calvo and Polifemo at the Bayreuth Baroque Festival and in an euoperan tour (including Il Teatro alla Scala in Milan), Verdi’s La Traviata at Théâtre du Capitole du Toulouse, Rossini’s La Donna del lago in Lausanne, Wiesbaden and Zagreb, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Greek National Opera, Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso at the Teatro Real in Madrid and Theater an der Wien, Handel’s Alcina at the Athens Festival.

Born in Athens, George Petrou studied piano at the Athens Conservatory and later at the Royal College and the Royal Academy of Music in London. After establishing a successful career as a concert pianist he turned into conducting.

As a conductor, he quickly gained international attention. Numerous awards and award-winning recordings for the world’s leading record companies (Deutsche Gramophon, DECCA, MDG etc) are a testimony to his extraordinary artistic success. In his work, particular emphasis is placed on historical performance practice and is currently considered one of today’s leading baroque specialists. However his vast repertoire extends to works from the late 19th and 20th c.

He has been a guest of major opera houses including the Leipzig Opera, the oper Köln, the Drottningholm Slottheater in Sweden, the Strasbourg Opera House, the Opéra de Nice, the Theater an der Wien, the Lausanne Opera, the Korea National Opera, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Royal Opera of Versailles, the Royal Swedish Opera, the Teatro Petrucelli, the Teatro lirico di Cagliari, the Teatro Verdi in Trieste and many others.

He has performed at major festivals including the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, the BBC Proms, the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, the Klara festival in Brussels, the Händel festivals of Halle and Karlsruhe, the festival di Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca.

George Petrou has been working with renowned orchestras including the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Gurzenich Orchester, the New Russia Symphony, the Orchestre nationale de Capitol du Toulouse, the Filarmonica Toscanini, the Symphony Orchestra of the National Arts Center of Canada, the Gurzenich orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra, the Athens and Theassaloniki State Orchestras among others. He regularly conducts some of the most known period instrument ensembles like Il Pοmo d’Oro, Concerto Köln, B’Rock, la Lira d’Orfeo.

George Petrou was honored as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, London (ARAM). He was awarded the title of “Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres” from the French government and the “Grand Prize” by the Union of Greek critics for music and drama.

January 2025