George Petrou
conductor
© Frank Stefan Kimmel
Born in Athens, award-winning George Petrou began his career as a concert pianist before concentrating on conducting. He is Artistic Director of the International Handel Festival in Göttingen and Athen's Armonia Atenea orchestra, with whom he has toured often and made recordings using early and modern instruments. Recent engagements have included appearances in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Theater Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Arena di Verona, Teatro La Fenice in Venice and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. He recently directed and conducted Vivaldi's Giustino at the Drottningholm Schlosstheater in Stockholm, Handel's Giulio Cesare for Nederlandse Reisopera & the International Handel Festival in Göttingen and Mozart's Idomeneo in the Olympia Theater in Athens. He also worked in places including the opera houses in Stuttgart, Cologne and Leipzig, the Theater an der Wien, Zurich Opera, Lausanne Opera, Korean National Opera and the Versailles and Stockholm Royal Operas. There are many prize-winning recordings of baroque and belcanto works for you to choose from. This internationally respected conductor was nominated for a Grammy, won an Echo Klassik Prize and was named a »Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres« by France.