Born in Greece, Achilles Liarmakopoulos is the trombonist of the legendary Canadian Brass, an eager chamber musician and a trombone soloist dedicated to an expanding, attractive repertoire of important works revived from the archives as well as standard repertoire. He holds degrees from Yale University School of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, San Francisco Conservatory and Philippos Nakas Conservatory. All of his studies have been financially supported by merit-based scholarships from each institution, as well as from the Alexandros S. Onassis Foundation and the Greek State Scholarships Foundation. In 2004, at the age of 19, he performed as a soloist at the Walt Disney Hall as the Grand Prize Winner of the Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition, judged by members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has been awarded prizes in many prestigious competitions, including the II Christian Lindberg International Competition, Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe (YMFE), the International Trombone Festivals’ Robert Marsteller/Conn-Selmer, Solo, and Larry Wiehe, among others. He has given solo recitals in the United States, China, Spain, France, The Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Greece, and has performed as a member of many orchestras worldwide. In the fall of 2010 he was appointed principal trombonist of the Greek Radio Symphony-ERT. Piazzolla’s Tango Distinto (Naxos 8.572596) marks his début recording for Naxos.

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