Editorial

112
New State Orchestra Conductor
Spyros Pisinos is the new artistic director and
chief conductor of the Cyprus State Orchestra.
Emerging as one of the most versatile and charismatic
conductors of his generation, Spiros Pisinos
has recently made his successful debut with
the Philharmonia Orchestra of London in two
different programs. In addition, he has conducted
St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Young Philharmonic
Orchestra, Genoa’s Carlo Felice Opera Orchestra,
the Cyprus and Thessaloniki State Orchestras,
the West Australia Symphony, the Orchestre
National de Montpellier and the Nuremberg Symphony
both in Nuremberg and on tour to the
Rheinland region.
In 2001 he was engaged as cover conductor by
the New York Philharmonic under Maestro Kurt
Masur. As a result of his work in New York he
also filled this position at the Orchestre National
de France actively assisting Maestro Masur in
major productions.
In the operatic realm, Spiros Pisinos conducted
Rigoletto at Dusseldorf’s Deutsche Oper am
Rhein, and Cosi Fan Tutte in a multinational coproduction
with Germany’s Bremen Opera, Cyprus’
Rialto Theatre, and the Israel Camerata Orchestra.
In 1999, he was asked by Maestro Antonio
Pappano (Music Director of Royal Opera Covent
Garden) to undertake orchestra, choir and soloist
rehearsals for Lohengrin, at the Teatro Carlo Felice,
in Genoa, Italy. In 1996, he was offered the position
of coach and conductor at the Nationaltheater
Mannheim, where he actively worked
in all capacities on an extremely diverse repertoire
ranging from the baroque to contemporary.
In addition to conducting symphonic and
operatic repertoire, he performs chamber music
as a pianist. Noteworthy performances include
his collaboration with the Jerusalem String Quar-
tet and the Vienna String Soloists, an 11-member
ensemble of the Vienna Philharmonic led by
the Philharmonic’s concertmaster Rainer Honeck.
Born and raised in Cyprus, Spiros Pisinos
began piano studies in 1970, at the Ethnikon
Odeon Kyprou under Loulou Symeonidou. In
1978, Spiros Pisinos successfully earned his diploma
in piano performance and was granted the
conservatory’s Medal of Outstanding Achievement.
In 1978, he was offered a full scholarship
to further his piano studies at the Moscow
Conservatory; he chose, instead, to undertake
private instruction under Enrique Barenboim,
father and teacher of Daniel Barenboim.
A recipient of the Paris-based Leventis Foundation
scholarship, Spiros Pisinos completed
studies in orchestral conducting at the Vienna
Conservatory under Professor Georg Mark and
the late Professor Rheinhard Schwarz from where
he graduated in 1996. In 1982, prior to devoting
himself exclusively to music, Spiros Pisinos
had studied Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania
and had subsequently carried out radiological
research at M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute
of Technology) and Massachusetts General
Hospital.