* 5-5-1951, Marseille -

He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Aline van Barentzen, Monique de la Bruchollerie and Jean Hubeau.

He was awarded an honourary degree in the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1970, the Albert Roussel prize, prizes at the Bruxelles Queen Elizabeth Competition in 1972, first prize at the International Cziffra Competition in 1974 and the International UNESCO Youth Prize in 1977.

He has given recitals and concerts in major musical centres thoughout the world. He has performed as a soloist with many renowned orchestras (Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Leizig Gewandhaus, Cleveland Orchestra, etc.) under the baton of world-famous conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Christoph von Dohnányi, Kurt Masur, Sandor Végh, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Eliahu Inbal, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and others.

He has recorded with many international labels (Deutsche Grammophon, Teldec, Sony Classical, BMG, EMI, DECCA, Pavane) and has been awarded many prizes for his recordings, mostly for works by Liszt, Liszt/ Beethoven and Chopin.

Apart from his interpretations of the usual piano repertoire, he has been active in bringing back to the public´s attention forgotten works such as Liszt/ Tchaikovsky´s Concerto in Hungarian Style, which he recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, among others.

His activities also include chamber music and accompanying lyrical artists. With the Katsaris Piano Quintet he has appeared in America, Europe and Japan, always to rave reviews.

He has taught masterclasses at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Hague Royal Music School, the Arts Academy in Mexico, Toronto University, and the Figurative Arts Academy in Hong Kong. He has been a member of the jury at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw and the International Liszt Competition in Utrecht. Since 1977 he has been artistic director of the Echternach Festival in Luxembourg.

In 1997, he was given the title of Artist of UNESCO for Peace, and in 2000 the French government honoured him with the title of „Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres".

The leading French classical music magazine „Diapason" placed the Greek-Cypriot artist in it's 2001 list among the 100 best pianists of the 20th century worldwide.