Lunchtime Recital - Yiannis Archontides, piano

Programme: Oliver Messiaen: Le baiser de l'Enfant-Jésus ("The kiss of the Infant Jesus")

F. Schubert: Piano Sonata in A minor, D 537

Alexander Scriabin: Sonata No. 10, Op. 70

Biographies:

Yiannis Archontides was born in Limassol, where he began piano lessons at the age of six. In 2018 he started his piano studies at the Cologne University of Music and Dance with Prof. Paulo Paulo Álvares. In 2020 he moved to Switzerland to continue his studies at the Zurich University of the Arts with Prof. Karl-Andreas Kolly, where he completed his Bachelor’s. Currently, he is pursuing a Master’s in Performance at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, and is expected to complete the degree in June 2026.

He has attended masterclasses and lessons with Ralf Gothóni, Jacob Leuschner, Norma Fischer, Andreas Frölich, Irina Kirilova, among others, and has performed in venues across the UK, Switzerland, Greece and Cyprus. In 2016 he won second prize at the Solon Michaelides Competition, where he met composer and pianist Christodoulos Georgiades, an important influence in his development. Besides piano, Yiannis has taken form and analysis classes with Swiss composer Mathias Steinauer during his studies in Zurich.

Chamber music plays an important role in his musical life. He is a co-founder of the Thyrsus Trio and also enjoys interdisciplinary projects, such as a 2023 concert in Zurich in collaboration with German light designer Marek Lamprecht and Farfalla Aromas, exploring some of Scriabin’s synaesthetic ideas.

He also maintains an active role as a piano teacher. From 2022 to 2024 he taught at the Volketswil Music School in Zurich, and since October 2025 he has been teaching at the Goldenlane Music School in London.

Yiannis gratefully acknowledges the A.G. Leventis Foundation, Help Musicians UK, and the Guildhall School Trust for their generous support.

Presented in association with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.