Dimitris Valavanis

Dimitris Valavanis was born in June 2000. In the age of 12 he took his first steps in the world of classical music and specifically in classical guitar, under the guidance of his father, a classical guitar teacher. At the age of 16 he studied guitar with Thanos Mitsalas and afterwards at the age of 18 he entered the University of Macedonia, in the department of Music science and art. There, he continued his study in classical guitar in the specialization class of Elena Papandreou which he finished in September of 2023. Then, in 2024, he started his Master's degree in the class of Petra Poláčková the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar, Germany where he studies until this day.

He has taken part in masterclasses with Oscar Ghiglia, Thomas Müller-Pering, Odair Assad, Vladimir Gorbach, Giannis Andronoglou and Wanda Palacz.

In the difficult times of the Pandemic he started winning his first prizes in classical guitar competitions. Among others he won 1st prize in the competition of the 12th festival of Palio Faliro, 2nd prize in the concerto competition  “Ilias Kouskouvelis” organised by the department of Music science and art of the University of Macedonia and 3rd prize in the international competition Dimitris Fampas.