Achilles Liarmakopoulos (born 29 August 1985) is a Greek trombonist. He has been a member of the Canadian Brass since 2011.
Early life and education
Born in Athens, Greece, Liarmakopoulos started trombone lessons at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory, graduating with Excellent Unanimous and first prize. At the age of 18, Liarmakopoulos 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.
Liarmakopoulos holds degrees from the Yale School of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music (class of 2008), the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the Philippos Nakas Conservatory in his hometown of Athens, Greece. His studies have been supported by merit-based scholarships, Bok Foundation and Milton L. Rock Annual Fellowships and scholarships from the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund, Alexandros S. Onassis Foundation, and the Greek State Scholarship Foundation. Yale University awarded him the Philip Francis Nelson Prize for outstanding musicianship.
Career
In December 2010, Liarmakopoulos won the position of principal trombone of the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra, where he played for one season before joining the Canadian Brass. He has also performed with the Malaysian Philharmonic, Jacksonville Symphony, and European Union Youth Orchestra.
In April 2011, he was invited to audition for the Canadian Brass, and since then, he has been their trombonist, touring with the group all over the world.
Liarmakopoulos has received awards in the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe and the 2nd Christian Lindberg International Trombone competition.
His debut solo album, Ástor Piazzolla: Tango Distinto was released by Naxos Records in 2011. It is the first full album to feature Astor Piazzolla's music on solo trombone.
In 2013, Liarmakopoulos released his second solo album titled Discoveries with new works for trombone and piano, collaborating with piano soloist Amy J. Yang.
In January 2013, Liarmakopoulos was invited to play with the Oregon-based genre-bending ensemble Pink Martini. Since then, he has performed with them regularly all over the world.
Liarmakopoulos' third album Trombone Atrevido with choro music from Brazil was released in July 2015 on the ODEG label. The album was produced by guitarist Spiros Exaras and mastered by Bernie Grundman at the Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios-Los Angeles, CA.
In 2017, he released his fourth solo album titled Ethereal. The album features six brand new compositions and five arrangements with an exceptional roster of musicians from all over the world, including Fernando Suarez Paz from Astor Piazzolla's legendary Tango Quintet.
Liarmakopoulos is an adjunct trombone professor at Brooklyn College in New York City.
In 2018, he formed Cuatrombon with Jorge Glem on cuatro, Manuel Rangel on maracas, and Bam Bam Rodriguez on bass. Together they released three singles of Venezuelan music and, in 2020, an album entitled "Volar."
Premieres
Liarmakopoulos is a supporter of new music and new works for trombone, and has premiered a number of pieces by new composers. Four Trombone concertos and several chamber pieces have been written specifically for him . He premiered Dream (for trombone solo, string orchestra and harp) by Andrew Cadima at the Curtis Institute of Music in May 2008.
Dedicated works
Anaklasis - Vagelis Simsiris (1998) Concerto for Trombone - John Ellis Dream - Concerto for Trombone and Strings - Andrew Cadima (2008) Opening of the 2nd Gate - Concerto for Trombone - Joowan Kim (2008) Indigo for Trombone and Piano - John Ellis (2009) Tango Paradiso for Trombone and piano - John Ellis (2009) The bounds of Spring - Taylor Roland (2010) Ypopsia - Andrew Cadima (2010) Chinese suite - Hua Yang (2010) Krakatoa for Trombone and Marimba - Stephen Feigenbaum (2010) Concertino for Trombone and Strings - Dinos Costantinides (2012) Chorinho do sol - Spiros Exaras (2014) Distance for Trombone and Trombone Choir - Andrew Cadima (2015) Sleepwalker for Trombone and harp - Andrew Cadima (2016) Trombonsillo for Trombone and piano - Carolina Calvache (2016) Oscuro Silencio - Gabriel Senanes (2017) Nostos for trombone and harp - Spiros Exaras (2017) Tango y Milonga - Pablo Estigarribia (2018) In memoriam Theodore Antoniou for trombone and harp - Michalis Andronikou (2019) Endlessness for solo trombone - Brandon Ridenour (2019) The Dwarf Planets - Spiros Exaras (2020) Dance of Tears - Spiros Exaras (2021) Kitrino - Nikos Kypourgos (2022) Three Secrets of the Rain - Spiros Exaras (2022)