Tania Giannouli
“This music invites the listener to dream of eternity.” (Jazzspace)
Tania Giannouli’s genre-defying music is described as highly original, lyrical, complex, eclectic and intoxicating. Classically trained and inspired by many different traditions and influences, her compositions and interdisciplinary projects span an impressive range of styles, creating a borderless amalgamation of our global reality.
As a pianist, composer, improviser and bandleader, her imaginative, explorative collaborations with international musicians have been released on New Zealand's foremost art-music label, Rattle Records: SOLO (2023, imaginative and seamless blend of solo improvisation, classical, and global music), In Fading Light (2020, a trio with trumpet player Andreas Polyzogopoulos and oud player Kyriakos Tapakis), Rewa (2018, improvised collaboration with traditional Maori instrumentalist, Rob Thorne), Transcendence (2015, featuring works composed for the Tania Giannouli Ensemble), and Forest Stories (2012, with Portuguese wind player, Paulo Chagas). All five albums received widespread international acclaim, and have been included in many “Best Of “lists, with Transcendence cited as one of the most important albums of the decade in her Greek homeland.
In 2023 Tania was honoured as a visionary individual who has made a significant impact in arts and culture at the Greek International Women Awards (GIWA), in 2021 she was nominated for the Deutscher Jazzpreis (German Jazz Prize) alongside international pianists Tigran Hamasyan and Shai Maestro, while the annual critic's poll Top Jazz, which is held by the Italian magazine Musica Jazz since 1982 (one of the most important polls in Europe) proclaimed her New International Talent for the year 2023. She is currently performing her solo piano repertoire and performing with with her acclaimed trio with Jean-Paul Estievenart (trumpet) and Kyriakos Tapakis (oud), she is collaborating in duo with Nik Bartsch (piano), with Nils Peter Molvaer (trumpet),, with American countertenor Reginald Mobley, with the trio HEMERA with Daniele Roccato (double bass) and Michele Rabbia (percussion), with Amir ElSaffar (AES new quartet).
Her imagination has facilitated performances in unique locations such as the demanding site-specific concert "634 minutes inside the volcano", where she collaborated with 14 musicians and improvised for more than 10 hours inside the active crater of Nisyros' Island. She has performed at venues and festivals all over Europe and beyond, including BOZAR, Enjoy Jazz festival (artist-in-residence in 2022), Pierre Boulez Saal, Rudolfinum-Prague, Jazzfest Berlin, Flagey Piano Days, Brussels Jazz festival, London Jazz festival, Wigmore Hall, NFM Wroclaw, NDR Jazz series, Maijazz, Madrid International Jazz festival, Bergamo Jazz festival, MA Musique Antique festival, Roma Jazz festival, Teatro La Fenice, Ars Musica, Reykjavik Jazz festival - Harpa, Pisa Jazz festival, Venezia Jazz festival, Cerkno Jazz festival, Munsterland Festival, Catania Jazz festival, Synch Festival, Zomer Jazz Fiets, HA concerts Handelsbeurs, Bimhuis, Ars Musica, November Music, Trondheim Jazz festival, Mama Jaz, Onassis Stegi, Jazzahead, Borusan Sanat, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, Thessaloniki Concert Hall and many more.
She creates work for video, documentaries and film which is experienced at festivals, museums, biennales, and venues worldwide. Her performances are often broadcast on international radio (Deutschlandfunk Kultur, NDR, RTBF, rbbKultur, Klara Radio and ERT) and her concert music has been performed by the Camerata/Armonia Atenea String Orchestra, Dissonart Ensemble, the Athens Youth Orchestra and the Galaxy String Quartet.