Nicolas Economou

In October 2018 a memorial concert was held at Prinzregententheater in Munich for his 25th death anniversary. Amongst the artists who performed were Martha Argerich, Rodion Shchedrin, Gerhard Oppitz, Paul Gulda (de) and Semeli Economou with Santa Semeli and the Monks.

From 1988 until his death his partner was art patron and philanthropist Maja Hoffmann.

As a performer, he appeared in Europe, the USA and Canada as well as the USSR, Japan, Iceland, and Israel. He performed solo, and with orchestras and other famous performers and composers like Martha Argerich, Rodion Shchedrin, Sviatoslav Richter, Michel Beroff, Chick Corea and others. As well as performing in concert with Martha Argerich and Chick Corea, he also recorded with them. The record with Chick Corea, entitled On Two Pianos, was the result of a series of concerts in Germany in 1981/82 during which the two musicians interacted with each other by improvising in their own style. He also released two other solo albums.

In 1978, with the collaboration of the City of Munich, Economou organised a "Cyprus Week" in Munich, with artists from Cyprus including actors, musicians, painters, sculptors and the late shadow performer, Paphios. He was also the founder of the "Solisten Ensemble" in Munich with which he performed some of his compositions and those of other composers. He was the co-founder of the well-established Münchner Klaviersommer (Munich Piano Summer). In February 1992 he organised in Venice the first of a series of piano festivals he intended to establish in Europe with the title "Pianisti non-Solo".

After three years of studies, his piano teacher suggested that he should enter the Tchaikovsky Competition, a world-renowned international music competition. After a year of preparation and at the age of sixteen, he participated in the competition, gaining favourable reviews from the press, radio and television. A year later, he was admitted to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory itself. Leaving Moscow in 1972, he moved to Düsseldorf, before settling in Munich, Germany.

A precociously gifted pianist, Economou came to international attention at the 1969 Tchaikovsky Competition when he was 16. After studying at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow he eventually moved via Düsseldorf to Munich. From his base there he established himself throughout Europe as a concert pianist, composer, arranger, conductor and organiser of music festivals. In December 1993 Economou died in a tragic car accident in Cyprus.

The turning point in Economou's life came at the age of ten. It had to be decided whether he would eventually take up music as a career. Again Solon Michaelides, who was following Economou's progress, suggested that his musical education should be continued outside Cyprus where he would have greater opportunities. In September 1964, after an audition, he was accepted at the Special School of Music of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, a preparatory school for youngsters to enter the Conservatory. In December of that year, in Athens, he won the "Keti Papaioannou" Panhellenic Competition for young musicians up to the age of seventeen. Events themselves were now forming the course of Economou's life. The following year at the age of twelve, far away from his family and culture, he began his musical studies in Moscow.

Nicolas Economou (Greek: Νικόλας Οικονόμου ; 11 August 1953 – 29 December 1993) was a Cypriot composer and pianist born in Nicosia, Cyprus.