Natalia Gerakis • flutist

Both Stuttgart- and Athens-based, Natalia Gerakis has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player at major halls and festivals throughout Germany and Greece, as well as in numerous European countries, in Asia, Africa and South America.

She has been principal flute of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra and performed among others with the Athens State Orchestra, Athens Camerata, Wuerttemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, Stuttgart State Opera House (Chamber Theater).

As a soloist she has interpreted works by A.Vivaldi, J.S.Bach, C.Ph.E.Bach, G.Ph.Telemann, W.A.Mozart, F.Borne/G.Bizet, M.Arnold, A.Ginastera, A.Marquez, J.A.Merino, F.Poulenc, J.Ibert, K.Rothaupt, G.Kalodiki with the Bosch Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Stuttgart University Academic Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta-Chamber Orchestra Chania/Crete, Athens Youth Symphony Orchestra, Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, Athens Academica, Universidad Mayor Orchestra Santiago/Chile.

She has recorded contemporary chamber music compositions for the Greek Radio & TV and the Bayerischer Rundfunk. The CD “Terra e Aria” featuring music for flute and harp is released by “Spektral” in Germany. The CD/Book “CLAUDE DEBUSSY la musique à moi” is released by “Utopia Music” and the “Mikri Arktos” editions in Greece. Her recording and treatise “Opus Alexandrinum”, concerning the musical activity of Greeks in Alexandria ad Egyptum, will be published by the Hellenic Foundation for Culture.

In addition to her musical activities as a performer, Natalia Gerakis has shown a remarkable educational activity. Commitment to her art and success in teaching makes her a highly regarded and sought-after flutist among international courses (Adams European Flute Center Masterclasses/Holland, International Forum for Flute and Piano/Luxembourg, Springiersbach Summer Courses/Germany, Deutscher Tonkünstlerverband Instrumentenkurse/Germany, Internationaler Arbeitskreis für Musik/Germany, Alliance Française Courses Lusaka/Zambia, Universidad Mayor Masterclasses Santiago/Chile, Camerata Europaea Academy Masterclasses/Greece, Flute Masterclass at Music Library of Greece, Athens Conservatoire Flute Didactic & Methodology Courses/Greece, International Music Academy of Anargyrios and Korgialenios School of Spetses – MAAKSS/Greece), as well as among international music competitions (International Bodensee Music Competition, International Chamber Music Competition with Guitar Aschaffenburg, German Flute Association Amateur Competition Frankfurt, Thessaloniki International Fair Chamber Music Competition, Urs Rüttimann Flute Competition Athens).

Natalia Gerakis is Flute Professor at the Athens Conservatoire. Furthermore she teaches Flute Methodology at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart (Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst) and Flute Performance (master degree program) in the Music Department of the Athens National University.

She has studied the flute with Geneviève Amar and Vicens Prats at the “Nadia & Lili Boulanger” Conservatoire in Paris and graduated with the “1er Prix de la Ville de Paris”. Her flute master degree she has obtained at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart in Germany under Professor Jean-Claude Gérard, on a scholarship of the Greek State. She was also honored with a scholarship of the Alexander S.Onassis Foundation.

Currently she is PhD Candidate in the Music Department of the Athens National University, dealing with “Tōru Takemitsu’ s music, between japanese tradition and western avant-garde. An aesthetic approach in his flute compositions”.