Antonis Ladopoulos was born in Athens Greece. He started his academic education by earning a BA in Business from the Athens University of Economics and Business.
Moving to New Jersey, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Studies and Performance from William Paterson University, after attending its highly accredited Jazz Studies Program led by Jazz legend Rufus Reid. Upon the completion of his studies he received a Graduate Assistantship along with a full scholarship from Eastern Illinois University.
Moving to Illinois, he spent two years studying and working as a teaching assistant in the EIU Jazz Program, led by Alan Horney and Henry Butler. During that time, he performed on various occasions as a member of the Henry Butler Quartet.
In 1991 he earned an Exceptional Performance award at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival. He graduated from EIU in 1992 with a Master of Arts Degree in Jazz Performance.
Since then, he has been leading his own groups and teaching the Jazz idiom in the greater Athens area. He has extensively performed in Greece and in other European Countries, both with his own group and as a featured soloist. Some of his collaborations include internationally renowned artists such as Arild Andersen, Markus Stockhausen, Rex Richardson, Carla Cook, Kysia Bostic, Deborah Davis, Maria Markesini and others.
His discography includes 8 albums. He has also appeared on numerous commercial recordings with various pop artists and as a soloist with the National Radio Orchestra. His quartet was featured in the celebration events of the 2004 Olympic Games.
Antonis Ladopoulos has been the founder of Muse.gr music institute which has represented the contemporary perspective of music education in Greece for almost a decade and has promoted musical creativity through Muse.gr independent record label. He has also been the creator and director of Muse Festival one of the most prestigious yearly Jazz festivals to ever take place in Greece.
From 2008 to 2011, Antonis taught Jazz Theory, Improvisation & Jazz Ensembles at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki.
He has also served as Director of Ioannina Jazz Festival (2015 – 2016).
In September of 2012, he was awarded by Eastern Illinois University Graduate School the title of International Alumni Ambassador. This is an academic honor to international graduate alumni showing considerable achievement in their respective fields.
Antonis currently works as Jazz Faculty at the University of Athens and the American College of Greece .
He is also a Ph.D. Candidate at the Department of Music Studies of the University of Athens.
Antonis’ main project both as a performer and composer has long been “Phos Duo”. Phos Duo is a no boundaries collaboration with pianist Sami Amiris in the direction of creatively improvised Jazz and Contemporary music.
Links
LinkedIn: https://gr.linkedin.com/pub/antonis-ladopoulos/2a/36b/aa9
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aladopoulos