Conductor
and artists in residence.
Dimitris Spouras
Principal Conductor and Artistic Director
Dimitris Spouras is a Greek conductor and clarinet player. Dimitris has won the 1st prize at the National Greek Conducting Competition, conducting the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki, and has also conducted the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, the MAV Symphony Orchestra (Budapest), the State Orchestra of Athens, the Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra (Bulgaria), the Flemish Radio Choir, the Royal Norwegian Navy Band, the Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces and many other ensembles.
In 2015, during his studies in Antwerp, Dimitris co-founded Antwerpen Camerata, and currently he is both Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the orchestra. He has worked with acclaimed musicians such as Eliane Rodrigues, Fabio Zanon, Wilfried Van den Brande, Hendrickje Van Kerckhove, Nadja Nevolovitsch, Peter Van De Velde, Sabrina Vlaskalic, Aaron Wajnberg and Lola Totsiou.
His conducting teachers include Jorma Panula, Ivo Venkov, Stefan Blunier, Johannes Schlaefli, Christian Ehwald, Vassily Petrenko, Eivind Gulberg Jensen, James Lowe, Ole Kristian Ruud and Maria Makraki.
In 2017 he finished his Master at Guildhall School of Music in Clarinet with Distinction Degree and Concert Recital Diploma. While studying at the Guildhall School with Andrew Marriner he took part in the prestigious Orchestral Artistry course, in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, and he was awarded the Leverhulme Trust scholarship. During his time in London, he played in the London Symphony Orchestra under famous conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding and Gianandrea Noseda.
Carlos Brito Dias
Composer in Residence
Carlos Brito Dias (1991) is currently developing his PhD in the Arts, at the University of Antwerp and the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp (KCA), under the guidance of Pascal Gielen and Wim Henderickx, with as subject “Integrating Portuguese traditional sounds in new compositions”. At the same time, he is studying Orchestral Conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Bart Bouckaert. After completing his Master of Arts (2014) and Postgraduate in Composition (2015) at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp as a student of W. Henderickx, L. Van Hove, J. Tamminga and I. Venkov, Brito Dias conducted the research “The Influence of Traditional Culture in New Art Music Creation” (2016). In 2015, he received a scholarship from the Stichting KCA.
Brito Dias is a graduate in Composition from the Escola Superior de Música, Artes e Espetáculo (ESMAE, Porto), and he attended seminars and masterclasses of Composition (P. Dusapin, K. Saariaho, W. Mitterer, E. Nunes, I. Fedele, C. Iannotta), Musical Pedagogy (J. Prendas, J. Wuytack, P. van Hauwe), Orchestral Conducting (J. Sébastien Béreau, Douglas Boustock) and Choir Conducting (G. Morgan, L. Vila and O. Reeves). He also took part in the 343eNSEMBLE electronic music project, with ESMAE students and teachers.
Carlos Brito Dias began his studies at the Conservatório de Música Calouste Gulbenkian, in Braga (Portugal), with Fernanda Salema (Piano), André Ruiz (Composition) and F. Ribeiro (Trumpet). In the last few years, he worked with several conductors such as D. Spouras, K. Deseure, P. Rundel, and with different ensembles and orchestras including Sinfonieta de Braga, Remix Ensemble, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto/Casa da Música, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra “deFilharmonie”, Logos Foundation, deCompagnie, Champdaction, Symphony Orchestra of Ruse, ensemble recherche and HERMESensemble.
His works have been performed not only in several Portuguese concert halls (such as Auditório Adelina Caravana, Museu Nogueira da Silva, Casa da Música, Teatro Helena Sá e Costa, Jardim de Inverno do Teatro S. Luís), but also in Belgium (Blauwe Zaal, Koningin Elisabethzaal, AMUZ), Germany (Ensemble Huis) and Bulgaria (Rousse Philharmonic Hall). Carlos Brito Dias has also written music for short movies, theatre, robots-orchestra and for projects with dancers and visual artists. He has conducted different ensembles and orchestras (such as Sinfonieta de Braga and deCompagnie) and several projects of the student orchestra of the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. Since September 2018, Carlos Brito Dias is Composer in Residence of Antwerpen Camerata.
Mavroudes Troullos
Artist in Residence
Mavroudes Troullos (1992) is a highly trained bassoonist who stands out for his musical sensitivity and maturity. He was born into a family of musicians.
He has been awarded 1st prize in the ”Amsterdam Grand Prize Virtuoso” International Music Competition 2019, 1st prize in the ”Paris Grand Prize Virtuoso” International Music Competition 2019, the 1st prize in the ”London Grand Prize Virtuoso” International Music Competition 2019, the 2nd prize in the ”North International Music Competition” 2018 (Sweden), the ”Horlait-Dapsens Award” 2018 (Belgium), and has been named ”Ambassador of the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel” 2018.
He has given recitals in big concert halls such as the Amphitheater of the Philharmonie in Paris, the Elgar Room of the Royal Albert Hall and the Kleine Zaal of Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He has appeared as a soloist with the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Koninklijke Muziekkapel van de Gidsen and appeared in renowned festivals such Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier.
Mavroudes was appointed 2nd principal bassoonist at the Greek National Opera at the age of 21. He has also served as a substitute musician at the Kamerata Armonia Atenea Orchestra, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Belgian National Orchestra, and the Royal Theater of La Monnaie.
He has been teacher of bassoon and chamber music at the Gemeentelijke Academie voor Muziek, Woord en Dans Sint-Pieters Woluwe Brussels since 2018 and his professional experience includes radio recordings in Germany, Cyprus and Belgium.
Mavroudes Troullos has a Diploma in bassoon from the Athens Conservatory of Music and Drama (professor G. Faroungias), a Bachelor degree from the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater, Leipzig (professor J.M. Thome), a Master degree from the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (professor L. Loubry). At the moment he is a PhD researcher in the Arts at the LUCA School of Arts in collaboration with the KU Leuven. Many great living composers have dedicated works to him such as Philippe Hersant and Luk Callens.
Mavroudes Troullos’ recital partners are Lily Maisky (piano) and Roberta Brambilla (harp). In the 2021/22 season, Mavroudes Troullos will be Artist in Residence with Antwerpen Camerata, conducted by Dimitris Spouras.