As a soloist, Nikos has a wide range of repertoire: some of his areas of expertise are the music of Beethoven, which was part of his doctoral research, Russian and Central European music of the 20th century, and Spanish and Latin American repertoire.
Nikos plays in various ensembles: he is member of the Zalas Trio, the Vladimir & Estragon piano duo, and the contemporary music ensemble Oiseaux Bizarres. He also performs regularly with the soprano Patricia Caicedo, promoting Spanish and Latin American art song through the Barcelona Festival of Song, as well as the violinist Saya Ikenoya and the cellist Matthew Strover. He often accompanies exams and recitals at the Royal College of Music and elsewhere, as well as the Royal Opera House Thurrock Community Chorus.
As a musicologist, Nikos has focused on the use of quotation and the incorporation of tradition in the works of Alfred Schnittke and Mauricio Kagel, the application of deconstruction in music, postmodernism, and the distinction between the roles of the composer and the performer in indeterminate music. His doctoral thesis was on Mauricio Kagel's Ludwig van, a film and musical composition on Beethoven. The composition is actually a DIY collage of the music of Beethoven, which Kagel invites the performers to undertake in their own way. In his version, extracts of which can be seen in the video below, Nikos created a collage of Beethoven's letters alongside that of his music and devised a quasi-surrealistic musical theatre performance that reflects on the myth surrounding Beethoven's figure.
Greek pianist Nikos Stavlas studied at the Music School of his hometown, Serres (Elina Grammatopoulou), at the National Conservatory of Thessaloniki (Igor Petrin, Diploma and First Prize, 2003), at the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki (Vinia Tsopela, BMus with distinction, 2005) and at the Royal College of Music (Yonty Solomon and Kathron Sturrock, Masters Degree with distinction, 2007), financially supported both by the Greek State Scholarship Foundation and by the RCM itself. He holds a PhD from Goldsmiths, University of London (Andrew Zolinsky and Keith Potter) on Ludwig van, a film and a musical composition dedicated to Beethoven by the Argentinian composer Mauricio Kagel.
He has appeared several times as a soloist with orchestras in Greece, Albania and the United Kingdom, and has given solo and chamber music recitals in Greece, Albania, Italy, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom and the USA. He has also recorded live for BBC radio 3 and Catalunya música. He is a member of the Zalas Trio, with which he has performed in various venues in the UK and abroad, most importantly the Southbank centre and the Wigmore Hall in London and the Cadaqués international music festival and Gaudi's La Pedrera in Spain. He also performs with the Vladimir&Estragon Piano Duo and the experimental contemporary ensemble Oiseaux Bizarres, and explores rarely played repertoire with violinists Saaya Ikenoya and Sophia Baltatzi. He has recorded two CDs of Catalan and Latin American art song with soprano Patricia Caicedo.
Nikos currently teaches at Morley College and City Lit in London, where he leads weekly masterclasses for advanced pianists. He is in high demand as accompanist for institutions such as the Royal College of Music and the Royal Opera House, and since 2014 he is the principal accompanist of the Barcelona Festival of Song.
Emma Cons Hall, Morley College
Performance with the Morley Chamber Orchestra
Fantasia on a theme by Handel, by Michael Tippett
Megaron Concert Hall, Athens
Performance with the Tetrachord Piano Ensemble
Works by Smetana, Rosenblatt, Wilberg and others
Festival After Cage, Pamplona
Performance with Ciklus Ensemble
Works by Iñaki Estrada
Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid
Performance with Ciklus Ensemble
Works by Iñaki Estrada
St George's, Beckenham
Performance with tenor John Upperton
Music by Robert and Clara Schumann and Richard Strauss
Sands Films Music Room
Performance with tenor John Upperton
Music by Robert and Clara Schumann and Richard Strauss
Biblioteca de Catalunya, Barcelona
Recital with mezzo-soprano Lori Sen
Sephardic and Turkish songs
Biblioteca de Catalunya, Barcelona
Recital with tenor Lenine Santos
Songs by Brazilian composers
American Church, Berlin
Recital with violinist Sophia Baltatzi
Works by Hans Jörn Brandenburg
Luftraum, Berlin
Piano recital
Works by Hans-Jörn Brandenburg
St Stephen Walbrook, London
Performance with tenor John Upperton
Music by Robert and Clara Schumann and Richard Strauss
Emma Cons Hall, Morley College, London
Performance with Morley Chamber Orchestra
Mozart Concerto in A major, K.488
Emma Cons Hall, Morley College, London
Solo piano recital
Music by Spanish and Latin American composers
Litterarum, Mora d'Ebre
Recital with soprano Patricia Caicedo
Songs based on poetry by Carles Duarte
Centre cívic Pere Pruna, Barcelona
Recital with soprano Patricia Caicedo
Works by women composers
Teatro Victoria Eugenia, San Sebastián
Solo piano recital
Three Beethoven Sonatas
Morley College, London
Performance with ensemble Oiseaux Bizarres
Mauricio Kagel's Ludwig van
Morley College, London
Performance with Morley Chamber Orchestra
Beethoven, Concerto No.1
St Martin in the Fields, London
Recital with soprano Patricia Caicedo
Works by Latin American composers
Teatro Victoria Eugenia, San Sebastian
Solo piano recital
Three Beethoven Sonatas