Bio
George Kokkinaris is a double bassist, composer and music performer based in Athens and Berlin. He performs contemporary music and improvisation works with an emphasis on 20th and 21st century composers with new compositional techniques (new notation, graphic, verbal or a combination of these).
He has collaborated with living composers with different artistic and cultural backgrounds from Europe (Germany, Greece, UK), USA and Canada, with new works dedicated to and inspired by his personal playing in an effort to expand the repertoire of double bass in chamber music ensembles and creating pieces that combine movement, voice, drama with music, improvisation. He continues to perform contemporary works for double bass either solo or with chamber ensembles. He has a growing discography and videoography of improvisational music, new compositions and his own composed music along with poetry and dance. George produces dance and music performances collaborating with choreographers and dancers (Julyen Hamilton, Konstantinos Mihos, Maya Caroll, Jurij Konjar, Paolo CIngolani).
He began his studies at the Municipal Conservatory of Patras with Vilen Karapetian alongside his studies at the Polytechnic University of Patras as a Mechanical Engineer (Master 2011). He continued with Vassilis Papavasiliou and Seraina Seidou. He obtained his Classical Double Bass Diploma in 2019 from the Kodály Conservatory in Athens. He has attended private lessons in orchestral and solo repertoire with Edicson Ruiz (Berliner Philarmonie), Janne Saksala (Hans Eisler Akademie, Berliner Philharmonie), MIchael Wolf (UdK Berlin), Okhee Lee (Komische Oper Berlin), Luis Cabrera.