“The young Greek conductor Stamatia Karampini, 28, performed Shostakovitch's Fifth Symphony with an astonishing level of intensity and structure, exhibiting a profound knowledge of the work with a passion previously demonstrated by conductors of the calibre of Mravinski, Kondrachine, Ancerl, Sanderling, Bernstein, and, more recently, Haitink. From start to finish, she remained in complete control of the orchestra, wielding the baton with extraordinary precision. A phenomenal interpretation. The audience left the concert hall tonight with the impression that a new star had been born.”

This was the review on Altamusica after Stamatia Karampini gave her recent debut in Paris, conducting the 2006/07 opening concert of the Orchestre National de France.

Stamatia Karampini was born in Greece and hails from the island Crete.  In 1992, at just 13 years old, she founded and was the artistic director of the 248-member academic orchestra and choir “Jeunesse” in Greece, which she conducted for four years. Karampini studied conducting under Hermann Michael at Munich's Hochschule für Musik, where she graduated with high honors specializing in Opera Conducting. She went on to receive a Master's degree from the same institution. After two more years as a master student of Prof. Jorma Panula at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, she received the postgraduate Diploma of conducting, specializing in music of the 20th and 21st centuries.  

Stamatia Karampini, a former cellist and pianist, has held the baton for a variety of leading European orchestras, including the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, the Musikkollegium Orchestra in Winterthur, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of Colors in Athens, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre National de France. In these venues, and others, she has proven her remarkable range, which extends from the German and Viennese Schools to Bartok, Debussy, Sibelius, and the Russian composers. Her operatic repertoire also includes over 40 works.

As part of the St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary celebrations in 2003, Karampini received an honorary degree from the Prokofiev Organisation for her exceptional performances of this composer with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Sergei Prokofiev is one of the focal points of Karampini´s repertoire, which encompasses Prokofiev's entire oeuvre of symphonies, ballets and concertos, as well as his eight operas. She has also conducted numerous symphonies and other works by Dmitri Shostakovich, who also figures prominently in her repertoire.

Upcoming engagements include collaborations with the Orquesta Simfonica de Barcelona (Beethovens Symphonie Nr. 8), the Orchestra and Choir Giuseppe Verdi in Milan (Berlioz's “Symphonie Fantastique”) and the London Philharmonic Orchestra (excerpts from Wagner's “Tristan und Isolde” and Brahms' Third Symphony), for the kick-off of the Royal Festival Hall's coming season.