Panayis Lyras

ABOUT

Panayis Lyras retired from MSU as Professor of Piano and Artist in Residence in 2019. He joined the faculty of the College of Music in 2002. A native of Greece, Professor Lyras attended the Athens Conservatory at age 6 and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. Winner of the Silver Medal in the 1981 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, he has been seen and heard by millions of television viewers on PBS and the Arts and Entertainment Network. He is also the first prize winner of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Utah, the University of Maryland International Piano Competition, the Three Rivers Piano Competition in Pittsburgh, and is a silver medalist in the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel. Following his 1980 recital debut in the prestigious Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, California, Professor Lyras performed solo recitals in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and many other major cities across North America. His orchestral engagements have included performances with the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, the Buffalo and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston Pops, and the San Francisco, Dallas, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Phoenix, Florida, Omaha, New Mexico, Nashville, New Jersey, Utah, North Carolina, Honolulu, and Pacific Symphony Orchestras. Internationally, Lyras has performed in England, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Mexico, South Africa, and Uruguay.