Pantelis Protopapas is a jazz guitarist and composer based in Greece.
Born and raised in Corinth, he began his music studies at the age of 9, studying classical guitar with Nikos Soukaras, while also engaging in music theory and harmony studies with Sofia Riga and Filippos Tsalachouris.
In 2016, he shifted his focus to jazz guitar under the guidance of Yiotis Samaras and enrolled at the Athens Conservatoire, where he attended courses in jazz ensembles, jazz theory, and jazz piano.
He pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Guitar Performance under the supervision of Martijn van Iterson and Ella Zirina at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, graduating with a final grade of 9/10 in June 2024.
Alongside his studies in the Netherlands, he founded the “Pantelis Protopapas Quartet,” a contemporary jazz ensemble focused on his original compositions, with which he performs regularly across the Netherlands, Belgium, and Greece.
Since 2022, he has also been actively involved in composing music for theatre. He composed the music for the stage productions “Sizwe Banzi Is Dead” and “The Film Storyteller” directed by Nikolas Lampakis, as well as “Pame Stoichima” “Plits Plats Plouts,” “Angela,” and “PERPLEX,” directed by Giorgos Pavlou.
He has attended seminars and masterclasses with Peter Bernstein, Pedro Martins, Simon Moullier, Antoine Boyer, Gregory Hutchinson, The Bad Plus, Eric Ineke, Juraj Stanik, Ronan Guilfoyle, Mike Stern, Mary Ann McSweeney, and Giorgos Kontrafouris.
