Teaching
Dionysios is a Professor of Historical Performance at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, teaching period acting, rhetorical delivery and gesture at the Vocal Studies and Historical Performance Departments. He also works as an Academic Tutor for the Creating and Performing Knowledge course at the Guildhall’s Department of Academic Studies.
Over the past decade, Dionysios has developed a diverse portfolio career that spans performance, stage direction, teaching, coaching and research. He began his studies as an actor at the Theatre of Changes drama school in Greece, before reading music at City University London and training as an opera singer with Robert Dean at the Guildhall. In 2012 he transitioned to teaching and stage directing, while developing his research into Baroque gesture with an interest in using historical acting techniques in conjunction with modern theatrical practices to build new tools for teaching acting to performers undertaking classical singing training. He further developed his research during his postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge and his visiting research fellowship at Harvard University, and in 2023 he gained a doctorate from the University of Oxford.
Dionysios has taught acting to singers at City University London, where he ran the Opera Ensemble in 2012, and worked as a historical acting tutor at the Baroque Opera Studio of the University of Burgos in Spain in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2014 he founded Theatron Novum, a student theatre and opera production company at the University of Oxford that offered acting training to performers at the beginning of their careers. He has also worked as a historical acting coach at Newcastle University, Shenandoah University, Benslow Music, Dowland Works, the International Rameau Summer School and Schola Cantorum of Oxford.
As a performer Dionysios has sung in 161 shows (participating in 46 opera productions and singing 23 principal roles), which allowed him to acquire an intimate understanding of the technical and emotional challenges performers face, becoming an effective teacher. His directing career has also given him extensive experience in working with performers of any age and level. He has directed twenty theatre and opera productions in the UK and abroad, ranging from an opera with 40 children performers aged 5 to 13 (Ulysses and the Wooden Horse, 2015) to a pastiche with top-level professionals that have previously sung at the Royal Opera House (Casanova’s Conquest, 2016), and from a play with eight actors in a small studio theatre (The Doctor in Spite of Himself, 2015) to a large dramatic opera with a company of 60 actors, singers, dancers and acrobats at the Oxford Playhouse (The Fairy Queen, 2016).
Dionysios’ doctoral thesis, Teaching Acting to Singers: Harnessing Historical Techniques to Empower Modern Performers (University of Oxford, 2023), is the culmination of twelve years of teaching, performance and directing experience, and constitutes a new method for the dramatic training of classical singers. The new teaching method is based on 150 historical treatises covering gesture, rhetoric, emotions, personality and aesthetics, and has been shaped through the integration of modern pedagogy and theatrical practices to create a comprehensive set of innovative and specialised tools for helping singers create beautiful and captivating dramatic performances.
In parallel to his artistic work, Dionysios writes on neurodiversity and works as a specialist life, career and academic coach for people with ADHD. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), he holds the Guildhall Certificate in Coaching & Mentoring, accredited by the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC), and serves on the Executive Committee of the Professional Association of Specific Learning Difference Specialists in Higher Education (PASSHE).
Over the past decade, Dionysios has developed a diverse portfolio career that spans performance, stage direction, teaching, coaching and research. He began his studies as an actor at the Theatre of Changes drama school in Greece, before reading music at City University London and training as an opera singer with Robert Dean at the Guildhall. In 2012 he transitioned to teaching and stage directing, while developing his research into Baroque gesture with an interest in using historical acting techniques in conjunction with modern theatrical practices to build new tools for teaching acting to performers undertaking classical singing training. He further developed his research during his postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge and his visiting research fellowship at Harvard University, and in 2023 he gained a doctorate from the University of Oxford.
Dionysios has taught acting to singers at City University London, where he ran the Opera Ensemble in 2012, and worked as a historical acting tutor at the Baroque Opera Studio of the University of Burgos in Spain in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2014 he founded Theatron Novum, a student theatre and opera production company at the University of Oxford that offered acting training to performers at the beginning of their careers. He has also worked as a historical acting coach at Newcastle University, Shenandoah University, Benslow Music, Dowland Works, the International Rameau Summer School and Schola Cantorum of Oxford.
As a performer Dionysios has sung in 161 shows (participating in 46 opera productions and singing 23 principal roles), which allowed him to acquire an intimate understanding of the technical and emotional challenges performers face, becoming an effective teacher. His directing career has also given him extensive experience in working with performers of any age and level. He has directed twenty theatre and opera productions in the UK and abroad, ranging from an opera with 40 children performers aged 5 to 13 (Ulysses and the Wooden Horse, 2015) to a pastiche with top-level professionals that have previously sung at the Royal Opera House (Casanova’s Conquest, 2016), and from a play with eight actors in a small studio theatre (The Doctor in Spite of Himself, 2015) to a large dramatic opera with a company of 60 actors, singers, dancers and acrobats at the Oxford Playhouse (The Fairy Queen, 2016).
Dionysios’ doctoral thesis, Teaching Acting to Singers: Harnessing Historical Techniques to Empower Modern Performers (University of Oxford, 2023), is the culmination of twelve years of teaching, performance and directing experience, and constitutes a new method for the dramatic training of classical singers. The new teaching method is based on 150 historical treatises covering gesture, rhetoric, emotions, personality and aesthetics, and has been shaped through the integration of modern pedagogy and theatrical practices to create a comprehensive set of innovative and specialised tools for helping singers create beautiful and captivating dramatic performances.
In parallel to his artistic work, Dionysios writes on neurodiversity and works as a specialist life, career and academic coach for people with ADHD. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), he holds the Guildhall Certificate in Coaching & Mentoring, accredited by the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC), and serves on the Executive Committee of the Professional Association of Specific Learning Difference Specialists in Higher Education (PASSHE).
Testimonials
“he has the gift of the human touch and is able to translate his deep intellectual understanding of the historical sources into something which is practical, fun, down-to-earth and immediately understandable and applicable”
- Marie Vassiliou, Professor of Voice, Guildhall School of Music & Drama
“he is hugely knowledgeable but most importantly he manages to enthuse others and enables students to use their creative freedom to take historical techniques and make them their own”
- Fane Henderson, Head of Music, Benslow Music Trust
“Dionysios’ remarkable passion and impressive expertise on historical movement and gesture brought the music to life and his coaching transformed the performance of every singer”
- Annabel Williams, Student Chair, Schola Cantorum of Oxford
“his particular way of bringing historical acting to life in his workshops and in rehearsals made me discover and learn – in a very human and understandable way – what it really meant to do baroque acting”
- Sofia Kirwan-Baez, Student, Theatron Novum, University of Oxford
“working with Dionysios has been a wonderful, fabulous, magical and absolutely terrific life experience”
- Ana Bau Fernández, Student, Baroque Opera Ensemble, University of Burgos
Please click here to see more testimonials.
- Marie Vassiliou, Professor of Voice, Guildhall School of Music & Drama
“he is hugely knowledgeable but most importantly he manages to enthuse others and enables students to use their creative freedom to take historical techniques and make them their own”
- Fane Henderson, Head of Music, Benslow Music Trust
“Dionysios’ remarkable passion and impressive expertise on historical movement and gesture brought the music to life and his coaching transformed the performance of every singer”
- Annabel Williams, Student Chair, Schola Cantorum of Oxford
“his particular way of bringing historical acting to life in his workshops and in rehearsals made me discover and learn – in a very human and understandable way – what it really meant to do baroque acting”
- Sofia Kirwan-Baez, Student, Theatron Novum, University of Oxford
“working with Dionysios has been a wonderful, fabulous, magical and absolutely terrific life experience”
- Ana Bau Fernández, Student, Baroque Opera Ensemble, University of Burgos
Please click here to see more testimonials.
Teaching work
Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London (October 2018 - present)
Professor of Historical Stagecraft
Benslow Music Trust, Hitchin (January 2024)
Historical acting coach at the Bach Arias with Strings and Continuo course, with Emma Kirkby and Peter Harvey
University of Newcastle (2019-2020, 2021-2022, 2023-2024)
Tutor of historical movement
National Student Opera Society (July 2020)
Historical acting and gesture workshop leader
Schola Cantorum of Oxford (February 2020)
Baroque movement and gesture coach for a masterclass with Emma Kirkby at Queen’s College Oxford
Benslow Music Trust, Hitchin (November 2017)
Historical acting coach and course leader of the Singing and Acting Handel course, with Andrew Radley
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China (August 2017)
Speaker and workshop leader on rhetorical delivery for students of the EMBA course
Hawkwood College, Stroud (May 2017)
Historical acting and interpretation coach for Dowland Works, with Emma Kirkby and David Miller
Benslow Music Trust, Hitchin (March 2017)
Historical acting coach at the Exploring 18th Century Comic Opera course, with Emma Kirkby and Zak Ozmo
University Church Lecture Series, Oxford (November 2016)
Speaker and leader of historical acting workshop
International Rameau Ensemble, London (August 2016)
Historical acting coach at the International Rameau Ensemble, with Christian Curnyn
Benslow Music Trust, Hitchin (April 2016)
Acting coach and stage director at the Baroque Opera Course
The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, University of Oxford (February 2016)
Historical acting workshop leader
International Rameau Ensemble, London (September 2015)
Historical acting coach and stage director at the International Rameau Ensemble with Christophe Rousset
University of Burgos, Spain (July 2015)
Teacher of historical acting and stage director at the Baroque Opera Studio
New College, University of Oxford (April 2015)
Organiser and instructor of historical gesture of the Seminar on Historical Action, with Andrew Lawrence-King
University of Burgos, Spain (July 2014)
Teacher of historical acting and stage director at the Baroque Opera Studio
Cambridge University Baroque Ensemble, Cambridge (February 2014)
Leader of seventeenth-century singing workshop
University of Burgos, Spain (July 2013)
Teacher of historical acting and stage director at the Baroque Opera Studio
City, University of London (Oct 2012 - June 2013)
Coordinator, music and stage director at the City Opera Ensemble
Professor of Historical Stagecraft
Benslow Music Trust, Hitchin (January 2024)
Historical acting coach at the Bach Arias with Strings and Continuo course, with Emma Kirkby and Peter Harvey
University of Newcastle (2019-2020, 2021-2022, 2023-2024)
Tutor of historical movement
National Student Opera Society (July 2020)
Historical acting and gesture workshop leader
Schola Cantorum of Oxford (February 2020)
Baroque movement and gesture coach for a masterclass with Emma Kirkby at Queen’s College Oxford
Benslow Music Trust, Hitchin (November 2017)
Historical acting coach and course leader of the Singing and Acting Handel course, with Andrew Radley
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China (August 2017)
Speaker and workshop leader on rhetorical delivery for students of the EMBA course
Hawkwood College, Stroud (May 2017)
Historical acting and interpretation coach for Dowland Works, with Emma Kirkby and David Miller
Benslow Music Trust, Hitchin (March 2017)
Historical acting coach at the Exploring 18th Century Comic Opera course, with Emma Kirkby and Zak Ozmo
University Church Lecture Series, Oxford (November 2016)
Speaker and leader of historical acting workshop
International Rameau Ensemble, London (August 2016)
Historical acting coach at the International Rameau Ensemble, with Christian Curnyn
Benslow Music Trust, Hitchin (April 2016)
Acting coach and stage director at the Baroque Opera Course
The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, University of Oxford (February 2016)
Historical acting workshop leader
International Rameau Ensemble, London (September 2015)
Historical acting coach and stage director at the International Rameau Ensemble with Christophe Rousset
University of Burgos, Spain (July 2015)
Teacher of historical acting and stage director at the Baroque Opera Studio
New College, University of Oxford (April 2015)
Organiser and instructor of historical gesture of the Seminar on Historical Action, with Andrew Lawrence-King
University of Burgos, Spain (July 2014)
Teacher of historical acting and stage director at the Baroque Opera Studio
Cambridge University Baroque Ensemble, Cambridge (February 2014)
Leader of seventeenth-century singing workshop
University of Burgos, Spain (July 2013)
Teacher of historical acting and stage director at the Baroque Opera Studio
City, University of London (Oct 2012 - June 2013)
Coordinator, music and stage director at the City Opera Ensemble