Giorgos Kontrafouris was born in Athens, Greece in 1967. He studied classical piano at the National Conservatoire in Athens. At the age of 16, he became interested in jazz music and studied improvisation under Markos Alexiou. He also studied Jim Beard and Jarmo Savolainen. He holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance from the Sibelius Academy in Finland.
He has performed as a piano or organ player with many famous and outstanding musicians such as: Mark Johnson, Arild Andersen, Marcus Stockhausen, Louisiana Red, Keith Copeland, Andy Sheppard, Ralph Peterson Jr., Bob Brozman, Carla Cook, Alvester Garnett, Stepko Gut, Olivier Gatto, David Liebman, Houston Pearson, Eric Alexander, David Sills, Lou Donaldson, Sam Newsome, Jamie Hadad, Deborah Davies, Benny Golson, Tim Hagans, Bob Shepard, Carmen Lundy, Sheila Jordan, Jukkis Uotila, Wade Mikkola, Takis Paterelis, Stratos Vougas, Dimos Dimitriadis, Lydia Fylipovic, T. Spasov, A. Pacatius.
He is a professor jazz of piano and organ at the Ionian University, as well as at the Athenaeum Conservatoire in Greece and at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. He has taught Master Classes in various schools in Greece, Ireland, Indonesia, and Estonia.