List of Greek composers
Encyclopedia
A–M
- Costas AndreouCostas AndreouCostas Andreou is a musician from Athens, Greece. He processes the sounds of fretted and fretless electric bass in real time, creating multi-level soundscapes. The organic instrument sound is processed with analog and digital effects and looped in real time, using various live looping techniques...
- Dimitris AndrikopoulosDimitris AndrikopoulosDimitris Andrikopoulos is a Greek-Dutch composer.-External links:** on Donemus, Amsterdam* on Superior School of Arts site, Porto...
(born 1971) - Dionysis BoukouvalasDionysis BoukouvalasDionysis Boukouvalas is a Greek composer, pianist and musicologist.As a pianist he is particularly interested in improvisation, his main influences being Keith Jarrett and Wim Mertens....
(born 1979) - Pavlos CarrerPavlos CarrerPavlos Carrer was a Greek composer.Carrer was born in Zakynthos. He studied in Zakynthos and in Corfu. In the early 1850s he moved to Milan, where his first operas and ballets were performed at the stages of the Teatro Carcano and the Teatro alla Canobbiana. In the same city he published some of...
(1829–1896) - Nikos ChristodoulouNikos ChristodoulouNikos Christodoulou is a Greek conductor and composer. Among other symphonic works he conducts Skalkottas, which he has recorded. He also conducts opera.-External links:*...
(born 1959) - Jani ChristouJani ChristouJani Christou was a Greek composer.He was born in Heliopolis, Egypt, of Greek parents. He was educated at the English School in Alexandria and he took his first piano lessons from various teachers and from the important Greek pianist Gina Bachauer...
(1926–1970), 20th-century classicalClassical musicClassical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and "meta-serialist" composer - Dimitris DragatakisDimitris DragatakisDimitris Dragatakis was a Greek composer of classical music.He was born in Platanousa, Epirus in 1914 and studied the violin from 1930 to 1939 at the Greek National Conservatory in Athens...
(1914–2001) - Antiochos EvangelatosAntiochos EvangelatosAntiochos Evangelatos was a Greek composer and conductor. He was born in Lixouri, Cefalonia on 25 December 1903. He studied composition and conducting in Leipzig, Basel and Vienna with Ludwig, Kofler and Felix Weingartner. From 1933 on he taught composition and counterpoint at the Hellenic...
(1903–1981), 20th-century composer and conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... - Yorgos FoudoulisYorgos FoudoulisYorgos Foudoulis is a Greek classical guitarist and composer. His professional activities include performing, master classes, editing, and recording....
(born 1964) - Kostas Grigoréas (born 1957)
- Manos HadjidakisManos HadjidakisManos Hatzidakis was a Greek composer and theorist of the Greek music. He was also one of the main prime movers of the "Éntekhno" song ....
(1925–1994), modern composer best known for Academy Award-winning song, "Never on SundayNever on Sunday (song)"Never on Sunday", also known as "Ta Paidia Tou Piraia" is a popular song by Manos Hadjidakis. A vocal version was also released and performed by Melina Mercouri in the film of same name directed by Jules Dassin and starring Mercouri...
", from the film Never on SundayNever on SundayNever on Sunday is a 1960 Greek black-and-white film which tells the story of Ilya, a prostitute who lives in the port of Piraeus in Greece, and Homer, an American tourist from Middletown, Connecticut — a classical scholar enamored with all things Greek. Ilya is a character close to the...
(1960) - George KallisGeorge KallisGeorge Kallis is a highly regarded and prolific film composer, renowned for his memorable lyrical melodies and ethnomusicological traits to his scores. He has been described as “the new Jerry Goldsmith” during recent conducting sessions with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra...
- Manolis KalomirisManolis KalomirisManolis Kalomiris ), was a Greek classical composer. He was the founder of the Greek National School of Music.-Biography:Born in Smyrna, he attended school in Constantinople and studied piano and composition in Vienna. After working for a few years as a piano teacher in Kharkov he settled in...
(1883–1962), composer and founder of Hellenic ConservatoryHellenic ConservatoryThe Hellenic Conservatory was founded in Athens in 1919 by the composer Manolis Kalomiris. Kalomoiris was the conservatoire's director until 1926, when he left to found the National Conservatoire. The conservatoire early on opened a number of branches throughout Athens, in a number of cities in...
and National ConservatoireNational Conservatoire (Greece)The Greek National Conservatoire was founded in Athens in 1926 by the composer Manolis Kalomiris and a number of other notable artists like Charikleia Kalomoiri, Marika Kotopouli, Dionysios Lavrangas, and Sophia Spanoudi...
- Eleni KaraindrouEleni KaraindrouEleni Karaindrou is a Greek composer, born in Teichio. She studied piano and theory at the Hellenikon Odion in Athens. She is best known for scoring the films of Theo Angelopoulos...
(born 1939 or 1946) - Panayiotis KokorasPanayiotis KokorasPanayiotis Kokoras is a Greek composer, musician, teacher, writer and Vice President of HELMCA -Studies:Kokoras studied composition with I. Ioannidi, K. Varotsi and Anri Kergomard as well as classical guitar with E. Asimakopoulo in Athens. In 1999 he moved to England, for postgraduate studies at...
(born 1974), contemporary composer - Aristotelis KoundouroffAristotelis KoundouroffAristotelis Koundouroff was a Greek composer of the Modern Era. He attended the conservatories of Tbilisi and Moscow , studying with Ippolitov-Ivanov, Glière and Vasilenko. He became head of Ippolitov-Ivanov's composition studio in Moscow...
(1896–1969), modern composer and musical theoristMusic theoryMusic theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
influenced by Sergei ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
and Russian modernists - Francisco LeontaritisFrancisco LeontaritisFrancisco Leontaritis or Francesco Londarit or Francesco Londarit, Franciscus Londariti, Leondaryti, Londaretus, Londaratus or Londaritus was a Greek composer, singer and hymnographer from today's Heraklion of the Venetian-dominated Crete at the Renaissance age...
(1518–1572) - Dimitrios LevidisDimitrios LevidisDimitrios Levidis was a Greek composer, later naturalized French .He descends from an aristocratic family with Byzantine roots in Constantinople.Levidis studied in Athens, Lausanne and Munich...
(1886–1951) - Eugenia ManolidesEugenia ManolidesEugenia or Evgenia Manolidou or Manolides as she is internationally known, is a Greek classical composer and conductor, presently a TV presenter.-Personal life and education:...
- Nikolaos MantzarosNikolaos MantzarosNikolaos Halikiopoulos Mantzaros was a Greek composer born in Corfu and the major representative of the so called Ionian School of music...
(1795–1872), Romantic musicRomantic musicRomantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
composer from CorfuCorfuCorfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The... - Thanos MikroutsikosThanos MikroutsikosAthanasios Mikroutsikos was born in Patras, Greece and is one of the leading composers of popular and classical music in his home country. He studied music theory and piano at the Patras Philharmonic Society and at the Greek Conservatory and continued under Yiannis A. Papaioannou...
(born 1947), contemporary composer - Dimitris MitropoulosDimitris MitropoulosDimitri Mitropoulos , was a Greek conductor, pianist, and composer. Also known as Dimitris Mitropoulos.-Life and career:Mitropoulos was born in Athens, the son of Yannis and Angeliki Mitropoulos. His father owned a leather goods shop at No. 15, St Marks Street. He was musically precocious,...
(1896–1960), 20th-century composer and conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
of the New York PhilharmonicNew York PhilharmonicThe New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
N–Z
- Konstantinos Nikolopoulos (1786–1841)
- Lefteris PapadimitriouLefteris Papadimitriou-Biography:He was born in Volos, Greece and lives in Athens. He studied composition with Iannis Ioannidis and has written many compositions for live instruments and electronic media....
- Vangelis PapathanassiouVangelisEvangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
(born 1943), electronic musicElectronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
pioneer, film-scoreFilm scoreA film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
composer, best known for Academy Award-winning score for the film Chariots of FireChariots of FireChariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
(1981), and scores for the films Blade RunnerBlade RunnerBlade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
(1982) and 1492: Conquest of Paradise1492: Conquest of Paradise1492: Conquest of Paradise is an epic 1992 European adventure/drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Roselyne Bosch, which tells the story of the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus and the effect this had on the indigenous people...
(1992) - Spyridon SamarasSpyridon SamarasSpyridon-Filiskos Samaras was a Greek composer particularly admired for his operas who was part of the generation of composers that heralded the works of Giacomo Puccini...
(1861–1917), composer of operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, but widely known as for composition of the song "Olympic Hymn" - Kyriakos SfetsasKyriakos SfetsasKyriakos Sfetsas is a Greek composer. His body of work consists of a large number of compositions: symphonic, choral, ballet and theatre music, chamber, electronic, film scores, pieces for solo instruments, pieces in jazz and fusion style, songs in Greek and world poems.-Early life:Sfetsas was...
(born 1945) - Nikolaos SkalkottasNikolaos SkalkottasNikos Skalkottas was one of the most important Greek composers of 20th-century music. A member of the Second Viennese School, he drew his influences from both the classical repertoire and the Greek tradition....
(1904–1949), 20th-century composer - Georgia SpiropoulosGeorgia SpiropoulosGeorgia Spiropoulos is a composer, who studied piano, harmony, counterpoint and fugue in Athens. At the same time she studied jazz piano and worked as an instrumentalist and arranger of Hellenic traditional music of oral transmission for ten years.Since 1996 she has lived in Paris and studied...
(born 1965) - Ciriaco TaraxesCiriaco TaraxesCiriaco Taraxes is a classically educated composer, born in Serres, Greece near Thessalonika in 1969. He began to write his first compositions and started playing the piano and guitar at the age of six...
(born 1969), 21st-century classical songs and chamber-musicChamber musicChamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
composer - Dimitri TerzakisDimitri TerzakisDimitri Terzakis is a Greek composer. His father was the author Angelos Terzakis.From 1959–1964 Terzakis studied composition with Yannis Papaioannou at the Athens Hellenic Conservatory, followed by five years spent at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany where he studied composition with...
(born 1938), contemporary microtonalMicrotonal musicMicrotonal music is music using microtones—intervals of less than an equally spaced semitone. Microtonal music can also refer to music which uses intervals not found in the Western system of 12 equal intervals to the octave.-Terminology:...
composer - Mikis TheodorakisMikis TheodorakisMikis Theodorakis is one of the most renowned Greek songwriters and composers. Internationally, he is probably best known for his songs and for his scores for the films Zorba the Greek , Z , and Serpico .Politically, he identified with the left until the late 1980s; in 1989, he ran as an...
(born 1925), classical and film-scoreFilm scoreA film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
composer best known for symphonic works, oratorioOratorioAn oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
s and film scores for Zorba the Greek (1964), SerpicoSerpicoSerpico is a 1973 American crime film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers, after being pushed to the brink at first by their distrust and later by the threats and...
(1973) and ZZ (film)Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...
(1969)
- Michalis TravlosMichalis TravlosMichalis Travlos was born in 1950 in Piraeus, Greece. He started his musical studies at Athens National Conservatory in 1970 with Professor Michalis Vourtsis. In 1975, he was accepted to the Hochschule das Künste Berlin, where he studied composition with Professor Isang Yun until 1980, when he...
(born 1950), modern and experimental composer - Vassilis TsabropoulosVassilis TsabropoulosVassilis Tsabropoulos is a Greek pianist and composer.-Discography:*The Promise *Melos Vassilis Tsabropoulos (born 1966 in Athens) is a Greek pianist and composer.-Discography:*The Promise (ECM, 2009)*Melos Vassilis Tsabropoulos (born 1966 in Athens) is a Greek pianist and...
(born 1966) - Marios VarvoglisMarios VarvoglisMarios Varvoglis was a Greek composer of the Modern Era. He studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris and the Schola Cantorum with Leroux, Georges Caussade, d'Indy and others...
(1885–1967), orchestraOrchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and chamber-musicChamber musicChamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
composer incorporating a French influence - Dimitri VoudourisDimitri VoudourisDimitri Voudouris [Δημητριος Βουδουρης] - [born 1961 in Athens, Greece] an electroacoustic composer and pharmacist living in South Africa who pioneered UNYAZI, the first electronic music festival and symposium on the African continent in 2005 that took place at University of the Witwatersrand, in...
(born 1961), 21st-century classicalClassical musicClassical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, new musicContemporary classical musicContemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
and electroacousticElectroacoustic musicElectroacoustic music originated in Western art music during its modern era following the incorporation of electric sound production into compositional practice. The initial developments in electroacoustic music composition during the mid-20th century are associated with the activities of composers...
composer - Haris XanthoudakisHaris XanthoudakisHaris Xanthoudakis is a Greek composer.A native of Piraeus, Xanthoudakis studied with, among others, Iannis Xenakis. Besides music, he has worked in the fields of philology, glottology, semiotics, and art history...
(born 1950) - Nikos XanthoulisNikos XanthoulisNikos Xanthoulis is a Greek composer and trumpeter.- Distinction :*Principal trumpet player in the Greek National Opera *Professor of trumpet, Harmony and counterpoint in the Athens Conservatory *Tutor of the Greek Open University...
(born 1962) - Iannis XenakisIannis XenakisIannis Xenakis was a Romanian-born Greek ethnic, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers...
(1922–2001), 20th-century classicalClassical musicClassical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, experimental musicExperimental musicExperimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
and mathematical composer - Spyridon XyndasSpyridon XyndasSpyridon Xyndas or Spiridione Xinda was a Greek composer and guitarist, whose last name has also been transliterated as "Xinta", "Xinda", "Xindas" and "Xyntas".-Biography:...
(1812–1896) - YanniYanniYanni , born Yiannis Hrysomallis is a Greek self-taught pianist, keyboardist, and composer who has spent most of his life in the United States.He earned Grammy nominations for his 1992 album, Dare to Dream, and the 1993 follow-up, In My Time...
(born 1954)