He was born in Thessaloniki. He studied violin under Stavros Papanastasiou and higher music theory under Solon Michaelidis at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki (1959-1971). In 1974, he received a law degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has been a partner of the Music Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a member of the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki (1969-1974), and director of various Thessaloniki-based choirs. He was one of the founding members of the “Week of young artists” (Evdomada neon kallitechnon), organized by the Thessaloniki International Fair. In 1970, his first work for orchestra was performed by the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, conducted by Solon Michaelidis. During the same period, he composed music for play performances at the State Theatre of Northern Greece. In 1974-1978 he continued his musical studies at Berlin’s Hochschule der Künste under Max Baumann and Hans-Martin Rampenstain, graduating with a diploma in composition and conducting. He collaborated with the Macedonia Radio Station (1979-1983). He has been artistic director of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra (1983-1992) and the Music Ensembles of Greek State Radio and Television – ERT (1997-1999), and professor at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki (1980-1984). He is the artistic director of the Festival of Patmos island, director of the Conservatory of Music College (Thessaloniki) and the Hellenic Conservatory of Music and Arts (Athens). At the same time, he teaches/lectures at the Musicology Department of the Fine Arts Faculty of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. As of October 2004, he is the artistic director of the Corfu Municipal Orchestra. He is a member of the Greek Composers Union. His works have been performed in Greece and abroad. His compositions have been awarded by the Onassis Cultural Centre and the Ministry of Culture, as well as at international competitions in Spain and Italy (2004). He has conducted orchestras in Western and Eastern Europe, Turkey, USA, Argentina, Australia and England. He has been artistic director of the GNO in the period 1994-1997.

Alkis Papadopoulos was born in Athens. He studied piano with Rodney Jacobs and at the National Conservatory of Music, higher theory and composition with Periklis Koukos. He graduated with an A with distinction and first prize.

He is a graduate of the Economic University of Piraeus.

He has written works for symphony orchestra, chamber music, for piano and guitar, music for cinema and was the music editor for a series of documentaries commissioned by ERT.

Since 1997 he has been teaching advanced theory at the National Conservatory of Music.

In 2003 he founded the Irida Classical record label which aims to promote Greek art music and Greek composers and performers.

He was an external collaborator of E.R.T. (Greek national radio) in theatrical and speech broadcasts 1987-1992.

He has collaborated with the publishing houses F.Nakas, Patakis and SYNORA-A.A.LIVANI for the publication of music books.

He was one of the main members of the band “PIX LAX” from 1993 to 2002 and of “Lakis me ta Psila Rever” (Lakis Papadopoulos) and a founding member of the band “Synnefa me Pantelonia”.

Dimitris Dragatakis first stepped on the path of his long career in music at a young age in Epirus when he began learning the violin, and later continued his studies in Athens at the National Conservatoire. Music was and remained his main focus in life and this passion informed all of his important decisions, from childhood when he constructed and played a corn leaf violin to the twenty-one year period he played viola for the National Opera House, on to composing his String Quartet no. 7, a piece he held in his hands hours before his passing. The sound of stringed instruments was the ideal vehicle for Dimitris Dragatakis to express his thoughts and his string quartets are his most complete collection of musical works. Although he only started to write music regularly in the fourth decade of his life, the mind of Dragatakis was always that of a composer; referring to himself as a “ruminant being” goes some way to explaining his late start. He gathered knowledge and experience, images and words incapable of being expressed or described, and memories enough to fill another lifetime, and all these poured into his compositions.

About Dimitris Koukos

Effie Agrafioti description.

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.

Maria Moschidou has performed many times as a soloist and as a member of chamber ensembles. She has appeared at all the best known concert halls in Athens, as well as at festivals in Greece, Argentina and Canada. She has recorded and performed live for Greek national radio. She graduated with highest honours from the National Conservatoire in Greece and_ participated in masterclasses by world class professors at a young age. She was accepted to the international Piano Master Classes at Tel-Hai in Israel. She continued her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She has given first performances of several works by contemporary Greek composers, including the Piano Concerto by Alkis Papadopoulos which is dedicated to her. She teaches piano at the Holargos branch of the Greek National Conservatoire.

Dr. Spiros Deligiannopoulos teaches Advanced Music Theory and Piano in the Department of Music Studies of the Ionian University.  He holds a PhD in Music Composition from the School of Music Studies of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he also completed his BA in Musicology. Dr. Deligiannopoulos is also a graduate of the University of London (Goldsmiths College) where he completed his postgraduate studies in Composition (Mmus in Composition).

While studying for his BA, he also completed his music studies in the State Music Academy of Thessaloniki and the Contemporary Conservatory of Thessaloniki (Certificates in piano, harmony, counterpoint, fugue and a Diploma in piano – 1^st Prize award for outstanding performance).

He has participated in the International Music Institute Darmstadt (IMD) collaborating with composers such as Bryan Ferneyhough, Pierluizi Billone and Giorgos Apergis.  He has also been awarded the 1^st Prize in the ‘G.A.Papaionannou Composition Contest’ organized by the Greek Composers Union for his work ‘String Quartet no.2’.

His extensive research and writing experience is evidenced through a body of work that numbers over 300 articles in the area of musicology, commissioned by institutions such as the Publications Department of The Athens Concert Hall, the Athens and Epidaurus Festival and the National Opera House. His research interests include piano music and especially contemporary piano techniques and the Greek piano repertoire.

Ηis compositions number over 70 works in a wide variety of genres: chamber music, choral works, pieces for piano, soundtracks for theater and cinema and symphonic works. The majority has been performed in Greece and abroad in venues such as: The Athens Concert Hall, Theocharakis Foundation, Parnassus Literary Society, Athens Goethe Institute, Hellenic American Union and Michael Cacoyiannis Foundation.

His compositions have been repeatedly broadcast on Greek National Radio. He is a member of the Greek Composers Union.