Biography

He was born in Athens. He studied at the Athens Conservatory and continued his studies in Paris and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. He has written songs for more than 42 albums, music for 21 films and 15 television productions. He has also composed music for ancient tragedies, dramas and international ballets.
The first years
Stavros Xarchakos was born on 14 March 1939, in the centre of Athens, where he still lives today. He comes from the Laconian Mani. Growing up in a neighbourhood of the capital where the arts flourished, he came into contact with folk and rebetiko singing, as well as European music, which was heard on the radio, and was strongly influenced by church music. He was also musically stimulated by his grandmother, who played the guitar and sang arias from operas and cantatas with him. From an early age he showed an interest in music and took cello and piano lessons.
Studies
In 1958 he entered the Athens Conservatory, where he made his first studies in music. In 1968, while he was at a particularly productive time in his career, seeking to develop his music and broaden his knowledge, he decided to study music and composition in Paris, as a student of the leading French musicologist and pedagogue Nadia Boulanger, until 1973.
In 1978, wishing to study the technique of classical music and immerse himself in harmony, composition and conducting,
decided to continue his studies at the Juilliard School in New York, at the encouragement of Leonard Bernstein, with whom he had been corresponding after being introduced to him by Kimon Friar, an internationally renowned academic and translator of Nikos Kazantzakis' work. At the Juliard School he studied with the composer David Diamond for three years. Next to Bernstein he studied score analysis for two years and conducted several concerts. An example is the concert held in New York, in which he conducted the city's Symphony Orchestra.
Discography - Performances
At the beginning of his career he was distinguished as a composer of film and theatre music. His recording output began in 1963 and includes more than 45 albums, music for 21 films and 15 television productions.
Already in 1961 he composed music for Jane Arden's play "The Party", while in 1963, at the age of 24, he undertook the composition of music for the iconic film "The Red Lanterns", directed by Vassilis Georgiadis. The film received rave reviews and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category in 1964, and was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The album of the same name was released the same year and was enriched with new songs. Shortly afterwards he composed music for the film "Lola" directed by Dinos Dimopoulos. Among the musical themes and songs of the film, "Lost the Moon", performed by Vicky Moscholiou, stood out.
In 1964, he composed the music for the songs included in a series of documentaries entitled "Melina's Greece", which were produced by the American television network ABC to promote the country. Melina Mercouri performed the songs "What's wrong and the child is crying" and "Remember me" with lyrics by Eftichia Papagiannopoulou and Vangelis Goufas, respectively.
In 1965 he composed the music for the film "Modern Cinderella", written and directed by Alekos Sakellariou, while the following year he composed the music for the film "Duplicates", directed by Giorgos Skalenakis. The songs "Eyeia Vourkomenena", "Stou Otto's years" and "Mit ti kardia (Apochalytism)", with lyrics by Nikos Gatsos, sung by actor Dimitris Papamichael, can be heard in the film. The film was presented at the San Sebastian and Cannes Festivals under the title "the syrtaki" and travelled to Japan, England and France. The album was released the following year in an English-language version, featuring Grigoris Bithikotsis, Vicky Moscholiou and Stamatis Kokotas. In 1966 the album "Hellas Without Ruins" was released, which included his own unreleased music and songs by Theodorakis. His music had accompanied the documentary of the same name by Angelos Lambrou.
In 1968 he composed the music for the film "Girls in the Sun", directed by Vassilis Georgiadis, which won -4 awards at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, including best music, while in 1969 he was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.
In 1968 his first work on rebetiko singing was released, entitled "Markos our teacher", which includes 12 songs by Markos Vamvakaris, from his own point of view.
In 1972, the film was shown in Japan. Furthermore, he composed -5- of the songs included in Nana Mouskouri's album "Home My Home", with lyrics by Nikos Gatsos. In the same year he composed the music for the film "Lysistrata", the famous Aristophanes ancient comedy. In 1973, he composed the music for the television series "The Merchants of the Gentiles", based on the play of the same name by Alexandros Papadiamantis. It was there that the memorable song "It was once upon a time", performed by Nikos Xylouris, is heard for the first time.
1973 is the year he composed the music for the theatrical performance "Our Great Circus", by Iakovos Campanellis, in which - with the use of satire and drama - a retrospective of the country's modern history takes place. The performance became a vehicle for expressing the protest of Greek citizens against the dictatorial regime and the performers were persecuted. After the restoration of democracy, he composed the music for the song "Proskynima" which was added to the show to honour the victims of the Polytechnic. Already in 1966, together with Manos Hadjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis, they had fought for the abolition of censorship in art, imposed by the dictatorial regime. Together with the performer Nikos Xylouris, they sang at the Polytechnic supporting the anti-dictatorial struggle of the students.
In 1974 the album "Nyn kai ai" was released, performed by Vicky Moscholiou and Nikos Dimitratos, and "Collection", performed by Nikos Xylouris. In 1976 he composed the music for the performance "The Temptation" by Grigoris Xenopoulos, with the album of the same name being released the following year, performed by the protagonist of the play, Aliki Vougiouklaki.
Furthermore, driven by his love and interest in classical music, apart from folk and art music, he has composed works for symphony orchestra, among which the symphonic poem "Kyra-Panagia" of 1969, the "Piano Concerto" of 1971, the "Eddopsis" of 1979 for baritone and orchestra, to the poetry of George Seferis, and the orchestral suite "Memories" of 1982 stand out.
Returning from his studies in New York in 1983, he composed the music for the film "The Rebetiko", directed by Kostas Ferris. The lyrics of the songs were written by Nikos Gatsos. The film won -4 awards at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, including the special music award. The film won the Silver Bear Award at the 34th Berlin Film Festival and was also awarded at the Valencia and Alexandria Film Festivals. In the same year he composed the music for the BBC television series "The dark side of the Sun", which was filmed in Rhodes, while in 1986 he composed the music for the film "Sweet Country", directed by Michael Cacoyannis, which deals with the events of the dictatorship in Chile.
In 1986, his song "The trains that have left" was performed by the Greek mezzo soprano Agni Baltsa, to be included in the internationally released album "Songs my country taught me". His collaboration with the mezzo includes performing in major theatres around the world in Austria, Japan, USA and Germany.
In 1988, a concert was held at the Pallas theatre in which Giorgos Dalaras and Dimitra Galani performed, while an album was released in the same year entitled "Concert". In 1989 he met musically - for the first and last time on stage - with Manos Hadjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis at the Olympic Stadium. For much of the concert he conducted the orchestra, with Miki Theodorakis performing top songs. Their musical coexistence in the concert that took place is one of the most emblematic moments in the history of modern Greek music.
In 1989 he was elected as a councillor in the Municipality of Athens and served as Deputy Mayor of Cultural Affairs. He was also elected as a Member of Parliament in Athens from 1989 to 1990, when he resigned.
In 1991 the album "To κατά Markkon" was released with lyrics by Nikos Gatsos and performed by Giorgos Dalaras. In 1994 he collaborated again with Nana Mouskouri, composing the music for the album "Love is Life", in which Nikos Gatsos and Manos Hadjidakis wrote the lyrics. That year he composed the music and undertook the theatrical direction for the performance "Aman - Amen", which presents the history of the rebetiko song. He was also awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts degree at Adelphi University in New York.
In 1995 he took over the artistic direction of the State Orchestra of Greek Music (SOEM), which he conducted in many concerts at national and international level. In 1996 he composed the music for the lyrical tragedy In 1996 "LLanto por Ignacio Sanchez Mejias" (Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Mejias)", based on the poem of the same name by Federico Garcia Lorca. The performance was directed by Pierre Jourdan and presented at the Imperial Theatre of Compiegne. France
In 1996, he also gave a concert at the Berlin Opera with the participation of Dimitra Galani and the CEMC, while in 1998, in collaboration with the Gennadius Library of Athens, he presented the performance "Ode Poreias - Ode for Journey", conducting the CEMC at Carnegie Hall in New York. In 1999 he conducted the musical performance "Magical Nights", held at the Herodou Atticus Conservatory. As a tribute to the fifteen years since the death of Vassilis Tsitsanis, -25- station songs were presented, in his own arrangements.
In 1999, the concert "Requiem - Night and Light", co-produced by Greece, France and Belgium, took place under the light of the full moon, under the imposing rock of Meteora. The performance was inspired by the unfinished "Requiem" as composed by Mozart. The concert featured the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted, and the choirs of Plovdiv, Lithuania and Belgrade. In 2000, while conducting the State Orchestra of Greek Music, he held a tribute concert at the Herodou Atticus Conservatory for the 75th anniversary of Mikis Theodorakis, in which the composer was present. In the same year he presented the performance "Le visiteur", while the following year he curated a tribute concert to the work of Miki Theodorakis and conducted the CEM. Both performances took place at the Imperial Theatre of Compiegne.
From 2000 to 2004 he was elected and served as a Member of the European Parliament. During his term of office, he focused his interest on cultural and educational issues, making speeches and submitting proposals and suggestions in this field, in the context of his institutional role. From 2000 to 2002 he was an alternate member of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport, and from 2002 to 2004 a full member of the same Committee. Among other things, he was a full member of the Development & Cooperation and Reports Committees.
In 2001, the world-famous tenor Jose Carreras, accompanied by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, performed the song "The Trains That Have Gone" which was included under the title "Volve" on the album "Around the World".
In 2004 he composed the iconic music, which was performed at the opening ceremony of the 28th Summer Olympic Games in Athens, "Zeus's Zebedee", taking Greek music to the ends of the earth. At the same time, he composed the music for Euripides' ancient tragedy "Troades", directed by Diagoras Chronopoulos. The premiere of the film took place at the ancient theatre of Epidaurus and from there it travelled to Turkey, where it was presented for the first time at the ancient theatre of Troy. From 2005 to 2006 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture.
In 2006, he orchestrated the album "Desolation" by Mikis Theodorakis with lyrics by Lefteris Papadopoulos, with Maria Farantouri and Manolis Mitsia. In 2008, he conducted the KOEM in a concert with the mezzo-soprano Agni Baltsa at the Athens Concert Hall, the proceeds of which were donated to the charity "Agapi". In 2009 he presented his opera "Cyrano and Roxanne" at the National Opera House, in co-production with the Imperial Theatre of Compiegne.
With a continuous presence at the Herodes Atticus Conservatory, a place of indescribable value and beauty for the world's cultural heritage, he has created and performed unforgettable evenings of music celebration. In 2009, it was the venue in which his partnership with Agni Baltsa was repeated with a concert entitled "Songs of my homeland". In 2011 he presented songs by Hatzidakis, Theodorakis and his own, donating the proceeds to the charity action "Together for the Child". Furthermore, in 2013, as part of a tribute to Melina Mercouri, he held a concert in the second part of the performance, presenting songs performed by the great Greek actress. In 2014, a retrospective of his musical career took place through the performance "Mana mou Ellas".
A milestone is the concert that took place at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2014 entitled "Greece for a Lifetime" in which a nine-member folk orchestra participated, while Stamatis Kokotas and Iro Saia sang. In 2015 he set the poem "The Moonlight Sonata" by Yannis Ritsos to music and performed a performance at the Herodou Atticus Conservatory, in which the songs were performed by Marinella.
As part of his charity work, in 2016, he held a magnificent concert to collect food, in which he presented top songs of his musical career, at the packed Panathinaiko Stadium (Kallimarmaro). His songs were performed by renowned Greek singers.
He presented three major concerts in Cyprus in 2017, while in 2018, he gave the opening concert at the Oud International Art Festival in Jerusalem. In 2019, he performed a concert at Safra Square in Jerusalem, which was attended mainly by Israeli citizens, who are particularly fond of Greek music.
In 2018 he was awarded by the President of Israel, at an honorary event held at the Embassy Residence, for his valuable contribution to the development of relations and cultural ties between Greece and Israel. In the same year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Department of Digital Media and Communication of the Technical University of Western Macedonia, while in 2019 he was honored in the same way by the Department of Music of the Faculty of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
In 2020 he performed the concert "5 popular forms in an intensely erotic manner" at the Herodou Atticus Conservatory, in the context of which songs from the works of Hatzidakis, Theodorakis, Tsitsanis, Vamvakaris and his own were presented. In 2021, on the occasion of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the liberation of Greece, he prepared and presented a concert at the Conservatory entitled "It takes virtue and daring ... to sing", paraphrasing the words of the leading poet Andreas Kalvos. In 2022, a concert dedicated to Nikos Xylouris was held, while this year two performances will be presented at the Conservatory, as part of the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, during which he will draw on the power of songs that "show the way, are allies in the struggle for a better life and drive away fear", as he says.
His presence is intense and in a creative manner and mood, he approaches Greek music by preparing performances, which are presented all over the country, in festivals, archaeological monuments, emblematic theatres and places of historical value and importance. Through their conduct, it seeks to promote and highlight the Greek song and the Greek musical tradition and contribute to their development.
He has made many arrangements of his own songs, especially when they are presented in concerts and performances, and he has arranged other top composers' songs, in order to approach them from his own perspective, to bring out their identity and scope and to give them a new breath.
Together with Manos Hadjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis, he is considered the trio of the leading Greek composers who created and established the "art folk" song, enriching its repertoire with popular songs and orchestral works.