Our Team

Costas Eliades

He is the Art Director, Conductor and Arranger of the Orchestra/Founding Member of the Orchestra

He studied guitar under Evaggelos Boudounis, cello under Demetris Gouzios and composition under Mihalis Travlos. At the same time, he graduated from the Agricultural University of Athens. He has attended guitar workshops with Abel Carlevaro, Leo Brouwer, Roberto Aussell, Evaggelos Asimakopoulos. He was a member of “Trio Polychordo” and was awarded for his performance in the Panhellenic Chamber music Contest, organized by HELEXPO, Thessaloniki. Some of his acclaimed performance include concerts in Greece, Germany, as well as performances in festivals (1st International Festival of Patras, 1st Musical festival of Nafpaktos, 1st Concert Cycles for the Third Program of Greek Radio, Concert Cycles for Municipality of Patras, Sunday Morning at Athenaeum, Festivals for the Municipality of Heraklion, Lefkada, Samothraki e.t.c.) Costas has recorded for the Second and Third Program of Greek Radio. He has performed as a soloist with the Orchestra of Patras, the Symphonic Orchestra of Jena and has participated in the National Orchestra of Athens. He has presented the first musical performance of many Greek Composers (S. Zanna, O. Amiralis, I. Chaliasa), as well as the guitar concert for the Symphonic Orchestra of E. Triandafyllou organized by the Academy of Music in Weimar. At the same time, he composes for the theatre and documentaries and is making orchestrations and transcriptions for guitar and other ensembles. He edited the regeneration of Manos Hadjidakis masterpieces, “To Katarameno fidi” and “Exi Laikes zografies” for two pianos. His orchestrations and arrangements have been played by the Greek Camerata at Megaron, the Orchestra of Patra at the Athens Festival and by the String Orchestra at the National Conservatorium of Patra. His compositions have been performed by the Youth Orchestra of the Third program of Greek Radio and by the DissonArt Ensemble in concerts in Athens and Thessaloniki. He has conducted the Guitar Orchestra of Vaggelis Boudounis in concerts at The Herodium Theatre during the Greek Festival and at Megaron, Athens. He is a distinguished member of the Greek Composers Union. He regularly serves as a juror for many Pan-Hellenic guitar competitions and as a dynamic teacher in many guitar workshops organized in many different Greek cities. He was the main organizer of Musical mornings in Athenaeum and for a number of years, the Art Director of the concert program of the Municipality of Nea Makri. In the last few years, he is an active music producer and organizes festivals and concerts in Greece and abroad, as well as, various production discography. He is committed to teaching at the National Conservatorium of Athens and at the Conservatorium of Argyroupoli, where he serves as a conductor to the Guitar Orchestra, as well as arranging their musical transcriptions.

Efstathia Papagergopoulou

Founder Member of the orchestra

Eustauthia Papageorgopoulou was born in Athens. She studied piano at the Atheneaum Conservatory, in Dora Bakopoulou’ s class, where she received her diploma, winning with the 1st prize and an honor medal. She continued her studies in the Ecole Normale de Paris and in the Conservatoire de Meudon with Ramzy Yassa and Michel Ridoret, receiving her virtuoso diploma. She attended master classes with Lev Vlasenko and Levente Kente. She has given many solo recitals and chamber music concerts across Greece, as well as in France. She has participated in Patras Festival for the 20-year anniversary of the Atheneaum conservatory. She has collaborated as a soloist with the Atheneaum Baroque Orchestra. She teaches at the conservatory of Nea Makri. She holds a degree in Psychology from Deree College. Since 1994, she collaborates with Lily Daka, performing a vast repertory of works for two pianos. They have given concerts in France and in many cities across Greece.

Aπο το 1994 συνεργάζεται με την Λίλυ Δάκα, ερμηνεύοντας ένα ευρύ ρεπερτόριο με έργα για δύο πιάνα. Έχουν εμφανιστεί στην Γαλλία και σε πολλές πόλεις στην Ελλάδα.

Franc Shestani

Strings Teacher/ Founding Member of the orchestra

e is the orchestra’s first violinist and responsible for its overall preparation. He was born in Scondra. He received his first violin lessons at the age of 6 in the music school of “Prenk Jakova. He continued his studies at the Artistic High School of Tirana, taught by Fatbardha Denizi. He later followed her classes at the Fine Arts Academy where he graduated in 1989. For the years 1991-92, he was the first violinist at the Opera House of Tirana. He was a member of the string quartet of Tirana, with whom he attended a master class in Orlando Festival in Holland under the supervision of Piero Farulli. He was awarded for his performance in the international contest of Evian, France. He is permanently living in Greece since 1992. In 1993, he becomes the first violinist in the “Orchestra of Colors”. Acclaimed performances include working with many charismatic artists; Hadjidakis, Toufexis, Logiadis, Chatzinikos, Erzeni, Kouroupos, Antoniou, Kotsiolis and Kypourgos. He is a member of the “Alberg-Quartet” since 1993. He is committed to teaching violin and viola to the Conservatorium of Lamia since 1994. He was a member of the “Skalkota” ensemble. He is a member of “The Orchestra of colors” string quartet + Kinisis quartet. He also teaches violin at the Skalkota Conservatorium and Evhymnia.

Όσβαλντ Αμιράλης

Strings Teacher/ Founding Member of the orchestra

Oswald Amiralis was born in Athens in 1967. He studied piano and double bass at the National Conservatory and the Athens Conservatory. He has composed works for solo instruments as well as chamber music. He teaches at the National Conservatory and collaborates with the orchestras of the National Opera Orchestra.

Μιχάλης Ράμος

Woodwinds Professor

Michalis Ramos was born in Alexandria, Egypt, where he took his first flute lessons. He continued at the Athens Conservatory with Rozina Christopoulou and Urs Ruttimann with whom he received his Diploma. He studied in England, at the Guildhall School of Music. Attended seminars with P.L. Graf, A. Marion and Bennett. For a number of years, he was the first flute in the Piraeus Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens as well as in the Philharmonic Orchestra of the same Municipality. He participated in chamber music ensembles presenting works of classical and contemporary repertoire in Greece and abroad. They collaborated with E. Stampoli, piano, for a number of years, presenting the repertoire in Greece and abroad. They collaborated with Greek composers to expand the repertoire of this combination. He has joined the program of flute seminars of K.O.A. He teaches at the Municipal Conservatory of Marousi. He has been a permanent musician of the Athens State Orchestra since 1997 and a founding member of the “Urs Ruttimann” flute competition.

Costas Siskos

Brass Section Teacher

The cornetist Costas Siskos was born in Corfu in 1973. He studied in Athens, initially at the Raymondis Conservatory and then at the "Orfeio" Conservatory, where he received his Diploma in 1994, under the tutelage of Spyros Kaisaris and Vangelis Skouras. In 2000 he entered the Gratz Academy for Postgraduate Studies with Hector McDonald, where, in addition to the contemporary French horn, he studied the Viennese and natural horn.

He was born in Corfu. He studied in Athens, first at the Raymondi Conservatory and then at the Orfeio of Athens, where he received his diploma in 1994, with Spiros Kessaris and Vangelis Skouras as professors. In 2000, he was admitted to the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz for postgraduate studies with Hector McDonald, where, apart from modern French horn, he studied the Vienna and the natural horn. As a soloist, he has collaborated in Greece with the Chamber Orchestra of the Greek National Opera, the Athens State Orchestra, the Orchestra of Patras, the Camerata – Friends of Music Orchestra and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra in works by Haydn, Mozart, Hübler, Antoniou and C. Hatzis, and in Austria with the Orchestra of the Graz University in the Horn Concerto No. 1, Op. 11 by R. Strauss. He has collaborated in Greece with the Greek National Opera, Camerata, the Athens Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of Patras, in Austria with Vienna Symphony, Concentus Musicus and Wiener Konzertverein, in Constantinople with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Borusan, in the Czech Republic with the Orchestra of the Prague State Opera, under the direction of internationally-renowned masters such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Kent Nagano, Ádám Fischer, etc.

In 2000, he took the permanent position of the first Principal horn of the Orchestra of the Greek National Opera and three years later the position of first horn of the Athens State Orchestra, of which he is currently a permanent member.

Marinos Tranoudakis

Percussion instruments Teacher

Born in Athens Greece 1984. He studied percussion under Konstantinos Vorissis and Konstantinos Theodorakos. He continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold (Germany) under Prof. Peter Prommel.At the same time he studied privately timpani under the Berlin Philharmonic timpanist Wieland Welzel and the Bochumer Symphoniker timpanist Arend Weitzel.As a timpanist he collaborated with renowned conductors such as Kurt Masur, Teodor Currentzis and with the orchestras such as Music Aeterna (Perm Ballet Theater), Bilkent Symphony Orchestra (Ankara), Nord West Deutsche Philharmonie, Bielefelder Philharmoniker, Radio Kammerfilarmonie Netherlands, Orchestre “La Réjouissance” (Gregor Van den Boom). His is regularly partner and soloist with Detmolder Kammerorchester, and Landes Theater Datmold. He collaborated as well with Athens State Orchestra and Camerata Athens, Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Orchestra as a Soloist (November 2017) and he has been member of the Greek modern music ensemble. He has been assistant professor for timpani and orchestra repertoire in Hochschule für Musik Detmold where he still gives timpani Masterclasses. He has recorded for labels such as “Sony Classics”, “Naxos” and “Irida classical”. From July 2014 until March 2017 was holding the co-principal percussion and timpani position in Greek National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since April 2017 he is Principal Timpanist of the National Opera of Greece.

"Music gives soul to the heart and wings to the mind."

Plato

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