Stavros Xarchakos

Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (born 14 March 1939) is a Greek composer and conductor.

Stavros Xarchakos was born in Athens, where he studied at the Athens Conservatoire.

He has family origins from the Mani Peninsula.

Stavros Xarchakos was born on March 14, 1939, in the centre of Athens, where he lives to this day.

He comes from Laconian Mani.

Growing up in a neighbourhood of the capital, where the arts flourished, he came into contact with folk and rebetiko songs, but also with the European music, broadcast on the radio, while he was strongly influenced by church music.

He also received musical inspiration from his grandmother, who played the guitar and sang along with arias from operas and cantadas.

From an early age he showed an interest in music and attended cello and piano lessons.

In 1958 he was admitted to the Athens Conservatory, where his first studies in music took place.

In 1961 he composed music for Jane Arden's play "The Party", while in 1963, at the age of 24, he took over the music composition for the emblematic film "Ta kokkina Fanaria", directed by Vassilis Georgiadis.

He emerged in the Greek music scene around 1963, composing music for the theatre and cinema.

Among his collaborators was lyricist Lefteris Papadopoulos and singer Nikos Xylouris.

His album production begins in 1963 and includes more than 45 records, music for 21 films and 15 television productions.

The film received rave reviews and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1964 and was suggested for nomination for the Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

The same-titled album was released that year and was enriched with new songs.

A little later he composed music for the film "Lola" directed by Dinos Dimopoulos.

Among the musical themes and songs of the film, "Hathike to Feggari" stood out, performed by Vicky Moscholiou.

In 1964, he composed the music for the songs included in a series of documentaries entitled "Melina's Greece", which were created by the American television network ABC to promote Greece.

Melina Merkouri, performed the songs "Ti exei kai klaiei to paidi" and "Na me thymasai” with lyrics by Eftychia Papagiannopoulou and Vangelis Goufas, respectively.

In 1965 he composed the music for the film "Monterna Stachtompouta (Modern Cinderella)" written and directed by Alekos Sakellariou, while the following year for the film "Diplopenies" directed by Giorgos Scalenakis.

The second film features the songs "Matia Vourkomena", "Stou Othona ta chronia" and "Me ti kardia (Farewell)", in lyrics by Nikos Gatsos, performed by the actor Dimitris Papamichail.

The film was presented at the San Sebastián festival and the Cannes Film Festival under the title "the syrtaki" and travelled to Japan, England and France.

The album was released the following year in an English version, with Grigoris Bithikotsis, Vicky Moscholiou and Stamatis Kokota as performers.

In 1966, the album "I Ellas xwris syntrimia" was released, which includes his and Theodorakis songs.

His music had accompanied the documentary of the same title by Angelos Lambros.

In 1967 he went to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger.

He stayed in Paris for four years, and then studied with David Diamond at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.

He served as director of the National Orchestra of Greek Music.

In 1968, while he was at a very productive moment in his career, wishing 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 1968 he composed the music for the film "Koritsia ston Hlio", directed by Vasilis Georgiadis, which won -4- awards at the Thessaloniki Film Festival,

In 1968, his first work on the rebetiko song titled "Markos o daskalos mas" was released, which includes –12- songs by Markos Vamvakaris, from his own perspective.

including best music, while in 1969 the movie was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 1972, the film was presented in Japan.

In 1978, wishing to study the technique of classical music and immerse himself in harmony, composition and orchestra conducting, he decided to continue his studies at the Juilliard School in New York, at the urging of Leonard Bernstein, with whom he corresponded, after he was brought into contact with him by Kimon Friar, an internationally renowned academic and translator of the work of Nikos Kazantzakis.

At the Juilliard School he studied alongside David Diamond for three years.

He was taught score analysis under Bernstein for two years and conducted many concerts.

An example is the concert held in New York, in which he conducted the city's Symphony Orchestra.

At the beginning of his career, he distinguished himself as a composer of film and theatre music.

He was later involved in politics and was elected Member of the Greek Parliament twice, before becoming a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2000 to 2004.

He was again a candidate for the European Parliament with New Democracy, in the elections of 25 May 2014, but was not elected.