Dimitris Agrafiotis

Dimitris Agrafiotis, (born in Athens on March 17, 1932), is a conductor, violinist, and composer.

Agrafiotis was born in Athens to parents originating from Amarantho of Agrafa – his father – and Platanias, Chania. At the age of ten, he began violin lessons with X. Kelpanidis in Thessaloniki and, after the end of the Civil War and his family’s return to Athens, he continued with Kandreviotou in violin and Marios Varvoglis in theory at the Greek Conservatory. Later, he went to the Athens Conservatory, where he completed his studies in both violin (under professor Iosif Boustindoui) and theory (under professor Philoktitis Oikonomidis). Later, he received a diploma in composition with professor G. A. Papaioannou (1960).

With a scholarship from the University of Athens, he completed his studies in what was then West Germany, specifically at the Munich Music Academy from 1960-62, in violin with Kraus, in advanced theory and composition with Günter Bialas, and in orchestra conducting with Lesing. Subsequently, with scholarships from West Germany and Austria, he continued at the “Mozarteum” in Salzburg, where he dedicated himself to orchestra conducting (1962-65) under Hermann Scherchen and K. Weinberger. He also attended orchestra conducting classes at the Intern. Dirig. Praktikum in Berlin and teachings under Herbert von Karajan in the same city (1962-63).

A significant milestone in his career was his collaboration with the famous Mozart scholar Bernhard Paumgartner, whom he assisted at the Camerata Academica orchestra in Salzburg from 1964 to 1968. In the Austrian city, he studied composition with Cesar Bresgen, an enthusiast of Greek music, who used themes from Greek folk music in his works. During his stay in Salzburg, he composed his first complete work, Three Songs, for baritone and orchestra to poetry by Giorgos Seferis, first performed in 1965. This particular work is written in the 12-tone system and was presented at the 2nd Hellenic Week of Contemporary Music. In November 1968, he became the artistic director and chief musician of the Schwäbisches Sinfonie-Orchester in Reutlingen (now known as the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen – WPR). In 1979, he composed the work Triptychon, about which he mentioned in an interview in October 2012: It is in the form of a symphonietta and consists of three parts based on three poems by George Seferis. Originally they were three songs written in ’63 and ’64, following the poet’s Nobel Prize award. The poems of the songs are: “Here the works end”, “And if the wind blows” and “A wound opens again in my chest”. They are three poems with a different world each, and this allowed me to write three completely different pieces.

In the decade 1971-81, he was a regular guest of the Lamoureux Symphony Orchestra in Paris. He was often invited by the “Brahms Society” in Baden-Baden, where he lived and studied in the house museum of Johannes Brahms. From the ’60s, he was the permanent conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Greek Radio and regularly conducted KOA, KOTH (State Orchestras of Athens and Thessaloniki), and the Orchestra of the National Opera. Between 1993-1999, he settled in Thessaloniki and took over the artistic direction of the Municipal Symphony Orchestra, which he reorganized leading it on the path to recognition, while also promoting the idea of creating Opera-Thessaloniki with annual productions of old and contemporary repertoire. He has conducted important orchestras of the former West Germany and appeared in musical events of many major cities (Paris, Rome, Lisbon, London, Bucharest, Budapest, Montreal, etc.), where he presented works by Greek composers, many in their first performance (see List). Perhaps this is Agrafiotis’ greatest contribution to Greek music. He taught harmonic analysis at the Department of Musicology of the University of Athens from 1991 to 1994 and, from 1991, he taught harmonic and morphological analysis at the Department of Musicology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has been honored with the Reutlingen Liszt gold medal for his rich musical activity. He participated in various Committees of International Music Competitions (“Hindemith”, “Maria Callas”, etc.) and is a member of the International Committee of the Claudio Arrau Foundation. On New Year’s Day 2004, he was honored by the President of the Republic with the Gold Cross of Honor.

Source: Wikipedia