Solon Michaelides

Solon Michaelides was born on 12 November 1905 in Nicosia. His father, Michael Chatzikyriakos, and mother, Eleni Solomonidou, raised him in Cyprus, where he began his musical journey. As a young boy in primary school, Michaelides learned to play the guitar and mandolin. By 1927, he had become a music instructor at the Government Conservatory of Cyprus, teaching guitar, music theory, and music history in Nicosia. With the guidance of his director, Russian pianist Isaak Kalmanovitch, he advanced his piano and harmony studies and also took correspondence courses through Trinity College of Music in London.

Later, Michaelides moved to Paris, where he studied at the École Normale de Musique, learning harmony and counterpoint with Nadia Boulanger and piano with R. Maire and Alfred Cortot. At Schola Cantorum, he trained in composition under Guy de Lioncourt and orchestral conducting with Marcel Labey. In Paris, he wrote his first compositions and graduated in 1934 with a diploma in composition. Despite offers from Lioncourt to remain in Paris, he returned to Cyprus, marrying Kalliopi Moridou in August 1934.

Michaelides transformed Limassol’s musical landscape, founding the Limassol Conservatory with his wife in October 1934. In 1938, he established the Limassol Conservatory Concert Society and its orchestra, the first Greek orchestra in Cyprus. However, financial challenges, intensified by the impending Second World War, forced Michaelides to seek support for his ensemble from the “Aris” association in Limassol. He also taught at the Lanitio Community Gymnasium in Limassol from 1941 to 1956.

In 1946, Michaelides’ compositions were performed for the first time in Athens by the State Orchestra of Athens, under Theodoros Vavagiannis. By 1957, his desire to work beyond Cyprus led him to the role of director at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki, where he envisioned a vibrant musical future for the city. He was instrumental in establishing the Symphony Orchestra of Northern Greece, whose founding decree was published in 1959, and which became the Thessaloniki State Orchestra in 1966. He led this orchestra, organising concerts that showcased emerging Greek musicians.

Michaelides left his directorship in 1970 after significantly contributing to the cultural life of Thessaloniki. Despite declining health, he accepted an invitation from the Mayor of Limassol to be honoured as an esteemed citizen. Sadly, his health prevented his return to Cyprus, and he passed away in Athens on 10 September 1979.

Michaelides’ compositions began in 1933, inspired by Greek National School influences, incorporating elements of Cypriot folk and Byzantine music. Notable works include “Life in the Tomb” (1933), “Two Byzantine Sketches” (1934), “Cypriot Wedding” (1935), and “Byzantine Tribute” (1944). The Turkish invasion of Cyprus deeply affected his later works, such as In Memoriam (1974), Kyrenia (1976), and Hymn and Lament for Cyprus (1975). Michaelides was also a prolific writer, contributing studies and articles on Greek and Cypriot music, with his “Encyclopaedia of Ancient Greek Music” (1978) receiving an award from the Academy of Athens.

Source: Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra