Tatsis Apostolidis

Tatsis (Christodoulos) Apostolidis was born in 1928 in Kalouta, a village in the Ioannina region of northern Greece. He began violin lessons at a young age at the Ioannina Conservatoire under Olga Mentzou. Between 1942 and 1944, he also studied chamber music with Nina Maroufov, pianist and director of the conservatoire. His education continued at the Athens Conservatoire, where he studied with Georgios Lykoudis from 1948 to 1954, earning the conservatoire’s first prize upon graduation.

In 1952, Apostolidis founded the “Hellenic Quartet G. Lykoudis” (Apostolidis, Kangelari, Vatikiotis, Katsikakis), which performed extensively in Greece and abroad until 1992. Furthering his studies with a state scholarship, he trained under Georges and Henryk Szeryng in Paris and at the International Academy of Nice, where he received the academy’s first prize in 1960.

Returning to Greece, Apostolidis joined the ERT Symphony Orchestra and the Athens State Orchestra. Concurrently, he performed as a soloist and continued his work with the “Hellenic Quartet,” appearing in numerous countries including France, Romania, Germany, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and England.

In 1978, he assumed leadership of the Athens Conservatoire Orchestra, transforming it from a small string ensemble into a full symphony orchestra. He also founded the Small String Orchestra and conducted ensembles such as the Hellenic Camerata, the Marsyas Ensemble, the Orchestra of Colours, the ERT Symphony Orchestra, and the Athens State Orchestra. Apostolidis recorded extensively and contributed to eight albums. He premiered many Greek and international works for violin, including compositions by Becker, Milhaud, Karyotakis, G. A. Papaioannou, Sicilianos, Dragatakis, and Skalkotas. Among these were violin concertos by D. Dragatakis and G. A. Papaioannou.

Apostolidis’s contributions to music education were significant, with a teaching career at the Athens Conservatoire spanning from 1955 to 2003. For his exceptional contributions to Greek music, he was awarded the Greek Music Award by the National Music Council in 2006. He passed away on 31 August 2009 in Athens.

Source: Izagori