Leontis Hristos

The composer Christos Leontis was born in Heraclion, Crete, on May 11th, 1940. During his early school years he came into direct contact with the Byzantine music, learning to chant in the neighbouring parish. His interest in the Greek Folk Song and especially the Cretan musical tradition together with his early exposure to Byzantine music determined his later musical personality.
At the age of 12 he was already mastering the mandolin and the violin and wrote his first compositions based on Greek Orthodox religious themes (Easter, Christmas etc.).
After his graduation from high-school in 1957 he left for Athens to pursue theoretical studies at the Athens Conservatory, whereby he studied Harmony, Counterpoint and Fugue. His teachers were Menelaos Pallantios and Yannis Papaioannou in Athens and Allen Weber at the Conservatoir National de Musique in Paris.
A turning point in his career was the collaboration with Karolos Koun's Art Theatre, from 1972 to 1982. His love for the theatre took a major part of his musical endeavors and he is probably the most prolific theatrical composer.