Nikos Athanassakis
Studies
Born in Athens. Holder of a Classical Guitar Diploma, graduated from Delphico Conservatory with Professor Ionas Melidis.
He continued with post-diploma studies under the supervision of the world-famous soloist Kostas Grigoreas. He has attended masterclasses with renown soloists such as Hubert Kappel, David Tanenbaum, Michael Chapdelaine, Adam Holzman , David Grimes, Joseph Urshalmi and others. He holds a degree in Harmony, Counterpoint and Fugue. He also holds a diploma in Composition, achieved with Professor Georgios Bisbikopoulos.
He teaches classical and contemporary guitar in Conservatories and Music Schools.
Performer
He participated in various festivals of classical guitar in Pelion, Ermoupolis on Syros, and on Corfu. He has also performed recitals in music stages and classical music halls. He was the guitarist in a duet with soprano Evi Ntouma, performing Rennaissance Music.
He was guitarist for 10 years (2001 – 2011) as a member of the music group Graviton, and he has participated in their music album entitled Graviton. Since 2015, he is the guitarist in the duet N’Eirini, playing in various venues and music festivals.
Composer
- Classical & Contemporary Music
He has composed works of Chamber Music, played in Greece and abroad by renowned artists and music ensembles such as Eva Fampas, Tania Sikelianou, Kostas Tseregof, Arcadia Quartet, ExQuartet and Smaro Gregoriadou.
Moreover, his work Taygetus Mountain, performed by Eva Fampas is included in the CD album by Naxos music company entitled Greek Guitar Music.
Additionally, his work Fluet was included in the CD album Two Minutes, performed by Iwona Glinka and published by Phasma Music.
His works Taygetus Mountain and Elxis Suite are included in the printed music publication Greek Guitar Music by the company Les Productions D’ Oz.
In 2019, his work was published in the CD album Sequences, with original compositions for solo guitar, performed by the word-famous soloist Smaro Gregoriadou.
His works, String Quartet I, Sting Quartet II, Fugue’s Tendency for piano, flute and cello, Invocation for violin and piano, AramaTamara for piano, Lament for Theodore Antoniou for flute and Palinodia for String Orchestra have been published in different CD albums by Phasma Music.
- Songwriting
In 2010 his work Keria – Candles (poetry by Constantine Kavafy) was included in the personal CD album of soprano Xara Kalatzidou Feggari, feggaraki mou (Moon, my little moon).
His first personal CD album as a songwriter is entitled Makria (meaning far away) featuring Eirini Polydorou (2016).
In 2017 he digitally released three songs entitled Alexis, in lyrics of his unforgettable friend, Alexis Papakostas.
- Theatre & Cinema
He has also created music for theatre and dance performances such as: I love Mnimonio (text & direction: Prof. Ioannis Andreadis, Ledra Theatre, 2011), Backs in the Trash (text & direction: Kimonas Rigopoulos, Alexandreia Theatre, 2012), Cyclop’s Survival (text & direction: Ioannis Andreadis, Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus, 2013), Sarakosti – From Cassandra to Maria (direction: Eirini Polydorou, Lychnos Theatre, 2016), Eros – Erevos (choreography & direction: Eirini Polydorou, Angelos & Eva Sikelianos Museum – Museum of Delphic Festivals, 2017).
Furthermore, he has composed music for the documentary films Parenthood (2017) by Alexis Ponce and My baby is coming (2011) by Alexis Ponce and Vivi Zografou, which was awarded with the Audience Prize in the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival (2011). He has also composed music for the documentary film The Naval Horn (2019) by Antonis Kassitas.
Additionally, he has composed music for the short film N.O.S.U.G.A.R. (2017) by Eirini Polydorou, awarded with official screenings in various festivals world-wide, nominated for Audience Prize in the 10th Entre Todos Human Rights Short Film Festival (Sao Paolo, Brazil, 2017) winner of the prizes for Best Actress and Film of the Month (Moscow, November, 2017) in the Eurasia International Film Festival and winner of the Critics Award in the Phalcon International Film Festival (London, 2018).