Dr. Nikos Xanthoulis is a composer, lyrist, Associate Researcher at the Academy of Athens, and
Corresponding Member of the Archaeological Institute of America.
He served for 25 years (1984–2009) as Principal Trumpet of the Greek National Opera Orchestra. From
2009 to 2012, he was Head of Educational Programs at the same institution, and later served as Artistic
Advisor.
As both a soloist and composer, he has appeared in more than 30 countries. He was Artistic Director of
the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) Music Ensembles (2014–2015), Director of the Kalamata
Municipal Conservatory, and Director of the Kalamata Municipal and Regional Theatre (DIPETHE). He
has released fifteen solo albums and participated in six additional collaborative recordings.
His compositional work focuses primarily on children’s operas—two of which have been staged at the
Greek National Opera—as well as music for ancient theatre. He collaborated for a decade with Aspasia
Papathanassiou and also with Anna Synodinou at the Athens & Epidaurus Festival.
The Archaeological Institute of America honored him twice with the prestigious Kress Lectureship (2012–
2013 and 2017–2018) for his research on ancient Greek music, leading to lecture-recitals at major
universities including Berklee College of Music, Stanford University, and the University of Hawaii, among
others. In November 2016, he was invited to present his work at the Faculty of History of Lomonosov
Moscow State University.
Since 2012, he has devoted himself to the study and revival of the ancient Greek lyre. He composed the
first concerto for ancient Greek lyre and symphony orchestra after 1,600 years of silence, premiered in
Jelenia Góra (Poland) and Berlin (December 30–31, 2015).
His music for Antigone, performed for six consecutive years at the Luna Theatre in Moscow, has been
ranked among the top five classical theatre productions in Russia. His music for The Trojan Women,
staged at the State Music Theatre of Simferopol, became part of the theatre’s repertoire and won the
Moscow Grand Prix in 2018 as the best classical theatre production in Russia.
In May 2018, he published the first-ever method for learning the ancient Greek seven-stringed lyre, in a
bilingual (Greek–English) edition. In 2019, he composed music for Oedipus Tyrannus (Vladivostok
Academic Theatre), followed in 2020 by The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov at the same theatre. His
collaboration with award-winning playwright Christoforos Christofi has resulted in music for six theatrical
productions presented at the Athens Concert Hall and international festivals.
In February 2023, he presented world premieres of works by ten composers from six countries at the
Athens and Thessaloniki Concert Halls. In October 2023, he toured the United States, giving concerts
and lectures with soprano Sophia Karakouta.
The Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra commissioned two major works for him: a concerto for
ancient lyre and symphony orchestra by Fazıl Say, (premiered to the public’s acclaim in September 2025
at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna and at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg); and a rhapsody
for violin and ancient lyre by Lowell Liebermann, presented during the orchestra’s tour in Estonia. In both
works, Nikos Xanthoulis appeared as soloist.