Lefteris Chalkiadakis

Greek conductor, born in Tanta, Egypt (1927), died in Athens (2008). Initially studied Byzantine music, but moved to Paris in 1950, where he focused on instrumentation under the aegis of Pierre Dervaux and Jean Fournet. For five years, he was first assistant to Leon Barzin, conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Paris. In 1963, he moved to Greece, working as a conductor with the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens. Subsequently, he conducted the National Orchestra of Athens, the National Orchestra of Thessaloniki and the orchestras of national broadcaster ERT. As such, he was invited to conduct Greece's Eurovision Song Contest entry in 1979 in Jerusalem, 'Socrates' by Ελπίδα. From 1980 until his death, he taught conducting in Athens.