Athens State Orchestra

The Athens State Orchestra is the oldest orchestral ensemble in Greece. Founded in the late 19th century as the Athens Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, it was known by various names and operated in a number of different forms before becoming the Orchestra we know today and giving its first concert as the Athens State Orchestra on 28 February 1943. Former artistic directors of the Orchestra included Filoktitis Oikonomidis, Theodoros Vavagiannis, Andreas Paridis, Manos Hadjidakis, Giannis Ioannidis, Alexandros Symeonidis, Aris Garoufalis, Byron Fidetzis and Vassilis Christopoulos. In May 2014, Stefanos Tsialis became the tenth Artistic Director in the history of the Athens State Orchestra.