Haris Vrondos
Background information
Born	1951 (age 72–73) Vytina, Greece
Origin	Athens, Greece
Genres	classical chamber music opera
Occupation(s)	Composer
Years active	1969–present

Haris Vrondos (born 1951) is a modern Greek composer.^[1]

Biography

Haris Vrondos was born in 1951 in Vytina. In 1963 he started studying guitar in the Lefkada music school. Later, he would move to Athens and take piano lessons Eleni Zioga. At the same time he would also follow the seminars of Günter Becker about electronic music, that would result in the actual start of his career as a composer. The lessons of G.A. Papaioannou on counterpoint will complete his musical education.

He worked as a columnist and musical critic for the Greek newspaper Rizospastis from 1974 to 1976, continuing to write also on the Greek magazines Tipo, Mousiki, To Dentro, Kritiki kai Keimena, High Lights. Beyond these writings he also published four books containing essays and texts about music.

In 1982 he started to collaborate with the Greek National Radio (with the First Programme and the Third Programme) for the presentation and the production of musical and musicological transmissions. In 28 years of collaboration with the Hellenic Radio he reached over 3000 hours of broadcasting.

In 1983, together with other artists, they founded the magazine Nisos^[2] that printed musical cassettes with the music and the poetry of the artists affiliated to the journal. The action of the group was enriched by the many shows and recitals that they were doing in the city of Athens and in the close cities.

His relevance in the Greek musical scene brought him to be member of the board of the Union of the Greek Composers (from 1987 to 1990).

Musical career

His work can be divided into three periods:

1. 1969-80: a period that comprehends the amateur phase and the experimentation. It includes the works from Αυτοκτονίες (1969) until Μονόλογο (1981).
2. 1982-86: this period is characterised by works of mixed nature (Proti Simfonia, 1982, Mavri Mousiki, 1985, and Deuteri Simfonia, 1986) and stylistically emphasises the end of romanticism through elements of modernism.
3. 1986 until present: this period is marked by the compositions of the operas: Οι Δαιμονισμένοι (The Possessed), Αλκιβιάδης (Alcibiades), Ρέκβιεμ Αχμάτοβα (Requiem), Η Δίκη (The Trial), Ιδανικοί αυτόχειρες (Idanikoi Autoxeires) and the cantata Ιουλιανός ο Παραβάτης (Julian The Apostate). In this last period Vrondos searches for his personal style.

Xaris Vrondos has composed music for associations like The Athens Concert Hall Association, ALEA III, the University of Boston, the Greek Ballet, the Union of Greek Composers, the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the Paris-Sorbonne University. He also made live concerts with his works of chamber music (Προοδευτικός Σύνδεσμος Υμηττού, 1980 - Ωδείο Athenaeum, 1995 - Εθνική Πινακοθήκη, 1996 - Μουσείο Μπενάκη, 2002 και 2006), whereas also his soloist and orchestral works have been played in Greece and Abroad. Starting from 2014 he has been organising plays, presenting and writing pockets operas and chamber music.

Compositions

Source:^[3]

Books

• 1982 - Diabolus in Musica (Gutenberg, Αthina)
• 1997 - Χαμηλή γη (Nefeli)
• 1999 - Για τον Νίκο Σκαλκώτα (Nefeli)
• 2005 - Μετρονόμος για μικρές και μεγάλες αρρυθμίες (Nefeli)
• 2013 - Ιδανικοί αυτόχειρες (Panas music, edition including 2 CD with the original compositions of the opera)

References