1. Yannis Markopoulos took his first lessons in music theory and the violin at the local conservatory and played the clarinet in the municipal band.
11 Facts About Yannis Markopoulos
1. 2.
Yannis Markopoulos began composing music during his adolescence and two melodies of this time would later become songs that have enjoyed great popularity throughout Greece.
3.
In 1956 Markopoulos moved to Athens to further his music studies at the Athens Conservatoire under the composer Yiorgos Sklavos and the violin teacher Joseph Bustidui, while studying philosophy and sociology at the Panteion University.
4.
Yannis Markopoulos left for London, where he enriched his knowledge under the English composer Elizabeth Lutyens, while his acquaintance with the composers Jani Christou and Iannis Xenakis played an important role in the deepening of his contact with the most pioneering musical figures.
5.
In 1969 Yannis Markopoulos returned to Athens with a musical vision that would not only change the course of music in Greece but would lend immediate moral support to the general demand for restoration of democracy, the struggle being led primarily by university students and intellectuals.
6.
Yannis Markopoulos founded a new and highly distinctive musical ensemble which included Greek local instruments.
7.
Yannis Markopoulos then selected young musicians, singers and actors, from both the city and the provinces, and collaborating with painters and poets he presented a series of performances with his musical works Ilios o Protos, Chroniko, Ithagenia, Thitia, Stratis Thalassinos Among the Agapanthi, Oropedio at the Lydra venue which he named music-studio.
8.
Yannis Markopoulos continued composing music for the theatre and for the cinema, collaborating with directors such as Jules Dassin, George Cosmatos, Nikos Koundouros and Spyros Evaggelatos.
9.
In 1980 Yannis Markopoulos married the singer Vassiliki Lavina, his long-time associate, and in 1981 their daughter Eleni was born.
10.
Yannis Markopoulos died of cancer on 10 June 2023, at the age of 84.
11.
Yannis Markopoulos was buried in the Papagou cemetery in Athens.