Myron Michailidis () is a Greek conductor who serves as Artistic Director of the new Cultural and Conference Center of Heraklion, Crete, Greece since 2019 and the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra since 2026. He is regarded today as one of the most important Greek conductors.
Previously, between 2018 and 2022, Michailidis was the Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of both the Erfurt Opera & the Philharmonic Orchestra of Erfurt in Germany,The Greek conductor Myron Michailidis will be the new General Music Director at the Theater Erfurt from season 2018/19, on the site of the Theater Erfurt: https://www.theater-erfurt.de/en_UK/Press-and-News/News/Myron-Michailidis-new-General-Music-Director.html and between 2011 and 2017, he held the position of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Greek National Opera (GNO) (, Ethnikí Lyrikí Skiní) in Athens, Greece, of which he made one of the great European opera houses. From 2004 to 2011 he was the General Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra (TSSO), while from 1999 to 2004 he served as Permanent Conductor at the Opera of Eastern Saxony in Germany.
The repertoire of Myron Michailidis, which consists of a catalog that exceeds 250 symphonic works and 40 operas, ranges from Baroque to Contemporary music and includes Symphonic as well as Choral works alongside operas. He is a great proponent of the music of Beethoven,Listen to his Recording for EMI Classics of Beethoven's Concertos Nos 3 & 4, with Aldo Ciccolini & the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra (TSSO) (Thessaloniki Concert Hall, 26–31 May 2018). Tchaikovsky, RachmaninoffYouTube video of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, with the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra ERT (Athens Concert Hall, 25 April 2018). (Εθνική Συμφωνική Ορχήστρα Μύρων Μιχαηλίδης 25 Απριλίου 2018 MMA, uploaded by kobot8 on 15 July 2018) and Xenakis, as well as of the operas of Verdi,YouTube Video of his rehearsal of Verdi's Luisa Miller, (Teatro Verdi Trieste, March 2018). (Luisa Miller – prova d'orchestra col M° Myron Michailidis, uploaded by TeatroVerdiTrieste on 22 February 2016) Puccini,YouTube video of Puccini's Tosca (aria Vissi d'arte sung by Cellia Costea), with the Greek National Opera (GNO) (Herodes Atticus Theater, July 2012). (Cellia Costea: Vissi d'arte /Puccini's TOSCA by Greek National Opera / Odeon Of Herodes Atticus, uploaded by greek national opera on 6 June 2015). GounodWatch his DVD of Gounod's Faust, with the Greek National Opera (GNO) Orchestra, Chorus & Ballet (Athens Concert Hall, 20 January 2012). and Wagner.Watch the announcement Videos on YouTube of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde & Lohengrin new productions of the Greek National Opera (GNO) (Athens Concert Hall, January 2015 & 2017, respectively) (ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΛΥΡΙΚΗ ΣΚΗΝΗ – ΛΟΕΝΓΚΡΙΝ – RICHARD WAGNER's LOHENGRIN – 27/01-05/02 – ΜΕΓΑΡΟ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗΣ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ, uploaded by greek national opera on 23 December 2016 and ΕΛΣ Τριστάνος & Ιζόλδη – R. Wagner – Tristan und Isolde / Greek National Opera 2014–15, uploaded by greek national opera on 30 December 2014).
Michailidis has conducted the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Erfurt, the Braunschweig State Orchestra, the Saarländisches Staatsorchester, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata München, the Rome Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Opera Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra, the Croatian Rijeka National Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bucharest National Opera, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Radio Orchestra of Romania, the Orchestra of the National Opera of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Οdessa Philharmonic Orchestra, the Astrakhan State Theater Symphony Orchestra, the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, the Μexico State Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo, as well as all Greek symphony orchestras, including the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra, the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra ERT, the Greek National Opera Orchestra and the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra.
He has collaborated with leading artists, including Aldo Ciccolini,filmed interview of Aldo Ciccolini (1925–2015) on YouTube, in which the legendary pianist evokes his relation with Myron Michailidis & Greece, and the recording of Beethoven's concerti for EMI Classics: Aldo Ciccolini, Beethoven: Concertos pour piano n°3 & 4 (uploaded by Warner Classics on 29 March 2012). Paul Badura-Skoda, Cyprien Katsaris, Ivo Pogorelić, Lars Vogt, Fazıl Say, Barry Douglas, Martino Tirimo, Dimitris Sgouros, Salvatore Accardo, Vadim Repin, Shlomo Mintz, Diana Tishchenko, Kirill Troussov, Mischa Maisky, Theodore Kerkezos, Paata Burchuladze, June Anderson, Cheryl Studer, Maria Farantouri, and several others. About his close collaboration with Myron Michailidis and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, the legendary pianist Aldo Ciccolini was declaring in May 2006:Within the disc of Beethoven's concerti for EMI Classics: Aldo Ciccolini – Myron Michailidis, « Beethoven: Piano Concertos n°3 & 4 »
Also more recently, following a concert conducted by Michailidis in Erfurt in September 2018, Cyprien Katsaris, who played Shostakovich's piano concerto No. 2, declared:On 24 September 2018 in a public statement of Cyprien Katsaris on his official page in the social media: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1950039848420713&id=143436435747739
Education
Myron Michailidis was born in Heraklion, on the island of Crete in Greece. He studied piano with Dimitris Toufexis in Athens. He continued his musical studies at the Berlin University of the Arts (Hochschule/Universität der Künste, UdK) in Berlin, where he studied conducting with Hans-Martin Rabenstein. He also participated in Master Classes by Miltiades Caridis and Sir Simon Rattle. He holds as well a degree from the Faculty of Law (Department of Law and Economic Sciences) of the University of Athens.
Career
Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra (2004–2011)
During his tenure as General Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra between 2004 and 2011, Myron Michailidis radically renewed the orchestra's programming and penetrated the international discography. He also conducted numerous concerts at the Orchestra's residence, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall and took it to various venues in Greece and abroad, such as the Smetana Hall and Rudolfinum in Prague (2009), the Teatro Verdi in Florence (2009), the Konzerthaus in Berlin (2010) etc. In December 2007, during the celebration events of the Cultural Year of Greece in China, he took the Orchestra on tour in Beijing, host of the 2008 Olympic Games, and conducted a historical performance at the Forbidden City Concert Hall.
Greek National Opera (2011–2017)
In 2011, Myron Michailidis was appointed Artistic Director of the Greek National Opera (GNO) in Athens. Over his six-year tenure, and in the middle of the Greek economic debt crisis, Michailidis managed to increase both his profile and that of the Opera company, achievements which were both nationally and internationally acclaimed.High notes in Athens as Greece's National Opera defies financial crisis in Euronews (04 November 2013). Article in English: https://www.euronews.com/2013/11/04/high-notes-in-athens-as-greece-s-national-opera-defies-financial-crisis Video in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1k6oSD9jrg
Economically, Michailidis successfully restored a balanced budget for the institution, the accumulated debt of €17 million he inherited in 2011 being nearly fully recovered as soon as in 2014. This notable result, achieved during the Greek economic crisis, has been obtained through specific spending cuts (but without dismissal of personnel) and by a substantial policy of public awareness, which significantly raised general and media interest for Lyric Art and increased both tickets sales and filling rates.
Michailidis indeed opened the doors of the Opera to a new audience and developed an array of innovative artistic, cultural, societal and educational activities (which were all presented by the Maestro during his emblematic TEDxAcademy2014 talk),See Michailidis's TEDxAcademy2014 Talk on YouTube (in Greek, with subtitles in English): TEDxAcademy 2014_Myron Michailidis – Artistic Director Greek National Opera_English Subtitles (uploaded by greek national opera on 15 October 2014). such as open rehearsals, musical promenades in the streets of Athens, dance in city squares, open-air free concerts and opera galas in unconventional venues (such as the port of Piraeus for a "waltz of the ferry boats",See the Video on YouTube: Το βαλς των καραβιών /Waltz of the Boats /Greek National Opera Piraeus Port event / ΕΛΣ Λιμάνι (uploaded by greek national opera on 27 September 2013). the Athens International Airport, the metro stations, the popular Varvakeio central market, or the esplanades of the Athens National Archaeological Museum or of the New Acropolis Museum, etc.). Other initiatives included the programs "Suitcase Opera" (operas in miniature form performed in Greek peripheral cities) and "Opera Bus"Greek National Opera – The Opera Bus travels the streets of Athens – European Music Day: http://www.nationalopera.gr/en/event/to-luriko-leoforeio-stous-dromous-kai-tis-plateies-tis-athinas-europaiki-imera-tis-mousikis/ (double-decker bus on which the singers of the Opera company performed to passers-by in the streets of Athens), the establishment of a "GNO Children’s Chorus"Greek National Opera – Children's Chorus: http://www.nationalopera.gr/en/music-department/paidiki-horodia/ (of about 80 members, which sung for US president Barack Obama at the occasion of his official visit to Athens in 2016) and of a "Young Artists Program", and a participation to the EU outreach program "Interactive Opera for Primary Schools", which concerned 45,000 pupils in 147 schools in Greek regions.Greek National Opera – Opera goes to school: http://www.nationalopera.gr/en/opera-goes-to-school/
In parallel, Michailidis developed a framework for international co-productions with large lyrical theaters such as the Royal Opera House of Covent Garden in London, the Welsh National Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Arena di Verona Festival, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He also deepened and extended GNO's relations with other European theaters as a member of the European Forum of Lyrical Theaters, Opera Europa.
Artistically, Michailidis conducted many opera performances within the walls of GNO's historic building (Olympia Theater, 700 seats), in the open-air antic Herodes Atticus Theater (under the Acropolis, 5,000 seats) during the annual summer's Athens Festival and in the two halls of the Megaro Mousikis (Athens Concert Hall, 2,000 & 1,750 seats), with a majority of representations sold out. He conducted Les contes d'Hoffmann (2001), L'elisir d'amore (2002), Fedora (2002), Tosca (2004 & 2012), Il Trovatore (2005), L'italiana in Algeri (2006), La Traviata (2010), Die Zauberflöte (2010 & 2011), Faust (2012), I vespri siciliani (2013), Madama Butterfly (2013), Macbeth (2014), Otello (2014), La Bohème (2015), Tristan und Isolde (2015), Aida (2016) and Lohengrin (2017). GNO's repertoire was significantly increased and proposed 35 new opera and operetta titles, as well as 11 new ballets.