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The Role Models Who Inspired Conductor Vassilis Christopoulos
Vassilis Christopoulos, San Francisco Opera – YouTube, 2022
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While there’s a long list of people who have inspired me growing up, two names immediately come to mind.
The first one: Dimitri Mitropoulos, a Greek conductor who came from a small village in the Peloponnese and became music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. His passion and dedication for music, I’ve always admired. Interestingly enough, he wanted to become an Orthodox monk when he was young. But when he asked the abbot whether he would be allowed to have a small organ in his cell to practice, he refused. And so, he went on to become a world-famous conductor.
A second person whom I’ve had the privilege of knowing well personally growing up was a woman who made it her life’s mission to collect and study Greek folk music from all corners of the country and to pass it on to future generations through her recording, her teachings and ultimately through her own refined interpretations. From her, I learned to love and respect my cultural heritage. And her name was Domna Samiou.
Vassilis Christopoulos
San Francisco Opera – YouTube, July 2022