The Visionaries
1901 – 1977
Alexandra Trianti, a descendant of the Kotzias family, was born in Athens in 1901. She studied classical singing at the Athens Conservatory with Kimon Triandafyllou (brother of Attik) and continued her studies in Vienna. An important performer of Lied, she left the stage in 1950 and dedicated herself to the promotion of music in Greece. She was vice-president (1957 – 1968) and president (1968 – 1977) of the Friends of Music Association, to which she donated her entire estate for the construction of Megaron. Her personal archive was transferred to the Lilian Voudouri Library in 1993.
1905 – 1996
Lambros Eftaxias was a politician, art collector and benefactor with a successful career and great contributions to the Arts. His contribution in the building of Megaron was decisive: along with Alexandra Trianti he founded the Friends of Music Association, and served as its president (1954 – 1968). He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Megaron Organisation, which was established thanks to his own important contribution. As minister of Transport and Public Works, he was instrumental in the acquisition of the 11,946 sq. m. plot of land on Vasilissis Sofias Ave., next to the American Embassy.
During the first period of the construction of Megaron, he was the main financier of the project personally as well as from part of the funds of the Dekozis-Vouros Foundation. Today we associate his name with the Museum of the City of Athens, for the housing of which he donated the historic mansion of Dekozis – Vouros on Platia Klathmonos, one of the first classicist houses built in Athens in 18833/34.
In 1990 he was awarded a place in the Academy of Athens.
1900 – 1994
“Miss Loula Mafta, the distinguished Greek singing artist, returning from her artistic journey to Berlin, Vienna and Cologne […] Accompanied on the piano by Mr. Mitropoulon, […]”
A great soprano and professor at the Conservatories of Piraeus and Athens, Lula Mafta was a great friend of Alexandra Trianti, with whom, remembering their student days in Vienna and the “Friends of Music” Association there, they envisioned the formation of a similar Association in Greece. She was one of the founding members of the first Board of Directors (1954), a position she held until 1976. From 1967 to 1971 she was the general secretary of the Board of the Association.
1934 – 2009
Among the first members of the Association, Christos Lambrakis, only 19 years old, the man who would later be identified with Megaron the Athens Concert Hall, its foundation and its heyday, took over the presidency after the death of Alexandra Trianti in 1977. Christos Lambrakis was born on Friday 24 February 1934 in Athens. He was the son of Dimitrios Lambrakis and Elza Tsaousopoulou and was the most important Greek publisher of the time.
He studied law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and political science at the London School of Economics. In 1954, at the age of 20, he took over the management of the weekly magazine Tachydromos. In 1957, after the death of his father, he became chairman of the Lambrakis Journalistic Organisation, which published, among other things, the newspapers To Vima and Ta Nea. Christos Lambrakis also founded the daily sports newspaper Team in 1959 and the magazine Epoches in 1963. He was also the founder and shareholder of Mega Channel where he was also chairman of the board of directors. He actively contributed to the revival of the Little Ancient Theatre in Palea Epidaurus. He established the ‘Maria Callas Scholarships’ and the ‘Lambrakis Studies Foundation’. He wrote the libretto for the opera “The Return of Helen” by Thanos Mikroutsikos.
Konstantinos Karamanlis The effective. The Goulandris and Lambros Eftaxias at the cornerstone ceremony.
THE SUPPORTERS
Konstantinos Karamanlis: as Minister of Public Works and then as Prime Minister, he embraced the vision of the Association and granted the land for the construction of the Hall. Vassilis Goulandris: He financed the journey of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in Athens. Teresa Sp. Euclidis and Alexandros Mitsotakis are mentioned as donors of significant real estate.
2010 – 2016
Giannis Manos
2016 – 2019
Nikos Theocharakis
2020 –
Nikos Pimblis
THE SUCCESSORS
The chairmen of the Board of Directors of the Organisation of MEgaron The Athens Concert Hall. The Chairmen of the ten-member Board of Directors of the Organisation of Megaron the Athens Concert Hall who followed Christos Lambrakis continue to serve the vision of the founders and all those who supported and still support his aims and work.
THE ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
The Artistic Directors of Megaron continue the vision of its founder Christos Lambrakis and plan its artistic programming, adding their own perspective, with classical music at the centre, yet embracing all the arts and offering the public the opportunity to be introduced to wonderful sounds and spectacles that widen their horizons.
1991 – 2010
Nikos Tsouchlos
2012 – 2015
Giorgos Kouroupos
2016 – 2019
Miltos Logiadis
2020 –
Janis Vakarelis