Aris Christofellis

Life and career

Aris Christofellis was born in Athens in 1960. After studying piano in Athens and Paris with several teachers including the famous pianist Francis Clidat, he decided to concentrate on developing his unique singing voice of male soprano, studying with Fofi Sarandopoulo. He made his debut in Bordeaux in 1984. In 1985 he sang Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Exultate, jubilate" at Cannes Midem Classique inauguration concert, where he was received enthusiastically by both the public and the critics.

His repertoire extends from Renaissance to contemporary music, but he focuses on the Italian baroque opera of the 18th and early 19th century. Aris Christofellis' vocal technique and taste for historically informed ornaments have been highly acclaimed across the world and as a musicologist, he has brought to light many works of this period and has dealt in particular with the ornamentation of the vocal music of the 18th and 19th centuries. In addition to lieder and folk songs, he concentrates mainly on Baroque opera and is known for singing roles written for castrati. He maintains an extensive discography and his numerous recordings made for EMI Classics between the mid 1990s and early 2000 are of enormous importance for the rediscovery of the vocal music from the late Baroque and early Classic period.

Since the end of the 1990s, Aris Christofellis reduced significantly his concert and opera performances and has started a successful career as a singing teacher in Greece and in several other countries, including Italy.