Fantasia for Stelios and Yiannis for violin and cello

Stelios Kanfantaris, violinist, and Yiannis Vatikiotis, violist, were my colleagues and friends in the early years of my career, after graduating from the Greek Conservatory in Athens during the late 1950's.

I was good friends with Stelios, and, as I was a violinist and a composer and he a violinist and conductor, we worked together frequently. He was a very quiet, warm, and easygoing person even before he became a famous violin teacher credited with bringing up international violinists such as Demertzis and Kavakos. Even when I had left Greece, I was aware of his excellent violin class.

Yiannis, another good friend of mine, was also quiet and easygoing, like Stelios, with a wry sense of humor. I worked with him also as a composer as he performed several of my viola works. We were both members of orchestras in Athens. Yannis and I had a common interest in the U.S. He had been there to study, as had I, and we decided to continue our study and careers here. As it turned out, it was only me who left Greece.

In our youth, Stelios, Yiannis, and I were meeting all the time to have serious discussions on all topics, but usually on musical matters. We took great pleasure in our discussions--those were good years with two wonderful friends. They have been very greatly missed.