Polivios is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and poet whose work synthesizes authentic historical and world music traditions with contemporary dramatic scoring and electronic production. His practice is rooted in the conviction that music's highest purpose is storytelling.

EARLY FORMATION & COMPETITIVE SUCCESS

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Polivios began serious classical guitar studies with Dr. Alvin Tung, professor at the University of Toronto. Entering the competitive guitar circuit, competing nationally, he became a two-time Canadian National Guitar Champion, culminating in performances of major guitar concertos—including Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, Giuliani's Guitar Concerto, and Rodrigo's Fantasia para un Gentilhombre—with orchestras across North America and Europe.

Simultaneously pursuing electric guitar virtuosity and early compositional studies with Samuel Andreyev, he also undertook classical vocal training at Toronto's Royal Conservatory with Donna Sherman and Jennifer Tung, establishing the multifaceted technical foundation that would define his later work

A pivotal turn came through study of North Indian classical music with Prosenjit Deoghoria in Toronto, leading to travel to India and direct study with Grammy-nominated Carnatic master Chitravina Ravikiran. This mentorship resulted in collaborative chamber orchestra projects in both Toronto and Basel, featuring Ravikiran and acclaimed violinist Akkarai Subbalakshmi.

ENCOUNTER WITH INDIAN MUSIC

EUROPEAN IMMERSION: BASEL & HAMBURG

Relocating to Basel, Switzerland on a substantial stipendium, Polivios immersed himself in the city's renowned early music and vocal performance culture. At the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, he encountered Anthony Rooley, Hopkinson Smith. Inspired by early music milieu he came into contact he soon after began intensive work in historical performance practice, with instruction from Professor Peter Croton, specializing in Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque plucked instruments. Vocal studies continued privately at The Basel Music Academy and with Astrid Prokofieff.

Moving to Germany, Polivios had the rare privilege of studying with Jürgen Schriefer, one of the final students to work with this legendary vocal pedagogue before his passing. During this period, he became deeply absorbed in the German Lied tradition, learning Schubert's great song cycles—Winterreise, Die schöne Müllerin, Schwanengesang. Relocating to Hamburg, he continued vocal studies, working with Holger Lampson at the Alfred Schnittke Academy and Professor Dr. Winfried Adelman at the Hamburg Hochschule für Musik und Theater.

Performances included CBC's Glenn Gould Studio (Toronto) and Basel Stadt Casino, and the Goetheanum, Dornach where Polivios premiered original compositions synthesizing Carnatic and Western orchestral languages. A second extended research trip to India deepened these studies, exploring Ravikiran's revolutionary Melharmony system of composition.

MEDITERRANEAN SYNTHESIS: GREECE & BYZANTINE TRADITION

Concurrent with his studies and work in Germany, Polivios began extensive engagement with Greek and Eastern Mediterranean musical traditions through frequent research trips to Greece. Studies in Byzantine chant with Professor Dmitris Manousis, Turkish/Arabic Maqam systems with the revered Christos Tsiamoulis, and oud with internationally-acclaimed Armenian artist Haig Yazdjian established deep roots in Orthodox and Middle Eastern musical worlds. Guitar technique was refined with Costas Cotsiolis at the Athens Conservatory.

These diverse threads converged when Polivios relocated permanently to Athens, where he continues to synthesize Western art music, early music, Carnatic, Byzantine, and Middle Eastern traditions into a unified artistic language informed by extensive travel and direct study with master musicians across continents.

INSTRUMENTS & COMPOSITIONAL PRACTICE

Polivios maintains an exceptional collection of instruments, including original 17th-19th century guitars and lutes, theorbo, baroque lute, and professional-grade Turkish and Iraqi oud—all of which with he performs and records. His recent work includes AAA video game scoring, where his ability to provide authentic period instruments and cultural music proved commercially valuable while maintaining artistic integrity.

Throughout his development, Polivios has maintained parallel engagement with electronic music production and contemporary sound design, allowing seamless integration of acoustic authenticity with modern hybrid scoring techniques. This duality—deep historical knowledge combined with cutting-edge production capability—defines his professional offering.

PHILOSOPHICAL & LITERARY DIMENSIONS

Beyond music, Polivios is deeply engaged with poetry (which he writes extensively), philosophy, and dramatic literature. His compositional approach is fundamentally narrative-driven, viewing music as a vehicle for storytelling in Wagner's tradition. This philosophical grounding informs his work in film and game scoring, where music must serve dramatic function while maintaining artistic substance.

His intensive study of philosophy—particularly aesthetics and dramatic theory—provides intellectual framework for understanding music's relationship to narrative, making him especially suited for projects requiring sophisticated integration of score with story.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES

Based in Athens, Greece, Polivios composes for film, games, and concert contexts while maintaining active performance and research activities. His multilingual capabilities (English, German, Greek) facilitate collaboration across North American and European markets. The Athens location provides access to elite European early music specialists and Mediterranean traditional musicians while offering cost-effective production infrastructure—premium quality at competitive rates.

He is available for film scoring, game audio composition, historical authenticity consultation, large-scale dramatic works, and projects requiring authentic cultural music or rare historical instruments.

Education: Royal Conservatory of Toronto; Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Switzerland); Hamburg Hochschule für Musik und Theater (Germany); Private studies with master musicians internationally

Location: Athens, Greece

Contact: info@polivios.net | www.polivios.net