Mario Frangoulis

Mario Frangoulis was born in 1967, in colonial Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to Greek parents from Corfu. The political situation in Rhodesia was explosive then and when he was four his mother sent him to live with her sister and his husband in Greece. His aunt encouraged his interest in music and he studied violin at the Athens Conservatorium, to graduate in 1984. In 1985, Frangoulis went to London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study acting. At the Guildhall he became active on the musical theatre scene, and played Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. After the end of his studies he got the role of Marius in a West End production of Les Miserables. A Maria Callas Prize for opera enabled him to study with Bergonzi for six months in Busseto. In Italy continuing as a private pupil of tenor Alfredo Kraus. In 1991 Frangoulis was invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to star as Raoul in Phantom of the Opera. In 1992 he received an Onassis Foundation Scholarship and moved to New York to study at the Julliard School to study with soprano Dodi Protero. In 1985 he returned to London to play Lun-Tha in "The King and I" and Jonathan in "Nosferatu" In 1997 his adopted mother's health made him come back to Greece, where he played in the theatre (Billy Cracker in "Happy End", Danny Zouko in "Grease") also starting a solo singing career with a vast range of repertoire spanning from Greek greats such as Hatdjidakis, Theodorakis and Markopoulos to Piovani,Cole Porter, Tosti,Neapolitan canzonettas and opera arias. At the same time, he explored ancient Greek tragedy, playing Dionysus in Euripides' "Bacchae" and Achilles in "Achilleis". He became hugely popular with Greek audiences and soon expanded to an international concert career. He has released a number of solo CDs and DVDs, most of whom with Sony International.