Zachos Terzakis is born in Athens. His
family, from the island of Crete, has a rich tradition of poets and
musicians.
Since the age of five, Zachos has been interested in music and he plays
many musical instruments. In school he studied natural sciences, while
devoting all of his free time to his first love, the theatre.
At the University of Athens, he received his degree in Geology. During his studies there, his talent as an opera singer was discovered, and in 1969, he received a scholarship to study voice at the Apollonion Odeon in Athens.
At the completion of his studies in 1976, he was awarded the "Gold Medal" with "Excellence".
In that same year, Zachos won the "First Prize" in the "Maria Callas" Scholarship Competition.
Between 1976 and 1979, Zachos was engaged at the National Lyric Theatre of Athens, where he began right away with important roles (Alfredo in Traviata, Grigori-Dimitri in Boris Godunov, Pinkerton in Butterfly, Elvino in Sonnambula, Don Antonio, Jim Mahoney and others). During this time, he sang with the Athens Festival and worked
in Greek radio and television.
Zachos made his German debut as Turiddu
(Cavalleria rusticana) in Kiel (1978).
Then from 1979 until 1982, he was engaged in Bielefeld, where he sang Cassio (Otello), Singer (Rosenkavalier), Tamino (Magic Flute), Duke (Rigoletto), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Alfredo (Traviata) and Enzo (Gioconda). He also sang in Bielefeld as guest Faust (1984-85), Riccardo (Ballo in mascera- 1986), Nero of Boito (1957), Vasco da Gama (L'Africaine- 1991-92) , Don Josè (Carmen- 1992-93), Cavaradosi (Tosca- 1994) and Benvenuto Cellini (1996).
From 1982 until 1987, he was a member of the ensemble in Nuremberg-Opera, where his roles included Rodolfo (Boheme), Almaviva (Barbiere di Siviglia), Edgardo (Lucia di Lamermoor), Adorno (Simon Boccanegra), Lyonel (Martha), Belmonte (Entführung aus dem Serail), Titus (La Clemenza di Tito), Lenski (Onègin), Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), Alvaro (La forza del destino) and others.
Since 1987, Zachos has been busy as a free-lance opera singer and he has sung in many important European theatres, including Opernhaus Zürich (Alfred-Fledermaus, Fra Diavolo, Barinkay, Tamino), Staatsoper Berlin (Alfredo, Sänger-Rosenkavalier, Tamino, Almaviva, Hoffmann), Stuttgart (Rosenkavalier, Tamino), Hannover (Hoffmann), Düsseldorf (Pinkerton, Romeo und Julia von Delius), Essen (Rodolfo, Tamino, Hoffmann), Wiesbaden (Faust, Rodolfo, Duca), Staatsoper Hamburg (Pygmalion), München am Gärtnerplatz (Rodolfo, Herzog, Pinkerton, Tamino), Volksoper Wien (Hoffmann, Barinkay, Symon, Rossillon), Copenhagen (Rodolfo), Helsinki (Alfredo), Bern (Prinz Guidon, Werther), National Opera Athens (Werther, Alfredo, Riccardo, Cavaradossi, Hoffmann
etc.),
In Japan-Tourney (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya) with the Volksoper Wien (1989 as "Zigeunerbaron" and
"Rossillon" ) , Staatsoper Berlin (1991 as
Singer in Rosenkavalier and Faust-Concert), Komische Oper Berlin (1994 as "Turiddu" and 1996 "Don José") and
Staatsoper Warsawa ( January 2001 as "Alfredo" )
In 1987 and 1988 Zachos sang Hoffmann at the Bregenz Festival.
He has also sung at the Luzerner Festwochen, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Berliner Festwochen, Casals Festival in Puerto Rico (1993) among others.
1991 included his successful debut as Tito in the Staatsoper Vienna.
In Bilbao, he debuted the same year the role of Jason in the world premiere of the opera "Medea" by Mikis
Theodorakis.
1993 he sang at the Theatro dell Opera in Roma the role of the Duke Rudolf von Habsdurg in the opera "Mayerling" of Barbara
Giuranna.
1999 in Taipei - Taiwan as Pinkerton in Butterfly.
In addition to his repertoire of over 50 operatic roles, Zachos sings Concerti and song recitals; he sang already at Musikverein and Konzerthaus Wien, Tonhalle Zürich, Tivoli Copenhagen, Megaron Athens, Concert House Stockholm, Philharmonie Oslo, Philharmonie Berlin, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Philharmonie am Gasteig München, Meistersingerhalle Nürnberg, Palais des Beaux Arts Brüssel etc.
On Mai 1995 he was the staging director of "Medea"(M. Theodorakis) very successful production in Meiningen, making also the translation into german of the opera for
its first presentation in Germany.
He has made numerous radio broadcasts and television appearances such as
BRT in Belgium, ZDF, SAT-3 and many others.
Zachos participated as the Tenor Soloist in the complete recording of the Greek opera "Mother's Ring" by M. Kalomiris (1958-Concert Athens). His recording of Kr.Penderecki's "Polish Requiem" (Deutsche Grammophon) received a Grammy Award nomination in 1992 in New York. A second recording (1996) was with CHANDOS in Stockholm. Other recordings include Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" (Harm. Mundi), Fr. Lehar`s Operettas Highlights "SCHOEN IST DIE WELT" (Eufoda), "Die lustige Witwe "(Ariola), G. Markopoulos "Orpheus Liturgy" (Lyra) etc.
zachos@terzakis.com