Dimitri Panaretakis - Composer

He graduated from Anavryta High School. He studied classical guitar and music theory at the National Conservatory and Law at the Democritus University of Thrace. In 1993 he was accepted to the Webber Douglas Academy Drama School in London, to study acting.

He worked at the Royal Opera House of Covent Garden as head of the Royal Theory and studied at the Richmond Drama School with David Whitworth. For many years he collaborated with theater groups in London as actor and composer. His collaborations there include theater productions at Richmond Studio Theatre, Mermaid Theatre, Kenneth More Theater and North Pole Theater - Greenwich.

In 1998, he composed the music for the stage production 'RIVERMAN’ by the Irish writer Sam Dowling and was awarded by the Association of American Journalists with the award for the best original musical composition for theater play.

In Greece, he has composed music for "Game of Heart and Mind" by Fany Gemtou (2009 & 2013 DI.PE.THE Komotini), for "Alexander the Great and the Cursed Serpent" (2010), for the original musical "She and She’' (2011), for 'Like rain' based on T. Williams' one-act play 'Talk to Me Like the Rain'.

In 2011 he collaborated with Dimitris Haliotis for the creation of the music comedy "Did you see Odysseus", composing original music.

From 2010 to 2013, he was the Director at the ‘’Zoi Laskari’ Theater, in Athinais multi-hall. Productions hosted at the Zoi Laskari Theater during his stay there: Furniture Dance (by Romou Filira), Pride (by Alexi Kaye Campbell), Poor and Saints (by Antonis and Kon/nos Koufalis), The Sin of My Mother (by G. M. Vizyinos), while he was the production manager on Martin Sherman's production ROSE, directed by Adolph Shapiro and starring Zoi Laskari.

"The Happy Prince - the Musical", which was staged at "ATLANTIS - Classic Cinemas" on 2/12/2012, was his first directorial work in Greece, while in 2013 he directed and composed original music for the show "Where is the ring? - Children Change the World', a children's adaptation of the trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien "The Lord of the Rings".

In the summer of 2014, he composed music for the animated short film "IKAROS: Leap into the Future" (directed by Kyriakos Hatzimichailidis), inspired by the myth of Icarus and Daedalus.

In September 2014, he directed the performance "The Lords of the Rings" (an adaptation of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings) at the Hatzichristou Theater (formerly Orfeas).

In 2017 he was invited by the theater group ‘On the RoAd’ to direct Emily Bronte's Wuthered Heights, a theatrical adaptation of Emmanuel Kyriakopoulos' Cleopatra. The play premiered on the stage of the EMBROS theater on March 15, 2017, and in addition to the direction, he also composed the original music. "Wuthered Heights" was the first performance in which he participated as an actor in Greece, embodying the role of Heathcliff.

In 2018, he directed the theater performance "I know you... Dionysios Solomos", a tribute to the life and work of the national poet of Greece, Dionysios Solomos. The work premiered on October 29, 2017, at the Alkmini Theatre. For this performance, the text of which was signed by Cleopatra Emmanouil Kyriakopoulou, he composed original symphonic music. The work continued its successful course in 2018 (220 years since the birth of Dionysios Solomos) with the new title "LIGHT... Dionysios Solomos". It premiered at the Theater 104 on November 2, 2018, and was performed under the auspices of the Greek UNESCO Group of Arts, Language and Sciences, while it was sponsored by the National Bank. Both years he played the role of Dionysios Solomos.

In February 2019, the Organizing Committee of the TOKYO 2020 Olympic Games approved his proposal to include his music composition "LIVE IN HARMONY" in the program of the Games ceremonies, on the condition that he does not claim (the composer's) lead as towards the promotion of his name, whereupon he withdrew his candidacy.

In 2019, he participated in the short film "YDOR" written/directed by Cleopatra Emmanuel Kyriakopoulos, embodying a movie star from the golden age of the Hollywood musical.

In 2020 he edited and presented in radio works by well-known Greek and foreign poets, screenwriters and playwrights such as "The Bear" by A. Chekhov, "Saint Sophia" by G. Vizyinos, "Now I Speak" by Manolis Anagnostakis. ‘’The Mother of Christ" by Kostas Varnalis etc. At the same year, together with Cleopatra Emmanuel Kyriakopoulou, he wrote the script for the movie "I know you... Dionysios Solomos", based on the life of Dionysios Solomos.

In the period May-October 2022, he directed the performance "Medea and other friends I made in Athens" (under the auspices of E.O.T.), an anthology of Ancient Greek Drama. The show was aimed at an international audience and was presented in English by English-speaking actors, in a specially designed outdoor space at the foot of the Acropolis.

In 2022, he completed the composition of the epic opera "ARI'O" on the life of the Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis, a full-scale Broadway musical aimed at the international market as both a film and theater production.

In 2023, he participated in the pilot of an English-language television production entitled "Souls of Destiny" (IMDb), scripted by Haris Kanavos. It is in the stage of negotiations with major Greek and foreign platforms (production: Miracle Motion Pictures). Also, in 2023 he composed "ARIADNI - The Eternal Flame", a symphonic work aiming to submit it to the European Space Agency (ESA).

In the same year he completed the composition of the collection The Cavafy Project. The collection was incorporated into the work of Panos Tsaligopoulos "RETURN", based on the life and work of K.P. Cavafy. The project includes nine (9) poems by the poet set to music by Dimitris Panaretakis, who will also sign the direction.

In 2024 he took over the artistic direction of the pilot episode of the film "OTHON" based on the life of the first king of the Greek state (production: Miracle Motion Pictures) while he was also a member of the jury of the UFFS (Universal Film Festival Samothraki).

At the same time, in 2024 he completed the composition of the epic opera "FOLLOW ME", a modern epic opera based on Euripides' tragedy "BACCHES", translated by Kostas Varnalis. The opera will premiere on December 4, 2024 at the MAJOR 7 music stage in Metaxourgeio, also under his own direction.

Alongside his artistic activities, Dimitri studied Music Technology at IEK AKMI, while he is an active member of the Society of Greek Directors, Autodia, the Collective Management Organization of Creators of Theatrical & Audiovisual Works/Athens and the Screenwriters Union of Greece.

Since October 2024, Dimitri Panaretakis is represented worldwide by MUSICENTRY.