Ilias Ion Livieratos

„A top world class musician, Ilias Livieratos is an asset for Greek Classical music”, Leonidas Kavakos

“...a wonderful musician with a very personal playing that is filled with deepness and heartfelt poetry”, Staffan Scheja, Swedish pianist and professor KMH Stockholm

"...possesses a warm and rich sound. He displays a multifaceted playing that is deeply personal and always interesting.”, Johannes Landgren, vice-chancellor KMH Stockholm

Greek-Romanian violist Ilias Livieratos, principal violist of the Athens State Orchestra, has been recognized with several prestigious international and Greek awards, including the Swedish Jan Wallander Prize (2022), the Antonín Dvořák Society Prize at the international Nedbal Competition in Prague, Czech Republic, and the Spiros Motzenigos Award of the Academy of Athens (2026), one of Greece’s highest distinctions for music, previously awarded to distinguished artists such as Leonidas Kavakos, Lukas Karytinos and Aris Garoufalis.

Originally from Preveza, Greece, Livieratos studied at several institutions including the Mozarteum Salzburg as a scholar of the Friends of Music Society, Munich, Würzburg, and Stockholm with renowned professors such as Christoph Poppen, Klara Flieder-Pantillon, Grigori Zhislin, Midori Seiler, and Ellen Nisbeth. Despite starting a medical degree in Athens, he decided to abandon it for the sake of music.

Livieratos has worked as principal violinist and violist at several orchestras, including the Greek National Opera, the Augsburg Philharmonic, and Camerata/Armonia Atenea. He was also a member of the European Youth Orchestra. Following an international audition, he was appointed to the permanent position of Principal Viola of the Orchestre National de Lyon, one of France’s leading orchestras, which he ultimately chose not to take up, deciding instead to remain in Greece and pursue his artistic activity there.
As a soloist, Livieratos has collaborated with esteemed musicians such as R. Göbel and G. Petrou, performing Vivaldi's concerto for three violins and Bach's 6th Brandenburg concerto on period instruments. In 2022, he recorded Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the Athens State Orchestra under Alkis Baltas, and in 2023, he premiered N. Paganini's Sonata per la grand' viola with the Greek Radio Orchestra under M. Oikonomou at the Christmas gala.

In 2022, he began a series of collaborations with the renowned violinist Leonidas Kavakos, first in April performing Brahms string quartets in a charity concert for the Mariupol maternity hospital in Ukraine, and then in June as a soloist with him in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. This fruitful collaboration continues with concerts and recordings (Sony Classical) in major venues across Europe and Asia, including Verbier and the Musikverein.

An active chamber musician, he has collaborated with leading international soloists, including Antoine Tamestit, Nikolaj Znaider and the pianist Alexander Malofeev. In Asia, he has appeared in major concert halls, including a performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Sonata for Viola and Piano with pianist Tae-Hyung Kim at the Lotte Concert Hall in Korea.

Livieratos performs on a rare viola made by Giuseppe, Antonio & Giovanni Gagliano (c. 1800), sponsored by Handelsbanken Sverige and awarded as part of the Jan Wallander Prize.