Kyriakos Kalaitzidis, composer, oud player, artistic director and cofounder of “En Chordais”, is considered one of the most important musicians and scholars in the field of modal secular music of the post-Byzantine era and Mediterranean today. As a member of  “En Chordais” or as soloist he has given more than 2000 concerts in 43 countries in major festivals and venues, among them at Sydney Opera House, Berlin Philharmonie, Salle Pleyel (Paris), Lincoln Center (New York), Maison Symphonic (Montreal), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Cornell University, San Marco (Venice), Hong Kong Concert Hall, Onassis Cultural Center (Athens), Herodis Atticus Odeon (Athens), Fès Festival (Morocco), Melbourne Recital Centre and many others.

He has given lectures and master classes in eminent institutions such as Princeton University, Université de Strasbourg, Istanbul State Conservatory, Sibelius Academy (Helsinki), Torino University, Ca’ Foscari University (Venice), Holly Cross College (Boston) and Yildirim Beyazit University (Ankara). He has published four books, over 15 articles, 14 CDs as well as edited 28 more.

His latest album “The Musical voyages of Marco Polo” has been released by World Village – Harmonia Mundi receiving enthusiastic reviews and the “Academie Charles Cros” Prize 2014. In 2002-2005 he was artistic director of the MediMuses project, which was dedicated to celebrating the Mediterranean’s shared classical musical heritage. In October 2012 his PhD “Post-Byzantine Music Manuscripts as a Source for Oriental Secular Music” was published by the Orient Institut – Istanbul & Ergon-Verlag publisher.