He learned every style of music with his philosophy, from the pentatonic music of the East to the rhythm-oriented music of Africa, from the classical and jazz music of the West to the maqam music of the Arabs, including especially traditional and religious music.
Nikiforos, who we can call a music scholar of Greek origin, was born on July 21, 1944, in Argostoli, in the Cephalonia region of Greece. His family immigrated to Central Africa in 1946.
He started school in Lubumbashi (Elizabethville) in Congo. He studied ancient Greek, Latin, and classics. He was introduced to Gregorian songs at a young age. This increased his interest in traditional and classical music.
Nikiforos Metaxas (Athens 1944 - Istanbul 2015)
While working as a reporter for the Livingston newspaper in Zambia, he had the opportunity to study the importance of traditional music, the transition to animistic ritual, and the songs and dances of ancestor worship at the Museum of Anthropology.
In 1963, he received a scholarship from the University of Ottawa to study English, French, and Latin. In 1967, Graham went to London to meet John Bond, who introduced him to British and Celtic Folk Music, modern jazz on the Hammond organ, and blues.
Mr. Metaxas developed his musical knowledge through the classical master-student system, which led him to travel long distances and even move his house to be closer to his master. In this way, he lived on Mt Athos for a year and a half to study the traditions of singing Byzantine songs with the monks of the Stravronikita Monastery, and especially with Priest Dionysius Firfiris and Priest Gabriel, followers of the Cappadocian tradition of Byzantine songs.
From there he moved to near Thessaloniki and was accepted to the Byzantine Music School affiliated with the Archdiocese of Thessaloniki. There, he had the opportunity to be a student of teachers who have achieved legendary status in their fields. He followed the lessons of Chrysanthus Protopsaltis (the First Muganni - the Chief Chorist in the Church - the chorist bestowed with the title of honor above the Chief Chorist), Talliadoros Protopsaltis and Karamanis Protopsaltis.
In 1985, the Delphi European Cultural Center in Athens offered Metaxas a scholarship to study the art of Qanun in Turkey and Turkish traditions in music, especially during the Ottoman period. In 1985, he accepted the legendary ney player Niyazi, one of the last representatives of the Mevlevi order, Mr. Metaxas, as his student of ney and the general Turkish music system.
Famous qanun virtuoso Erol Deran also accepted Mr. Metaxas as his student. These two masters live in Beylerbeyi, Istanbul. Mr. Metaxas moved to Çengelköy, neighboring Beylerbeyi, to be close to them, and worked as a chorister in the historical 16th-century Golden Tiled Aya Yorgi Church on the Asian side for 10 years. He was introduced to the ceremonies and mysticism of the Mevlevi sect by Nezih Üzel, an expert on the Mevlevi ritual, and Sema (the sacred dance performed by Dervishes). As a result, he learned every style of music with his philosophy, from the pentatonic music of the East to the rhythm-oriented music of Africa, from the classical and jazz music of the West to the maqam music of the Arabs, including especially traditional and religious music.
The establishment of the music group 'Bosphorus' in 1986 was a result of Nikiforos Metaxas' relationships with his teachers. 'Bosphorus' created a school that began to be imitated in Turkey and Greece.