Leonidas Kanaris composed Happy Birthday Variations, Op. 89, in 2024 as a special tribute for cellist Christophor Miroshnikov’s birthday concert. Premiered at the Parnassos Concert Hall on February 3, 2024, the work was performed by violinists Natasha Korsakova and Manrico Padovani, violist Ilias Sdoukos, and cellist Christophor Miroshnikov. Through a series of inventive variations, Kanaris transforms the well-known Happy Birthday melody into a sophisticated and engaging musical journey, blending humor, virtuosity, and lyrical expressiveness.
The composer’s extensive catalog includes more than 90 works, ranging from solo and chamber music to orchestral compositions, choral pieces, and electronic music. His vocal works often draw upon poetry by Greek and international writers such as Constantine P. Cavafy, Kostas Karyotakis, Charles Baudelaire, Edgar Allan Poe, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He has also written music for theater and film, as well as a symphonic cantata and a concertante work.
Kanaris’s music is frequently performed in Greece and abroad by renowned artists, ensembles, and orchestras. His artistic career includes solo performances and collaborations in chamber music and multimedia projects, with appearances in the UK, USA, Italy, Germany, Russia, China, and many other countries. His compositions, described as emotionally and spiritually expressive within a broad polystylistic framework, have been published by Papagrigoriou-Nakas, Contemporary Music, and Fagotto, among others. As an educator, he teaches at various music institutions, conducts choirs, and has authored educational books on the guitar. He holds degrees from the Hellenic Conservatory, the University of York, and the Athens Conservatory, having studied under Theodore Antoniou, Thomas Simaku, and Costas Cotsiolis.