He was born in Athens. Nephew of conductor Miltiades Karydis. He studied at the Faculty of Music Studies at the University of Athens and he also studied piano with Maria Cherogiorgou-Sigara at the Athens Conservatory (diploma with honours, First Prize agreed over unanimously and Filippos Nakas Award) and theory of music with Periklis Koukos. During the period 1995/98 he studied orchestral conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Munich (Hochschule für Musik und Theater München) (class of Hermann Michael). As a pianist he has appeared with the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra and the National Symphonic Orchestra of Greek Radio (ERA). He started an international career as conductor in the Stuttgart Opera. He has directed, among others, in the London Royal Opera, the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra, the Berlin State Opera (“Unter den Linden”),the Orchestra of the National Academy Saint Cecilia in Rome (Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra), the Orchestra of the Musical May Festival of Florence (Orchestra di Maggio Musicale Fiorentino) and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a permanent resident of Munich since 1995, when he started collaborating with the Gärtnerplatz Theatre. He has stood out in competitions and has been honoured with awards in Greece and abroad as a pianist, as well as with the Carlos Kleiber award, which concerns new conductors and soloists with a distinguished presence in Munich's cultural life. In the Greek National Opera he has directed the operas The Manuscripts of Manuel Salinas (1999/2000), La bohème (2001/02) and La cenerentola (2002/03). He has also collaborated with the Athens Festival directing the Lyon Opera in Britten's opera A midsummer's night dream (2008). In 2010 he directed the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at the Athens Concert Hall. // Last update of the biography: March 2019 - The list of the productions below is continually updated.