This article is part of our series, “The People of Leros”, where we highlight individuals either from the island or who have chosen Leros as a special home. Each person stands out through their unique story, passions, and the meaningful ways they enrich the community.
Many of you know him first as Takis. You have seen him in Panteli, guitar in hand, speaking with students after a lesson, or welcoming musicians who arrive on the island for the Three Moons Festival. For others, he is the steady presence behind years of live performances that brought high-level music to Leros long before cultural decentralization became a popular idea. Born and raised in Piraeus, with roots in Kea and a long national and international career in music, Prokopios Takis Fragkous chose in 2010 to make Leros his home. Since then, island life has not only shaped his daily rhythm, but also deepened his artistic vision and sense of responsibility toward culture and community.
Takis, tell us a few words about yourself.
My name is Takis Fragkous. I was born and raised in Piraeus, although my roots are from Kea, so my connection with what we call island life began from my earliest years. My father, Stelios, was a cruise ship captain, and my mother, Maritsa, was a homemaker who raised my sister and me on her own during the long periods when he was away at sea.
I spent my childhood and teenage years in the old neighborhoods of Keratsini, like most children of my generation – out in the streets and open spaces, under the sun and the light, with very few restrictions. We played football and basketball with friends, flirted with the girls from the neighborhood, and somewhere along the way, music entered my life.
I have been married for 26 years to my wife Vasileia, who comes from Thrace, and we have three sons: Stelios, an accomplished pianist who is now building a career in the Greek music scene; Dimitris, who studies European Politics in the Czech Republic; and Ilias, a sixth-grade student at the school of Agia Marina. In recent months, my grandson Orestis – the son of Stelios and Ioanna – entered my life and made it even more beautiful. Since May 2010, I have been living and working on Leros by choice.
"Seeing our sons grow up free, happy, and barefoot among the fishing boats of our neighbors left us with no other choice but to remain on the island."
How would you describe your professional path before settling on Leros? Were there elements from that period that prepared you for what you do today on the island?
As I mentioned earlier, music has been dominant in my life from a very young age. I had the opportunity and the good fortune to study classical guitar at the National Conservatory of Nikaia and later at the National Conservatory of Piraeus, where my studies reached advanced theoretical levels before I went on to study double bass.
From around the age of 19, I began practicing music exclusively as a profession. I would like to stress that beyond very intensive study, luck also played a role. Gradually, I moved from the Nikaia Conservatory to a conservatory in France, and from there to major collaborations with almost all the great composers and singers of the Greek music scene. I believe that if I were born again, I would follow exactly the same path.
How did you end up in Leros, and what has kept you here for so many years instead of moving to a large city for your career?
There was always the thought of decentralization, as my wife and I felt that the Athens we lived in was changing at a very rapid pace. When you prepare something so intensely, at some point it becomes reality.
The trigger came through Vasileia, who at the time worked as a flight attendant for the then state-owned Olympic Airways. When Olympic was privatized, all permanent staff were transferred to other public services. Vasileia took a map of Greece, closed her eyes, and placed her finger randomly. Right beneath her finger was Leros. There was a position at the Ministry of Finance on the island, and in this paradoxical and bold way, we found ourselves in this blessed place.
Upon arriving, we experienced the quality of life that Leros offered and decided that this was a place where we could live with calm and serenity, work, contribute, and raise our children. The beauty of the place and its people was the primary reason we stayed. We had both achieved our goals, traveled extensively abroad, and encountered different cultures. Full of experiences, we built our nest here.
Our relationship with the local people has continuously nourished our decision to stay. Our contact with nature, the different rhythms of daily life, and the time we both have to devote to what we love and to inner growth all played a role. Finally, seeing our sons grow up free, happy, and barefoot among the fishing boats of our neighbors left us with no other choice but to remain on the island.
Do you feel that life on Leros has influenced your musical horizon?
Living on Leros has certainly made me a better person. Since music is an inseparable part of who I am and the means through which I express my character, I would say that my relationship with music has also changed – it has become more innocent and more ethical.
My years on Leros helped me engage with local musical traditions and instruments, such as the laouto, which I studied academically and for which I recently obtained a teaching diploma. So yes, my musical horizon has been positively influenced. How could it be otherwise?
Is there a place on Leros that you particularly love or that inspires you?
From the very first day we set foot on the island, for some reason we found ourselves in Pandeli. We loved it, and it loved us back. We stayed there and never left. The locals embraced us with an inexplicable warmth, and we embraced them in return. We made friends, formed godparent relationships, celebrated, stayed up until dawn, baptized our youngest son dancing by the sea, and we are living our best years here.
Of course, its image has changed in recent years, especially during the summer months, with more noise and activity than we would like. Still, its charm remains extremely strong for us. It continues to function as a wide opening, a magnet, a clear window to an extraordinary sea. That is Panteli for us.
What does music mean to you on a personal level?
For me, music is a way of behaving, a way of speaking, a way of expressing oneself. It is the ability we all have – musicians and listeners alike – to create images and emotions in a different way. Music is not a separate part of our psyche.
You cannot spend nights in low-quality nightclubs and the next day read Kazantzakis, whom my wife loves deeply – it simply does not work that way. Music follows a sequence aligned with our character, and we must be consistent with it. We are obliged to defend it by choosing how we produce art, how we present it, how we represent it, and finally how we share it with the public, especially with our young students.
What inspired you to create the “Three Moons” Festival on Leros, and what are the main challenges of organizing a festival on an island?
When we arrived, we realized the limited to non-existent opportunities for residents to attend high-level musical performances. Together with friends and people from the island, we decided to bring musical productions to Leros, mainly through my collaborators, relying on personal connections, which ensured lower fees and reduced risk.
In this way, we offered local residents the chance to experience high-quality musical performances at very low cost. The idea took shape with the establishment of the T.M.F. organization and was crowned with success.
This is not a tourist attraction, and I want to be very clear about that. The Three Moons Festival is our need to share Greece’s musical and cultural wealth within a collective framework that includes the citizens of the so-called “non-profitable” island routes.
“Music is a way of behaving, a way of speaking, a way of expressing oneself… It follows a sequence aligned with our character, and we must be consistent with it.”
From all the artists you have hosted over the years, has anything particularly impressed them about Leros?
Over the years, outstanding artists have participated in the festival – anyone can see this by visiting the festival’s page, so there is no need to name them individually. The final impression was always positive. Everyone left enchanted by the island, and most have returned either for holidays or to visit us.
They are impressed by the authenticity of the people, the tsipouro by the sea, the natural beauty of the place, its rare architecture, and the calm rhythm of everyday life.
How would you describe the artistic life of Leros today?
The island is not poor in artistic activity, and this is a fortunate fact. There is the Leros Theatre Group, with a strong presence in the world of art, as well as very active cultural associations, mainly focused on dances, such as the Artemis Association.
This entire ocean of artistic presence requires deep knowledge and continuous development. This is exactly what I try to pass on to my students – the constant need for evolution and expansion. I want to give them the tools for growth and let them use them as they wish while shaping their own lives.
Do you see interest and participation from younger generations in music and the arts?
This is a difficult question, and I will try to answer it as simply as possible. In an era of absolute virtual reality and fast-paced living, many young people have little tolerance for demanding, long-term learning processes that require slow rhythms and extensive study.
This discourages them from classical music education. However, they must learn to filter things, because in the end, only those with that magical, invisible element inside them stand out – something no one can define with words, like a flame that leads you into another dimension.
I hope that in the future, times will change and children will more easily enter this inner process of learning and study.
What is your vision for the musical life of Leros in the coming years?
What a beautiful word – LIFE. And how perfectly it fits with music. Life with music leads to a world with greater sensitivity, greater truth, and humanity at its core. I wish for a return to slower processes, for a deeper understanding of things, for better knowledge of one another, for the revival of love. And when all these regain strength – because that is real life – music will evolve even further alongside them.
For Takis, music is not separate from life. It is a way of behaving, of speaking, of choosing how to stand in the world. Through his teaching, the Three Moons Festival, and his quiet presence in the everyday life of the island, he continues to nurture something essential on Leros: a space where art is shared collectively, where young people are encouraged to grow, and where culture is not imported for show but lived with integrity. In his journey, Leros is not a backdrop to a career. It is the place where music, family, and community have found their natural harmony.
We warmly thank Takis Fragkous for his generosity, his sincerity, and for the lasting contribution to the cultural life of Leros.
