The Cello of Artemis

Chris Humphrys, Assistant Principal Cello for Athens' Megaron Orchestra, moved to Greece 16 years ago. Mike Sweet caught up with him to talk about music, Madonna, and a villa in the Peloponnese

Mike Sweet

BACKSTAGE at Megaron Mousikis, Athens' foremost concert hall, is a lively cafe where performers and technicians gather for refreshments. It's livelier still when the house band, the Megaron Orchestra, Camerata of the Friends of Music, are preparing for another season of sell-out concerts. British Chris Humphrys has time for a quick coffee and a chat, before starting first rehearsals of Mozart and Haydn. One of the 21 expatriates that make up the orchestra. Humphrys, was born in Wales in 1967, and arrived in Athens in 1992 after studying at London's Royal College of Music. "They wanted to bring in young musicians from all over the world, and it was great to be here at the start" Chris says, while noting the difficulties faced by classical musicians in London "where making a living is very tough these days". Camerata's home, the Megaron Mousikis, was one of the big attractions for Humphrys. "It was a brand new facility. One of probably the top five venues acoustically in the world. Seriously good." Sixteen years later Humphrys' attachment to and passion for Greece has grown. Chris married his Athenian wife Penelope in the church at Aghi Anna, above the beach at Naxos in 2000. Some weeks before his marriage, he needed to be baptised in Athens and remembers the occasion vividly. "I'm standing in my swimming trunks in the biggest Greek church in the Balkans, surrounded by my wife's close family. Full immersion in a huge tank in the middle of the church. It was more embarassing than the scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Chris speaks fluent Greek. Penelope is a lawyer, and with two children, Hector (4) and Amaryllis (2), Chris combines his cello playing with childcare. Humphrys' introduction to classical music came from his non-musical parents. "I used to lie in bed and hear Mozart piano concertos coming from downstairs" he notes. Chris' father is the veteran BBC journalist and broadcaster John Humphrys. Chris' early childhood was spent in the United States where his father was then the BBC's correspondent in Washington. Chris first played the cello at the age of eight. " Which is late" Chris assures me. "Most of the players I've met started at 4 or 5". The family moved with his father's work to South Africa in 1978, where he remembers seeing less of his dad. "It was during the Rhodesian War. We were living in J'oburg but my father was mainly working in what was then Salisbury. It was too dangerous for us."

Chris rates the first concert in 1995 at the opening of the Epidavros Theatre in the Peloponnese, 30 kms east of Nafplio as a highlight of his career to date. "It was incredible" he says. "We were the first people who had made a concert there in 2000 years". Another was playing with Madonna at the MTV Awards in Milan, and fulfilling a lifetime ambition by playing on the Britain's iconic Top of the Pops TV programme.

Chris talks warmly of the relationship with his father, revered for his combative interviews with politicians for the BBC. "I've always enjoyed debating with him" Chris says fondly, and this month marks the beginning of a particularly important project for father and son. After the orchestra's first concerts of the season, Chris begins a six-month sabbatical to write a book with his father, who founded the Kitchen Table Charities Trust in 2005, to fund schools for AIDS orphans in Tanzania. The book, part double autobiography, will tell the story of the charity and its work. "The family have always been involved in charities" Chris says, "partly from having lived in Africa. It's very easy to understand what poverty is about when you live in South Africa. We saw more of it than most because of my dad's work." The book will also detail the creation of the very Greek connection to the charity. This spring sees the completion of a seven-bedroom villa near Epidavros. Christened Artemis Villa the house is two hours drive from Athens and ten minutes from Poros, on the mainland looking across to Methana. It is also a key part of the Kitchen Table Charity's fundraising program. "It's available for short term lets and the proceeds go directly to the charity. It's a stunning property on a great beach, with a beautiful mountain setting. Great for walking." When not hosting paying guests, the villa will be a Greek outpost for the whole Humprys clan. There's a natural excitement that shines through as Chris describes the place that Artemis Villa will play in all their lives. "My sister in the UK has two children the same age as mine, and I now have a half-brother Owen, dad's seven year old son. We wanted somewhere where we could meet up as a family and bring all the kids." When Owen, Hector, Amaryllis and their cousins are not building sandcastles or possibly practicing the cello, there's a welcome kept for all in the hillside at Epidavros.


Mike Sweet has worked as a freelance journalist in Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and the UK, and has reported for the ABC, The Australian and BBC World Services. Mike lives in Athens and writes a weekly column for the Athens News.

A version of this article first appeared in The Athens News.