The leading composer of Smyrna and one of the key figures who shaped modern Greek song. He became involved with music from an early age. In the early twentieth century he settled in Alexandria. For around twenty years he toured as a musician among Greek diaspora communities around the world. In 1919 he returned to Smyrna, where he collaborated until 1922 with the estudiantina Ta Politákia. Many songs recorded in the Smyrna and Constantinople discographies as anonymous compositions are likely to be his. After his permanent settlement in Greece, during the interwar years he took on the artistic directorship of Odeon (1924–1930) and Columbia (1931–1941). From this key position he supported all emerging composers. He wrote more than 250 songs, which appear in approximately 480 recorded performances by the leading singers of each era. His first song, “I Zontochíra” (Victor 72489, 17 September 1919), performed by Maria Smyrnaía, is found in the discography of Greek Americans.