He studied composition at the Trinity College of Music with Daryl Runswick, the Royal Academy of Music with Paul Patterson and finally at the Canterbury Christ Church University where he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy under the supervision of Roderick Watkins and Paul Patterson supported by the Research Studentship Award.
Athanasiadis, after completing his piano and advanced theory studies (harmony, counterpoint, fugue) at the National Conservatoire of Athens moved to London. In 2010 became the recipient of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (2010-2011). Based at the Tokyo University of the Arts as a Special Foreign Researcher, he composed new works for Western and Japanese instruments with a particular interest on the shō (mouth organ) and the 20-stringed koto.
Some of those works were presented in a series of concerts culminating to a large-scale performance project that took place at the Sogakudo Hall on 23 January 2011.
The same year he was awarded the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (2011-2013) for the second time to further his research and support the composition of new works for Japanese and Western instruments and their performance in both Japan and Europe. Athanasiadis" works are characterised by a strong visual identity.
His performances has often been accompanied by dance or stage action. Early influences can be traced in Sergiu Celibidache"s views on aspects of ambience and acoustic space (Athanasiadis attended Celibidache"s Munich seminars in 1994), and in composers such as Christou, Feldman and Takemitsu.
His most recent works focus on the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, which has also been the main subject of his doctoral and postdoctoral research since 2004.
His music has been published by Oxford University Press and United Music Publishers and selected works have been released on Civil Defense by Dutton Epoch, Sargasso Records, Regent Records, Fonorum and the Choir & Organ Magazine (cover Civil Defense for March/April 2009 issue).
