Born in 1959 in France. After completing his studies in the oboe class, he directed his musical interests towards singing, especially classical Greek singing and Byzantine chant. He trained with great masters and interpreters of this music, among others with father Joakim Grillis from Patmos, Maximos Fahme from Aleppo and – above all – Lycourgos Angelopoulos, the director of the Greek Byzantine Choir, under whose guidance F. Tavernier-Vellas received a diploma in Byzantine music at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory in Athens. In 2005, he collaborated with Angelopoulos while writing the book ‘Les Voix de Byzance’ published by Editions Desclée de Brouwer.
He is the founder of the ‘Soloists of Byzantine Music’ group, whose vocation is the discovery and popularization of the treasures of the Byzantine musical civilization, and the artistic director of “Egeo-Apmh” – an association for the promotion of Hellenic music.
F. Tavernier-Vellas is a member of Ensemble Organum and for ten years has regularly participated in the research, recordings and tours of the group.
