Dr. Nikos Xanthoulis is a composer, Scientific Associate of the Academy of Athens and Corresponding Member of the Archaeological Institute of America.
He served for 25 years as the leading trumpet player of the National Opera Orchestra from 1984 to 2009. From 2009 to 2012 he was in charge of the Educational Programs of the same organization.
As a soloist and composer he has performed in over 30 countries. He was the artistic director of the Music Ensembles of National Radio and Television from 2014 to 2015. Director of the Municipal Conservatory of Kalamata and the DIPETHE of Kalamata. He has released fifteen personal records and participated in six other group records.
Two of his children's operas have been staged at the National Opera. Moreover he has composed music for the Ancient Theatre. He has collaborated with Aspasia Papathanasiou for ten years and with Anna Synodinou (Athens-Epidavros Festival).
The Archaeological Institute of America has awarded him the Kress Lectureship for his research on Ancient Greek Music twice: in 2012-13 and in 2017-18 thus resulting in lecture-concerts at major American universities ( Berklee College, Stanford, Honolulu etc.). In November 2016 he was invited and presented his work at the Faculty of History of Lomonosov University in Moscow.
In the last ten years he has dedicated himself to the study of the ancient Greek lyre for which he wrote the first solo work after 1600 years of silence, "concerto for ancient lyre and symphony orchestra" which he presented in Poland (Gelenia Gura) and in Berlin (30 and 31 December 2015).
Antigone, for which he wrote the music and is performed for the 6th consecutive year at the Luna theater in Moscow, is among the 5 best classical performances in Russia. Since 2017, the State Music Theater of Simferoupoli has staged Troades accompanied by a symphony orchestra and the work has now been included in the theater's repertoire. In the summer of 2018, "Trojans" won the Moscow Theater Grand Prix as the best classical performance in Russia.
In May 2018, he presented the world's first method of learning the ancient Greek seven-stringed lyre in a bilingual version (Greek – English). In May 2019 he wrote the music for Oedipus Rex which was staged at the Academic Theater of Vladivostok. In 2020, Bulgakov's play "Maitre and Margarita" with his own music was staged in the same theater. In October 2021 he wrote the music and directed the musical drama "The Call of Prometheus" scripted by Christoforos Christofis at the Athens Concert Hall. In February 2023, he presented world premiere works by ten composers from six countries at the Athens and Thessaloniki Concert Halls.

As of the academic year 2022-23 he teaches History of Art at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory.