No banks, no regrets: A Canadian musician's ill-timed move to Greece

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One of Quebec's favourite sons, pianist and composer Alain Lefèvre, might be the least likely victim of the Greek crisis.

Mr. Lefèvre and his partner Johanne Martineau fulfilled their dream to move to Greece in May, when they sold their apartment in Montreal and set up home in a two-storey maisonette in Ano Voula, a pretty seaside town on the Aegean Sea's Saronic Gulf, on the southern outskirts of Athens.

Bliss. The property was cheap by Canadian and European standards, thanks to the deep Greek recession. It had magnificent views, was a 10-minute walk to the beach – Mr. Lefèvre and Ms. Martineau do not drive – and plenty of room for his concert-class Yamaha piano, which was en route by ship. "It was a dream come true for us," Mr. Lefèvre said over coffee this weekend at a central Athens hotel.

Then, ever so rudely, the Greek crisis interrupted the good life. A week ago, after talks between the Greek government and its international bailout creditors broke down, the government closed the banks to prevent a deposit run from crippling them. The surprise move trapped a considerable amount of money that they had sent to Greece to complete their Ano Voula house renovation.

If that were not bad enough, the Athens Epidaurus Festival, one of Europe's best-known and longest-running festivals of music, dance and theatre, cancelled his Monday evening performance with Athens State Orchestra. It was to be held at the ancient Herodes Atticus theatre on the side of the Acropolis.

The cancellation was not due to an act of the Greek gods, a strike or inclement weather (the theatre is outdoors); it was due entirely to Sunday's hastily called national referendum, which asked Greeks whether to accept or reject the creditors' last bailout terms. Since the referendum required voters to vote in their home communities, the 125 musicians in the orchestra dispersed themselves throughout Greece, making rehearsals impossible before the Monday concert date. "Too bad – the concert was almost sold out," he says.

Mr. Lefèvre will probably have to wait until next summer for a rebooking at the Athens festival, though the cancellation didn't leave him idle. This week, he is off to Quebec, where he is artistic ambassador to the Festival de Lanaudière. At the festival, on July 31, he will perform Edvard Grieg's piano concerto with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

In spite of the Greek chaos, the trapped money and the scrapped concert, Mr. Lefèvre insists he has no regrets about his move to Greece. "I love this country," he says. "I will not change by view just because I have money stuck in the bank."

Mr. Lefèvre, 52, the son of a Canadian clarinetist, was born in France but raised in Canada. He started to play the piano at age 4. A prodigy, he gave his first public performance at age 6 and kept on going, winning prizes everywhere, studied at the Paris Conservatory and began his international performing career in the mid-1980s.

In the 1990s, he began composing, producing many CDs. In 2010, he won a Juno Award for his album featuring the work of Mathieu, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn. He has also recorded sonatas with his brother David, a violinist, and has been a host of Radio-Canada's Espace Musique program.

Mr. Lefèvre insists that none of his achievements was easy, in spite of his "prodigy" label, and that he has struggled throughout his career. He and Johanne (who he calls JoJo) did a lifestyle re-evaluation a few years ago, decided to make a move out of Canada and, on his 50th birthday, when they were on the Greek island of Samos, opted for Greece. Mr. Lefèvre had performed in Greece on and off since the late 1990s and had fallen in love with the people. "I was always moved by the generosity of the hearts of the Greeks," he says.

He plans to spend a lot of time composing at his new house in Ano Voula and thinks the relaxed ambiance will stir the creative juices. "When I am in Greece, I am in contact with something that inspires me."

But to say everything is perfect for him in Greece would be wrong, not just because his money is frozen in a Greek bank that could fail if the Greek crisis escalates after the Sunday referendum. Mr. LeFèvre knows that his adopted country is a mess and that its people are suffering. "If Greece fails, it will be more dangerous than people think," he says. "I will stay here and show solidarity to the Greek people."