Oudist and pianist Alekos Vretos was born in Athens in 1976. He started piano lessons at the age of three. At the age of sixteen he decided to dedicate himself to music.

He studied classical music in the Athenaeum Conservatory,among others with Panagiotis Adam. At the same time he enrolled in the Phillipos Nakas Conservatory, where he studied jazz with Markos Alexiou, Takis Paterelis, Pantelis Benetatos, Spyros Panagiotopoulos and Costas Baltazanis.

In 1996 he enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jazz composition. During his studies in Boston he performed extensively as a piano player in jazz ensembles and big bands. He graduated in 1999.
He also studied oud with Simon Shaheen and other distinguished teachers.

He founded The Meliti Ensemble, which released the album "Yunan" in 2004. His first personal album "Mergin" was released in 2009. Alekos Vretos has been merging jazz, Arabic, Greek and Latin music in a blend of sounds produced by traditional and modern instruments.