Yannis Zouganelis was born in Athens on February 3, 1956 and comes from Mykonos and Naxos. He is married to Isidora Sideris and together they have a daughter, Eleonora Zouganelis. The fact that both his parents were deaf had a great influence on his later course.

He began his musical studies at preschool age in Agios Nikolaos Acharnon with the cantor professor Th. Theodorakopoulos in Byzantine music. At the Hellenic Conservatory he studied guitar with professors X. Ekmektsoglou and Costas Triandos and theory with Antiochos Evaggelatos. He continued at the National Conservatory of Athens with harmony, advanced theory and piano under the teaching of Patrikidis and Vokos. Composer Nikos Mamagakis played a decisive role in the development of his musical studies, who taught him orchestration and rhythm.

In 1975, with a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture (for his work "Ten Byzantine Essays" small symphonic ensemble and mixed choir), he studied composition, orchestration and opera at the Munich Academy of Arts, from which he graduated with honors.