Giannis Kotsiras - Estoudiantina

Love Songs from Smyrna Meet Cyprus Tradition.

A Mediterranean ethnic orchestra, paying great respect to the original sound of the Asia Minor area, brings forth the authentic musical instruments of North - East Europe and joins the outstanding vocalist, Yiannis Kotsiras, one of the most well loved Greek singers, in an attempt to re-discover these genuinely emotional, undying tunes and express "Smyrna of Love". Following their recent album release of "Smyrna of love", one of the most prominent contemporary Greek singers, Yiannis Kotsiras and Estoudiantina, a distinguished orchestra that is tied to the musical tradition of Asia Minor, are joined in a concert that is dedicated to popular tradition and the artistic musical production of Smyrna, in honor of the 90-year anniversary of its destruction.

A contemporary reading of classic love songs of Smyrna, with a Mediterranean twist, exceptional interpretations and the distinctive arrangements of Estoudiantina orchestra, all come together to highlight the passion that these songs capture, while respecting their genuine music form. The Smyrna love songs meet the traditional songs of Cyprus.

Estoudiantina
Our name draws its origins from the most famous orchestras that were created in Asia Minor and made the "tour of the world" between 1898 and 1922; the Estoudiantinas: an innovative model of orchestra, as well as a musical movement, that created new forms of Greek music via the assimilation of elements of the East and West. The use of many different musical instruments (oud, canun, zurna, caval, santour, mandolin, clarinet, accordion, violin, and many more) allowed Estoudiantinas to continuously expand their repertoire so as to include from byzantine hymns, and folk songs of Smyrna to balkan horas, ottoman classical music and doinas, as well as west European polkas, waltzes and arias from popular operas. The orchestra, located in a suburb of the city of Volos called Nea Ionia, is unusual in terms of the current social trend and recent music reality. More than 250 concerts have been given from 1999 up until now, both in Greece and abroad (United States, Romania, Turkey, Italy, Portugal, Ukraine, Cyprus), at the most known concert halls, together with some of the greatest Greek singers and musicians, gaining awesome reviews from the press. In difficult times for music quality, Estoudiantina has managed to gain ardent admirers and lots of friends, mainly from the younger generations, whose love of traditional music has brought them together.

Yiannis Kotsiras
Yiannis Kotsiras is an Athens-born vocalist who begun his career in the early 90's, singing mainly rebetika and laika (Greek popular/traditional music). Since then he has released over twenty personal albums, several of which have turned platinum, and has collaborated in at least as many albums, movie and TV-show soundtracks, new releases of classic Greek music albums, singles and guest appearances. He has been invited by some of the most prominent Greek composers and song writers (Mikis Theodorakis, Mimis Plessas, Dionysis Savvopoulos, Yiannis Markopoulos, Lefteris Papadopoulos, Thanos Mikroutsikos) to perform their work to contemporary audiences. He has been touring all over Greece and Cyprus for numerous years, with his 2009 tour reaching over 70.000 spectators, and has participated in concerts held abroad aside significant Greek composers and other major Greek vocalists. In his most recent album release, "Smyrna of love", he is joined by a distinguished orchestra that is tied to the musical tradition of Asia Minor, Estoudiantina, in a contemporary reading of classic love songs of Smyrna, with a Mediterranean twist, exceptional interpretations and the distinctive arrangements of Estoudiantina orchestra, all come together to highlight the passion that these songs incorporate, while respecting their genuine music form.

Michalis Terlikkas
Michalis Terlikkas has busied himself systematically since 1983 with the interpretation, research and studying of Cypriot traditional music, drawing on his personal oral experiences, as heard from authentic performances, the interpretations of other older performers as well as the recordings of the few remaining older singers and instrumentalists, which he himself makes within the scope of his research activities. His main aim and dream is the preservation and dissemination of Cyprus demotic music and its natural re-institution in the entertainment of the Cypriots of today. Since 1987, he leads the "Mousa" (muse) musical troupe. They have appeared on a number of radio and television programmes both in Cyprus and abroad, while they have also participated in many folk music festivals as well as in other international events.

"Mousa" - Musical Troupe
The group was first formed in 1987 by Michalis Terlikkas, having as a lead member the acknowledged violinist, George Averoff. The group currently consists of: Michalis Terlikkas, Kostas Karpasitis, Panayiotis Nikolaides, Yiannis Souroullas, Nikos Souroullas.

What is significant is that it performs solely on original traditional instruments and is strictly devoted to the traditional style. Another important point is that, although the instrumentalists have knowledge of music, they apply the genuine old method of learning the songs by simply listening to them. Its repertoire is continuously enriched by Michalis Terlikkas’ research and authentic hearings.

Participating: Michalis Terlikkas - "Mousa", Thodoris Mermingas, Irene Toubaki
Artistic Director: Andreas Katsigiannis
General Co-Ordination: Antonis Koizas

Box Office Bookings
Nicosia:
Pallas Cinema - Theatre
Tel.: 22410181

Limassol:
Rialto Theatre
Tel.: 77777745
On-line www.rialto.com.cy

Municipal Garden Theatre
Tel.: 25343341, 25582268

The performance is part of the Kypria International Festival 2012