The Smyrnaic Songs We Loved Are Coming to the «Hellenic Cosmos» Cultural Centre!

ANDREAS KATSIGIANNIS and ESTOUDIANTINA
GLYKERIA - PANTELIS THALASSINOS
THODORIS MERMIGKAS AND SOFIA MERMIGKA
Monday 5, Tuesday 6, Monday 12, and Tuesday 13 February 2024

Andreas Katsigiannis, the composer of the theatrical play and the film "My Beloved Smyrna", comes for two unique concerts at the "Theatron" of the «Hellenic Cosmos» Cultural Centre. This is the same venue where Mimi Denissi's theatrical performance was sold out for three consecutive years.

Along with the Estoudiantina Neas Ionias, Glykeria, Pantelis Thalassinos, Thodoris Mermigkas, and Sofia Mermigka, they will perform musical moments and songs from both the play and the film, written by Mimi Denissi and directed by Grigoris Karantinakis.

A concert filled with the aromas of our beloved Smyrna.

With original songs by Andreas Katsigiannis as well as all the beloved traditional Smyrnaic songs. When we talk about Smyrna, we almost always mentally transport ourselves to its bloodstained soil. However, it is worth remembering that beautiful years preceded, with respect for institutions, traditions, and peaceful and creative coexistence.

Years when Turks, Armenians, Jews, and Levantines coexisted peacefully, spoke, and sang in Greek. No one seemed to ever sleep in this city. Songs were heard until dawn accompanied by nightingales.

A concert - a journey to our beloved Smyrna.

ANDREAS KATSIGIANNIS

The versatile composer, conductor, and creator of the legendary Estoudiantina Neas Ionias, Andreas Katsigiannis, comes from a musical family with influences from rebetiko songs, the great Greek creators, and Byzantine music. He studied Byzantine Music under the top cantors Manolis Chatzimarkos and Michalis Meletis, and advanced theory at the Municipal Conservatory of Volos.

He has collaborated as a soloist on the santouri with top Greek and foreign composers and as a songwriter with the most important Greek singers. Since the early 2010s, Andreas Katsigiannis has become widely known through his musical creations for Greek theater, television, and cinema. He has composed music for many documentaries on modern Greek history as well as foreign productions concerning the protection of the planet and ecology. His music is included in dozens of record collections worldwide.

ESTOUDIANTINA NEAS IONIAS

The Estoudiantina Neas Ionias draws its name and origin from the famous Greek orchestra Estoudiantina, which was born in Smyrna and traveled the world from 1898 to 1921.

Following in the footsteps of its history and musicians, the new Estoudiantina was created in 1998 in Nea Ionia, Magnesia. Its founder and artistic director is the musician and composer Andreas Katsigiannis.

Since its first appearance in 1999 in the Municipality of Nea Ionia, Magnesia, the orchestra has played at major international festivals and has traveled across Greece, interpreting with its unique style the treasures of our musical tradition and contemporary creations of high aesthetic quality.

GLYKERIA

From her first steps in singing, Glykeria, with her warm and expressive voice, has taken Greeks on a journey through the paths of our Eastern tradition. We adore her as she is adored beyond our borders.

Glykeria is one of the great voices of contemporary Greek music, with very interesting roots. A performer who can transform any song in her unique way, always respecting its style. With full knowledge of her technical means, she communicates with the songs and with the audience, with performances that flow like clear water quenching the thirst for direct and meaningful communication, always with music and lyrics as the vehicle.

PANTELIS THALASSINOS

For thirty years, he has taken us on journeys with his songs. Tradition, always present as spirit and essence, gives him the push and vision to articulate his fresh and original proposal. Pantelis Thalassinos' songs open like sunflowers, smiling broadly at the sun and illuminating us. He has collaborated with great names both in Greece and abroad (Salvadore Adamo, Compay Segundo Grupo, etc.).

THODORIS MERMIGKAS

He started engaging with music and the art of singing at the age of 11. His teacher was Nikos Karachalios, followed by the great teacher of Traditional Music, Domna Samiou. He won the first prize in Traditional Singing for two consecutive years in the Panhellenic Music Competition of the Ministry of Education.

To this day, he has collaborated with many top musicians and singers and has recorded dozens of modern and traditional songs, with many performances in concerts in Greece and abroad.

SOFIA MERMIGKA

Whether as a singer or as a musician on the qanun, she showcases her talent with a focus on tradition. She introduced herself to the general public in 2015 through the film "Ouzeri Tsitsanis" directed by Manousos Manousakis, performing simply and reverently, songs by the great Greek composer. In 2021, in the film "My Beloved Smyrna," she uniquely sang the traditional song "Apo Ta Glyka Sou Matia."