The Music of Manos Hadjidakis with
Nikos Kouroupakis
Yanna Katsageorgi
Petros Hatjopoulos, Music Director
The Hellenic Musical Society Choir
Spiros Exaras, guitar
Kostas Psarros, bouzouki
Theodore Tsinias, percussion
29th Street
ASTORIA, NY
Saturday March 4th, 2023 8pm
CULTURAL
STATHAKION
CENTER 22-51
Synthesis Cultural
Foundation, Inc. is an organization that develops, promotes and cultivates interest in American and Greek literature, drama, arts, education and charity. It was founded in 2011.
Yanna Katsageorgi studied Political Science and Law at the Kapodistrian University of Athens and worked as a lawyer for the Greek Composers Association, the Arab Hellenic Bank, and the European Union. Singing was her hobby until she was discovered by Manos Hadjidakis in 1982, who entrusted her with yet unpublished songs in the first performance for the show "Pornografia." Following the great success of "Panagia ton Patision," one of the songs on the CD that followed the performance, she collaborated on concerts, performances, and recordings with Giorgos Marinos, Dionysis
Savvopoulos, Adelfoi Katsimiha, Lina Nikolakopoulou, Spiros Exaras, Laki Pappa, Iakovos Campanellis, Dionysis Tsaknis, Thodori Xidia, and many others. In 1993, she moved to New York where she worked as an editor in charge of international articles at the newspaper "Proini." Later, she worked at NGtv covering international news and then at the New York Press Office for two years. In 2002, she returned to Greece and worked as an editor for the newspapers "Kathimerini" and "Pontiki," as well as for the Lambrakis Foundation's publications "Vita" and "Body and Soul." She has made numerous TV appearances as both an artist and a journalist. In 2010, she returned to New York, and since 2018, she has been the editorin-chief of the print edition of the newspaper "National Herald."
Nikos Kouroupakis was born in Athens and at the age of 6 along with his family , they immigrated to New York City. His father from Ierapetra, Crete and his mother from Vroutsi, Amorgos . His first professional collaboration was with George Dallaras and Dimitra Galani in 1992 on a North American tour . In 1995 he moved to Greece and began his collaboration with Harris Alexiou on her European tour and then on to Athens for concerts. In 1997 he made his first steps in the recording industry on Nikos Zoudiaris album " Afilio ". He was quickly recognized as a strong upcoming voice in contemporary Greek music. From the summer of 2000 to summer 2002 he collaborated closely with Dimitri Mitropano on concerts in Australia , Europe and Greece . In 2002 was the year he, Erofili and Dimitri Yfandis met and formed the vocal group " Trifono . His dream to sing in the ancient theater Herodion at the Acropolis in Athens came true in 2003 with Notis Mavroudis . Not too long after, he was invited by Mikis Theodorakis to sing with the Theodorakis orchestra and Nena Venetsanou in the forbidden city in Beijing , China. Niko has also collaborated with Stamati Kraounaki, Lina Nikolakopoulou and Niko Antypa. He has written music for two children's books one of which was in the top 5 best children's books in Greece in 2009 .
Yannis Magiros, is a graduate of the Athens College of Advanced Electronics 1973, who completed his engineering studies in Electrical Engineering, with a B.S degree from New York Institute of Technology, and M.S Degree from The Ohio State University in 1977. A self-taught guitarist, musician and singer joined the St.George Greek Orthodox Church Choir and the Hellenic Musical Society Choir of Clifton NJ in 1995. In 2013 Yannis dedicated his conducting talent, succeeding the late Dr. George Tzanakos, in directing both choirs to date in many performances in the Greek Communities.
Petros Hatjopoulos is a Pianist and Conductor, born in Thessaloniki, Greece. He has been playing the piano since the age of 5. He represented his hometown in a series of concerts and recitals around Europe and represented Greece in the Sonenberg European Conference of Young Conductors at the age of 20. Moved to NYC and studied Classical Piano Performance and Music Education at NYU and Orchestral Conducting at Juilliard. He has played numerous classical and Greek music performances in the US, composed music for radio, TV, ballet, as well as orchestral pieces, children's musicals, and theater. He has also conducted choirs and orchestras in recordings and performances around the world. He represented the US in the International Festival of Sydney, Australia in 1997, served as an organist at St. Nicholas in Flushing, and taught music at the Holy Trinity Cathedral School in NYC. In 1999, he founded the Archdiocesan Children's Choir and was its first director. He also directed the choirs at the Church of Our Savior in Rye, NY for 21 years.Petros founded and served as President of GMTV, the first global Greek music TV channel which broadcast to the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Australia via satellite. Currently, he teaches at the University of Bridgeport and in the New Haven Public Schools. He is the Dean of Music at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Hartford, CT. He serves on the the Board of Synthesis Cultural Foundation since 2022.
HMS Choir
The Hellenic Musical Society was founded in 1990, by the late distinguished physicist, inventor and passionate scholar of Byzantine and Western music Dr.George Tzanakos, with one mission “to preserve and promote contemporary and traditional Greek music in the NYC metro.
Spiros Exaras, guitar
Of Exaras’s work, Al Di Meola says, “The sophistication and eloquence one can hear makes it clear to me that Spiros Exaras’s way of executing guitar is compelling and beautiful.”
Spiros Exaras is an internationally acclaimed musician, regarded as a master of fusing musical cultures. In his native Greece, Spiros has been a featured player with the Greek National Radio Television Orchestra (ERT), the Orchestra of Colors, Kamerata Symphony Orchestra, as well as working with such acclaimed artists such as Yannis Markopoulos, Mario Frangoulis, Alkistis Protopsalti, Evanthia Reboutsika, Elias Andriopoulos, Petros Gaitanos, Lina Nikolakopoulou, Mado, Alexia and Kostas Hatzis. Internationally, Spiros has played with such artists as Shirley Bassey, Mark Murphy, Randy Brecker, Jon Benitez, Hernan Romero, Matt Garrison, Ray Vega, Tessa Souter, JD Walter, and Joel Rosenblatt as well as Grammy Award-winners, Dave Valentin, Gerardo Velez and Arturo O’Farrill. Exaras also played the searing guitar solo on Mariah Carey’s platinum hit, “My All.” His film and theater scoring includes Everything For a Reason, Niko’s Restaurant, Just Cause, the plays Gallathea, and The Hand And Hen, in addition to numerous commercials. He has released 11 personal albums and 5 Singles, while he has participated in numerous CDs. Spiros is a guest composer/guitarist on Achilles Liarmakopoulos and Lina Orfanos works. www.spirosexaras.com
Kostas Psarros, bouzouki
Born in Athens, Greece and raised in a musical family, his father being a prominent bouzouki player and his mother a professional singer of rebetika and other traditional Greek music. He began studying classical guitar at the age of ten before moving to the U.S. in 1987. At 16, he started playing the bouzouki. He has performed in numerous prestigious music halls in New York City, including Merkin Hall, St. John the
Divine, Lincoln Center, Joe's Pub, and Skirball Cnt at NYU. He also accompanied Greek singer G. Dalaras at his performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in ’03. He played in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Detroit, Charlotte, D.C., St. Louis (U. of Missouri), Yale University, and Cornell University. He has toured with the Mikrokosmos Ensemble and performed with singer Gregory Maninakis on the Greek island of Lemnos in 2004. Kostas holds degrees in music and music education from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. He currently teaches chorus, guitar, and general music in the New York Public Schools. Kostas also wrote music and performed for the hard rock band Phoenix Reign. Their debut album, "Destination Unknown," was released in 2007 and has received positive reviews from magazines and websites around the world, including the United States, Greece, Germany, Norway, Serbia, Brazil, and Japan. He performed at Carnegie hall with the Mikis Theodorakis popular orchestra.
Theodoros Tsinias
is a drummer, percussionist, composer, and artist who currently resides in New York. He was awarded for his multimedia project "Wrapped Up in Our Colored World," in collaboration with Alexandros Lambrovassilis from the CCNY Orca project in 2021. He served as the composer for the play "Perspectives of War," produced by the eclipses group theater in 2021. He also composed the score for the short film "Freedom," produced by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in 2021. Furthermore, he created the original score, performed in, and produced the multimedia art project "Wrapped Up in Our Colored World" in collaboration with visual artist Alexandros
Lambrovassillis at the Orca Symposium in 2021. He collaborated with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts for their seven-week program of the Ancient Greek theater as a composer, arranger, and percussionist from 2020-2022. He was the percussionist and arranger for the musical "FauxBia! The Musical" at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall in 2018. In 2022, Theodoros had the privilege of being the percussionist for pop artist Despina Vandi during an event celebrating the 100th-year anniversary of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. He was also honored to have apprenticed under the great jazz drummer and educator Carl Allen. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Music from City College and received an Associate degree in Arts with honors from LAGCC.
Bounce Music and Entertainment is an award-winning company recognized as one of the premier entertainment providers for New York corporate events.
Bounce caters to the corporate professionals coming to New York for group travel, incentive programs, award galas, and other related special events and programs. We provide both custom and turn-key music and entertainment for DMC’s, corporate event planners and incentive houses. With our one-of-a-kind New York themed parties, we’ll make sure that you and your employees have a great time. After all, that’s what they deserve!"
Bounce Music and Entertainment is an award-winning company recognized as one of the premier entertainment providers for New York corporate events.
Bounce caters to the corporate professionals coming to New York for group travel, incentive programs, award galas, and other related special events and programs. We provide both custom and turn-key music and entertainment for DMC’s, corporate event planners and incentive houses. With our one-of-a-kind New York themed parties, we’ll make sure that you and your employees have a great time. After all, that’s what they deserve!"
Maria & Thomas Zoitas
Congratulations And Best of Luck!
ερασιτέχνης < ερασι- (< ἔραμαι) + -τεχνης (< τέχνη)
Grateful to our Sponsors James Northrop John Frederick
Ioulia Bollanos
Marina Bollanos
Eythymios Daniskas
Angelo Douvlaris
Alice Eliades
Kaliope Logothetis
Sophia Logothetis
Yannis Magiros
Alekos Makris
Ioulia Bollanos
Peter Giannoglou
Marina Bollanos
Ross Halkias
Eythymios Daniskas
Kostas Hatziemanuel
Angelo Douvlaris
Athina Kavallari
Alice Eliades
Magdalene Koutsouradis
Socrates Kyritsis
Demos Michael
Kaliope Logothetis
Dina Papadakos
Sophia Logothetis
Kostas Papademas
Yannis Magiros
Diana Pitsikoulis
Alekos Makris
Chris Tsamutalis
Demos Michael
Peter Giannoglou
Ross Halkias
Kostas Hatziemanuel
Nikos Zygakis
Dina Papadakos
Kostas Papademas
Diana Pitsikoulis
Athina Kavallari
Chris Tsamutalis
The team: Special thanks
Magdalene Koutsouradis
Video Production @Ermma
Asst Stage Manager: Reagan Seamus
Nikos Zygakis
Live Sound, Audio Engineering: Bradford Hatjopoulos
Socrates Kyritsis
Marketing: The Conservatory LTD trebleclef.org
Graphic Design: George Callaway
Live Sound, Audio Engineering: Bradford Hatjopoulos
Payment Processing: Mary Hall, The C@R
Video Production @Ermma
Asst Stage Manager: Reagan Seamus
Marketing: The Conservatory LTD trebleclef.org
Kleanthis Meimaroglou
Graphic Design: George Callaway
Stavros Papagermanos
Payment Processing: Mary Hall, The C@R
Fotis Papagermanos @fotisphotoone
Chris Papson @rediprint
HMS Choir members: The team: Special thanks
Kleanthis Meimaroglou
Our Media Sponsor COSMOSFM @cosmosFM915
Stelios Taketzis
Stavros Papagermanos
Fotis Papagermanos @fotisphotoone
Dimitris Fillios
Nikos Stamatakis
Chris Papson @rediprint
Aphrodyte Daniel & Syn-Phonia Entertainment
Our Media Sponsor COSMOSFM @cosmosFM915
Stelios Taketzis
Spiros Cardamis “Motion is Lotion” @spiramus
Dimitris Fillios
Nikos Stamatakis
Aphrodyte Daniel & Syn-Phonia Entertainment
Spiros Cardamis “Motion is Lotion” @spiramus
