Chronis Aidonidis ( el, Χρόνης Αηδονίδης) is a Greek singer born on December 23, 1928 in Karoti, a village now belonging to

Didymoteicho Didymoteicho ( el, Διδυμότειχο, Didymóteicho ) is a city located on the eastern edge of the Evros regional unit of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, in northeastern Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name. The town ...

, in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. His parents were Christos and Chrysanthi Aidonidis. He learned his first songs in his hometown and was introduced into the word of traditional music by his mother and the musicians who used to play at the local fairs.

Biography

He was taught

Byzantine music Byzantine music (Greek: Βυζαντινή μουσική) is the music of the Byzantine Empire. Originally it consisted of songs and hymns composed to Greek texts used for courtly ceremonials, during festivals, or as paraliturgical and liturgical ...

first by his father and later by the professor Michalis Kefalokoptis. In 1950, he came to live in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

with his parents, where he completed his studies in Byzantine music at the Hellenic Conservatory with the famous teacher Theodoros Hadjitheodorou. In March of the same year, he was hired at the Sismanogleion Hospital, where he worked as an account. An important incident changed his life, when in 1953 the great folklore scientist Polydoros Papachristodoulou proposed him to participate in his radio show entitled ''Echoes from

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

'', presenting for the first time the musical treasure of his fatherland. Till now, Chronis Aidonidis has released many records with the most beautiful songs of northern, eastern and western

. He has participated in hundreds of musical events in

and abroad (

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

). An important step of his artistic journey was his especially successful collaboration with the well-known Greek singer

George Dalaras George Dalaras ( Γιώργος Νταλάρας, 29 September 1949) is a Greek musician and singer. He is one of the most prominent figures of Greek musical culture. In October 2006, he was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Ag ...

for the release of the CD ''Nightingales from the

Orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...

'' in March, 1990. The success would continue with one more release of the

University of Crete The University of Crete (UoC; Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης) is a multi-disciplinary, research-oriented institution in Crete, Greece, located in the cities of Rethymno (official seat) and Heraklion, and one of the country's most aca ...

, in 1993: the double CD ''Songs and tunes from

''. Another important moment of his career is his collaboration with his student Nektaria Karantzi for the release of the double CD, ''When the Roads Meet'', where he recorded ''Byzantine Ecclesiastical Hymns'' for the first time and the CD ''He was Grieved'', where he recorded with his student Karantzi 40 Byzantine hymns of the

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

and a folk lament. In 2001, he collaborated with Nikos Kypourgos for the release of a CD entitled ''Secrets from the Garden''. During the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

in 2004, Chronis Aidonidis addressed a warm welcome to all the guests of

, in a unique way, singing affectionately the song ''Welcome my friends''. In 2005, he participated in the Easter

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

Hellenic Television Hellenic Television may refer to: *Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, Greek state broadcaster *New Hellenic Television, second television network of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation *Hellenic TV Hellenic TV (HTV) is a United Kingdom-based G ...

entitled ''"He was grieved"'', where he sang Byzantine

hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

of the

and in 2006 he participated in the 6th Festival of Sacred Music in

Patmos Patmos ( el, Πάτμος, ) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where John of Patmos received the visions found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written. One of the northernmos ...

, with his student and Byzantine singer Karantzi and the ecclesiastical Byzantine choir, Glorifier (led by Dimitris Verykios). Nowadays he teaches traditional singing in Chalandri, at the Zisis Foundation and the Central Conservator in

. He is artistic director of the Center for the study of the Musical Tradition of Thrace, Asia Minor and Euxeinos Pontos and also the creator and inspirer of the Workshop for Traditional Music in

Alexandroupoli Alexandroupolis ( el, Αλεξανδρούπολη, ), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Western Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It h ...

. He is also one of the founders of the Archive of Greek Music.

External links

Official Site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aidonidis, Chronis 1928 births Living people People from Didymoteicho 20th-century Greek male singers Greek folk singers Performers of Byzantine music Traditional musicians Byzantine singers