Eleftheria Arvanitaki (
Greek: Ελευθερία Αρβανιτάκη) (born 17 October 1957 in
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...
) is a
Greek folk singer. She originates from the island of
Icaria. Arvanitaki has worked with important musicians, such as
Cesária Évora,
Arto Tunçboyacıyan
Arto Tunçboyacıyan ( hy, Արտո Թունջբոյաջյան; hyw, Արթօ Թունճպոյաճեան, Art'ō T'unjpoyajean; born August 4, 1957) is a United States-based avant-garde folk and jazz multi-instrumentalist and singer of Armenian ...
,
Ara Dinkjian
Ara Dinkjian ( hy, Արա Տինքճեան; born June 18, 1958) is an Armenian-American musician. He is the founder of the band Night Ark. Dinkjian is considered one of the top oud players in the world, his compositions have been recorded in thir ...
. On 14 March 2010
Alpha TV ranked her the sixth top-certified female artist in the nation's phonographic era (since 1960).
[''Chart Show: Your Countdown''. Alpha TV. Airdate: March 14, 2010]
Career
Arvanitaki started her singing career in 1980, by joining the group Opisthodromiki Kompania (''Οπισθοδρομική Κομπανία'', "Retrograde Company") and in 1981 she had her first guest appearance on a CD, by being featured in the album of
Vangelis Germanos
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...
titled "Ta Barakia". She broke away from the group and started a solo career in 1984 with her album ''
Eleftheria Arvanitaki
Eleftheria Arvanitaki (Greek: Ελευθερία Αρβανιτάκη) (born 17 October 1957 in Piraeus) is a Greek folk singer. She originates from the island of Icaria. Arvanitaki has worked with important musicians, such as Cesária Évora, Ar ...
''.
In August 2004, she participated in the closing ceremony of the
Athens Olympics.
She has performed in several
WOMAD and other festivals. In 2006 she took part in the Christmas concert "Frostroses" in Reykjavik, Iceland as a part of a group of singers named "European Divas". The other "divas" were
Sissel Kyrkjebø (Norway),
Eivør Pálsdóttir (Faroe Islands),
Petula Clark (UK), Ragga Gisla (Iceland) and Patricia Bardon (Ireland).
Thanks to her contract with
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
's
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
label
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, ...
, her music has enjoyed international release and exposure to some extent.
Verve
Verve may refer to:
Music
* The Verve, an English rock band
* ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve
* ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album)
* Verve Records, an American jazz record label
Businesses
* Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...
has subsequently assigned her to the
EmArcy
EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company.
During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Clifford Brown ...
label,
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a t ...
's European
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
arm, whose focus includes developing local European talent to an international calibre. Her recordings are all generally produced under her native signing with
Universal Music Greece.
She is a cousin of award-winning Greek Australian filmmaker
Anthony Maras
Anthony Maras is a multi award-winning Greek-Australian film director, writer and producer born in Adelaide, South Australia.
Maras' debut feature film ''Hotel Mumbai'' explores the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and stars Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, ...
.
Discography
References
External links
Official SiteBiography(GR)fro
music.net.cy
Other interesting external links
Interview: Eleftheria Arvanitaki, the greek muses sing Rembetika (2012)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arvanitaki, Eleftheria
1957 births
Living people
Musicians from Piraeus
20th-century Greek women singers
Greek entehno singers
Greek laïko singers
MAD Video Music Awards winners
Universal Music Greece artists
21st-century Greek women singers