Manolis Mitsias (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Μανώλης Μητσιάς, ; born 26 February 1946) is a Greek singer. He has been a significant artistic presence in the

laïko Laïko or laïkó ( el, λαϊκό �ραγούδιlaïkó 'tragoúdi'' ; “ongof the people", "popular ong, pl: ''laïká'' 'tragoúdia'' is a Greek music genre composed in Greek language in accordance with the tradition of the Greek peopl ...

, light laïko and entekhno genres of modern Greek music.

Early life

Mitsias was born in the village of Doumpia, close to the town of

Polygyros Polygyros (Greek: Πολύγυρος) is a town and municipality in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is the capital of Chalkidiki. Geography Polygyros town (pop. 6,121 at the 2011 census) is built in the shape of an amphitheatre on a plateau on th ...

. From an early age, he was interested in

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

music and was a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

for a time period. Later, studying in Thessaloniki, he joined the 'Arts and Letters Club of Northern Greece' while at the same time founded a nightclub (boîte) where he began his career as a solo singer. His first record came in 1969, with the song 'Στην Ελευσίνα μια φορά' ('In

Elefsina Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...

Once'), written by

Dimos Moutsis Dimos Moutsis ( el, Δήμος Μούτσης, ; born 2 August 1938) is a Greek singer-songwriter and composer. Biography Moutsis was born in Piraeus. He was a student of the violin at the Athens Conservatoire from the age of seven and gradu ...

Collaborations

In nearly five decades of his career, Mitsias has worked with almost all of Greece (and Cyprus's) most well-known contemporary composers, such as the aforementioned Dimos Moutsis,

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He Film score, scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek (film) ...

Loukianos Kilaidonis Loukianos Kilaidonis (: 15 July 1943 – 7 February 2017) was a Greek composer, songwriter and singer. Biography Kilaidonis was born at Kypseli, Athens. He studied at the Lycée Léonin of Patissia. He then studied architecture at the Aristotle U ...

Manos Hatzidakis Manos Hatzidakis (also spelled Hadjidakis; el, Μάνος Χατζιδάκις; 23 October 1925 – 15 June 1994) was a Greek composer and theorist of Greek music, widely considered to be one of the greatest Greek composers and one of the most ...

Stavros Xarchakos Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (born 14 March 1939) is a Greek composer and conductor. Biography Stavros Xarchakos was born in Athens, where he studied at the Athens Conservatoire. He has family origins from the Man ...

Vassilis Tsitsanis Vassilis Tsitsanis ( el, Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης 18 January 1915 – 18 January 1984) was a Greece, Greek songwriter and bouzouki player. He became one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is widely regarded as one of the foun ...

Marios Tokas Marios Tokas ( el, Μάριος Τόκας) (8 June 1954 – 27 April 2008) was a Cypriot composer of traditional music born in Limassol, Cyprus. During the 1974 invasion, he fought as a soldier against the Turkish invaders. In 1975, he went to At ...

Giorgos Hatzinasios Giorgos Hatzinasios (also spelled Hadjinasios; el, Γιώργος Χατζηνάσιος, ; born 19 January 1942) is a Greek songwriter and composer. Early life Hatzinasios was born in Thessaloniki. His father was Agapios Hatzinasios, a na ...

Thanos Mikroutsikos Athanasios "Thanos" Mikroutsikos ( el, Αθανάσιος (Θάνος) Μικρούτσικος; 13 April 1947 – 28 December 2019) was a Greek composer and politician. He is considered one of the most important composers of the recent Greek mu ...

Yannis Markopoulos Yannis Markopoulos ( el, Γιάννης Μαρκόπουλος; born 18 March 1939) is a Greek composer. Biography Early life and education Yannis Markopoulos was born in 1939 in Heraklion, Crete. From one of the old families of the island— ...

Giannis Spanos Ioannes "Giannis" Spanos ( el, Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Σπανός, ; 26 July 1934 – 30 October 2019), also transliterated as Yannis Spanos, was a Greek music composer and lyricist. In his early days as a musician he was also a piano ac ...

and

Stamatis Kraounakis Stamatis Kraounakis ( el, Σταμάτης Κραουνάκης) is a Greek music composer, music producer, lyricist, writer and director. He was born and lives in Athens and has studied Political Science in Panteion University. He has composed ...

, to name but a few. He has sung lyrics by many Greek poets and lyricists and even Spanish writer

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

. In terms of fellow singers, he has worked with

Maria Farantouri Maria Farantouri or Farandouri ( el, Μαρία Φαραντούρη; born 28 November 1947 in Athens) is a Greek singer and also a political and cultural activist. She has collaborated with Greek composers such as Mikis Theodorakis, who wrote the ...

Dimitra Galani Dimitra Galani ( el, Δήμητρα Γαλανή) is a Greek singer and songwriter. Galani was born 1952 in Athens and began her musical career at the age of 16 providing vocals on several tracks of Dimos Moutsis and Nikos Gatsos on the album "A ...

Vicky Moscholiou Vicky Moscholiou (Greek: Βίκυ Μοσχολιού, ; 23 May 1943 – 16 August 2005), born in Metaxourgeio in Athens, was a Greek singer. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked her the 13th top-certified female artist in the nation's phonographic er ...

Babis Stokas Babis Stokas (Greek: Μπάμπης Στόκας) is a Greek singer and songwriter. He was a founding member of the Entekhno/Rock group Pyx Lax (Πυξ Λαξ), in which he was lead singer, lyricist, and composer from 1989 until the dissolution ...

Sotiria Bellou Sotiria Bellou ( el, Σωτηρία Μπέλλου) (August 22, 1921 – August 27, 1997) was a Greek singer and performer of the ''rebetiko'' style of music. She was one of the most famous ''rebetisa'' of all, mentioned in many music guides, a ...

and others. He has appeared in concert around Greece and Cyprus and for Greek audiences abroad (London, New York and other cities). During the summer of 2009, he celebrated forty years of his career.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitsias, Manolis 1946 births 20th-century Greek male singers Greek laïko singers Living people People from Chalkidiki