Yiorgos Kaloudis (born in 1973) is a
Greek cellist and
Cretan lyra player.
Biography
Born in Athens, he grew up in families of musical origin (
Crete &
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
). He lived and experienced music from the families of his parents, which included many musicians from various genres and styles of music. Therefore, most symphonic instruments of the orchestra were available to him at an early age, as well as traditional musical instruments. He started playing
piano and
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
with his parents, but his love was focused on the stringed musical instruments. First with the
Cretan Lyra, the
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
and the
guitar from his grandparents, continuing the family tradition as the fourth generation of lyra players, and then the cello, as the third generation in the violin family.
Athletic career
From 1988 to December 1997 he was member of the Greek National Track and Field Team, competing in the 5 km, 10 km and 20 km
racewalking events.In 1990, at the International
Race Walking Meeting in Czechoslovakia he established the national record in a 20 km walk (Juniors category), which was beaten only after 22 years (2012). In 1991 at the European Championships (Junior) held in Thessaloniki, with the name Yeóryios Papagiannakis, he got the 12th position in the 10 km indoor walk. He is still today one of the top 20 performers in the history of Greek race walking.
Musical career
Yiorgos Kaloudis studied cello at th
Athenaeum Conservatorywith Claire Demeulenere and, thanks to the
Fulbright Program, in Los Angeles under the tutelage of
Ted Greene. He also studied cello for a year with Renato Ripo in Athens, and with Vitaliy Maltese in Rethymnon.
Before publishing as a solo artist he was a member of Greek jazz-fusion group ''Occasional Dream'' (''Περιστασιακό Όνειρο'').
His solo discography consists of five records: ''Truth'' (2005), ''On the Wind'' (2009), ''J.S.BACH: Cello Suites on the Cretan lyra'' (2016-2017), ''Aptera'' (2018) and ''Driopi'' (2020).
He performed the
Cello suites
The six Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012, are suites for unaccompanied cello by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). They are some of the most frequently performed solo compositions ever written for cello. Bach most likely composed them during the p ...
of
Bach with the Cretan lyra, maintaining the tonalities of the original work. This was the very first time that a Greek traditional instrument interpreted classical music. The lyra he used to play the suites is a special four-string instrument (with an added low C string ) that was designed and built solely for this purpose.
The concerts of Yiorgos Kaloudis feature an extensive use of live loop recording and a combination of elements from classical, ambient, jazz and world music.
In July 2017 he re-opened the ancient theatre of Aptera, in Crete, that after almost 1700 years was hosting its first event.
Beyond being a solo artist he also collaborates on the projects of songwriter
Alkinoos Ioannidis
Alkinoos Ioannidis ( el, Αλκίνοος Ιωαννίδης; born 19 September 1969) is a Greek Cypriot composer, lyricist, singer, and orchestrator.
He was born in Nicosia on 19 September 1969. His artistic family, with a painter father and p ...
. Since 2011 they give concerts together in many venues, churches and concert halls around the world. As a soloist he collaborated with the
Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the
Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
He performed in
New York International Fringe Festival, Rome Biennale for Young Artists, in
Manchester Jazz Festival and in
Celtic Connections among the others.
He played along with
Steve Tavaglione,
Sylvan Richardson,
Karine Polwart,
Markus Stockhausen
Markus Stockhausen (born May 2, 1957) is a German trumpeter and composer. His recordings and performances have typically alternated between jazz and chamber or opera music, the latter often in collaboration with his father, composer Karlheinz Sto ...
, saxophonist David Lynch, pianists Stavros Lantsias, Takis Farazis, and the groups Lemoncello, Faros, Furtuna and The Chosen.
Discography
Solo albums
* 2005 -
Truth' (Dna Label)
* 2009 -
On The Wind' (Dna Label)
* 2016 -
J.S. BACH Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra' (World Premier Recording, Dna Label)
* 2017 -
J.S. BACH Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra'
[Yiorgos Kaloudis on BBC Μusic https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/c5f66a34-c12c-44c8-9492-e213014f2dda] (World Premier Recording, Dna Label)
* 2018 -
Aptera' (Dna Label)
* 2020 -
Driopi' (Dna Label)
with Occasional Dream
* 2001 - ''Peristasiako Oneiro'' (Περιστασιακό Όνειρο) (Lyra, Mikros Iros)
with Furtuna
* 2007 - ''Furtuna'' (KAF Müzik)
External links
''Official site'' ''yiorgoskaloudismusic.com''
''Official site'' ''classicalcretanlyra.com''
page''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaloudis, Yiorgos
Living people
1973 births
Greek cellists
Musicians from Athens