By Penny Zalalas
It was obvious from a young age that talented brothers Matthaios and Konstantinos Tsahouridis would take the musical world by storm, as from the age of 9 both had already made their mark as perceptive performers.
Born in Veria, they embarked on a harmonic journey that has turned them into award winning global musicians. Having performed at Buckingham Palace in front of royalty and to celebrities worldwide, they have played at an array of high profile events, orchestras and symphonies.
Individually, Konstantinos' has a unique and mesmerising voice that belts out opera, traditional and contemporary genres in a variety of languages including Greek, English, Italian and Spanish. He is known to blow his audiences away with his vocal range and dynamic voice quality.
His brother Matthaios' plays the Pontic lyra and has been called the world's best performer of this unique and powerful Greek instrument, which he uses to express his utmost respect for the music he adores. He has also been widely praised for playing the violin, laghouto (Greek lute), Turkish oud, bouzouki, guitar, Persian kamancheh, Lorestan kamancheh (Iran), Afghan rubab, as well as the Afghan and the Uzbek ghichaks.
Together, since 2010 they have been performing ‘Body and Soul’ (Psihi kai Soma) which is a musical project conceived, arranged and produced by Konstantinos and blends Greek music with eastern and western influences. The magical sound of the Pontic lyra is the major influence of the show, which has achieved sold out concerts in almost all major Greek musical venues and cities throughout Germany, Russia, the U.S, Canada, Cyprus and Sweden- to name a few.
Next month they are bringing this astonishing musical event to Australia and all proceeds will go towards The Hellenic Initiative- a program providing crisis relief to those in need throughout Greece.
Along with an eight- piece orchestra, the boys will be performing traditional songs and music from Pontos and Epiros, to well-known Greek songs and classic western compositions- giving it more of a universal appeal.
Matthaios and Konstantinos are planning on taking their Australian audiences on a splendid journey to the musical borders and you can expect to hear Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Rodrigo, as well as the tradition of Kazantzidis and other global sounds.
GCT recently spoke to Matthaois -who is currently touring in Germany- about their much anticipated upcoming tour and the brothers love of world music.
When did your passion for music begin?
Since the early childhood, we vividly remember our grandfather together with our father performing the Potic lyra in our house. Its sound travelled through them into our “Body and Soul”. It was Christmas 1988 when my young brother Konstantinos was singing the traditional Pontic Christmas carols. I asked my father to pass me the lyra into my hands. That was it! My passion for this unique musical instrument is the same since these early years of performing with my brother who also followed the same path of music.
Many years of research and study followed on and we ended up in London. We both hold doctorates in Performance Practice at Goldsmiths University of London. And because of the academic background, we would describe our music as “heavily constructed”, a term that justifies the academia behind it, and “soulful”, because it derives from an aurally transmitted musical tradition. When we have a case of an aural tradition, the performer has the privilege to experience all senses of expression of the musical tradition who comes from and perform it at its best way, simply because of the experience of the older generations.
Tell us what your Australian audience can expect from your upcoming 'Body and Soul' Tour?
Our music repertory applies to a wider audience, not just those of Greek origin. We perform a global music repertory including ethnic, classical, pop, world, jazz, English, our own compositions and of course the music that we grew up with, Greek. The Australian audience will also experience somehow an unexpected approach to the musical performance.
It is the Pontic lyra, still an unknown traditional musical instrument to the world. We break through the barriers of its own musical tradition and we unfold the musical possibilities and playing techniques of the instrument.
The surprise is always when the lyra performs operatic repertory and well known world music themes, from George Michael and “Careless Whisper” to “Waltzing Matilda”. The same happens with the human voice. The way the voice of Konstantinos blends with the Pontic lyra is something that we will leave up to the audience to experience.
What do you enjoy most about performing live?
It is the energy, the adrenaline, and the sense of experiencing a new way of performance every time we are on the stage. It’s the feeling of the music when it is performed live, that of the musicians who play it, and the response of the audience towards us. Then you find yourself right in the middle, trying to surpass every time your level of musicianship and offer something completely new and fresh into the ears of both the audience and the music. This challenge is what keeps us going when performing live really. It is the ‘authenticity’ of the moment, a moment that will never be the same or repeated again. That is what we enjoy the most in live performances. Because they are real.
Have you toured in Australia before and what would you like to gain from this experience?
Some of the members of our team have been two and three times to Australia and some none. But what is unique every time, is the response of the Australian audience. We wound characterise it as expressive, warm, open to the new ideas and to new musical experiments, as well as educated. You see in Australia, because of its multi-cultural background, people know how to respect a foreign culture and welcome nearly all aspects of a new civilisation with great understanding. We strongly believe that after this tour in Australia, we will become more diverse and ‘richer’ with our music performance experience, as well as ‘enriched’ with emotions.
What have been some of the highlights of your performances thus far?
Every performance has a sentimental and important value to us. We give particular attention to the response of the audience and we take very seriously the fact that every time we perform, we have to ‘unfold the truth’ of our music. However, if we are about to highlight some of the most important ones, we would select this at the Buckingham Palace with Prince Charles, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Athens Concert Hall “Megaron Mousikis” and the most recent one in Moscow, at the Historic Palace of the Kremlin.
The Hellenic Initiative (THI) will be receiving the profits of this concert, can you please tell us how important you think THI is to the youth of Greece at the moment?
Investing in the future of Greece through direct philanthropy and economic revitalisation, should be a moto of life for all Greeks today. The youth of Greece is critical to economic recovery and renewal. By reigniting the Greek entrepreneurial spirit THI can unleash a wave of innovation and creation, slowing the “brain drain” of young professionals by giving them a reason to stay in Greece and transform ideas into successful businesses. We believe in the youth of Greece. It is bright and promising for the future. We are not just privileged to support THI, we are honoured to be part of this.
'BODY AND SOUL' CONCERT DETAILS →
♦ Perth, November 25 - Octagon Theatre University of Western Australia
♦ Melbourne, November 27- Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University
♦ Adelaide, December 2- Royalty Theatre, 65 Angas Street, Adelaide
♦ Sydney, December 3 - Clancy Auditorium, University of New South Wales
Get tickets here https://www.tsahouridistour.com.au/#intro
Bravo and God Bless you both. If you play with music outdoors http://www.windwynder.com Complimentary from a fellow Greek! Mary Semerzakis- Tolokan