Following the recent success of the Yannis Kotsiras tour of Australia, two of the biggest names in the Greek entertainment industry will be travelling Down Under to perform for the Greek diaspora and music lovers in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide starting from May this year.
The news, confirmed by Giant Entertainment, will see Greece's greatest living bouzouki player Polykandriotis with the son of legend, Stelios Dionisiou joined by Agni Kaloumenou, Kostas Palangas and The Maestro, Nikolaos Stratigos performing for Australian audiences.
Joining them is the greatest ensemble of Greek musicians ever assembled in Australia including 30 musicians, singers, and dancers who combine their supreme talents in spectacular fashion, paying tribute to the musical icons of the past hundred years.
If you missed last year's event, here is your chance to see what all the fuss was about! Considered to be the best concert of the past 50 years by many who attended, this really is a concert not to be missed!
The magic of Theodorakis, Kazantzidis, Marinella, Dalaras, Alexiou, Demis Roussos, Nana Mouskouri and the inimitable Maria Callas is brought to life in a concert of epic proportions.
Polykandriotis dazzled the world with his army of bouzouki players at the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics, and introduced music lovers to the beauty and power of the quintessential Greek instrument that is the bouzouki.
The Australian concert extravaganza will be directed by the critically acclaimed Penny Pavlakis, who after more than 25 years of performing on the world Opera and Contemporary stages, will grace the stage and join in presenting Australian audiences with memorable classics and a performance for the ages.
All tickets can be purchased at www.giantentertainment.com.au
RESOURCE | ABOUT THANASI POLYKANDRIOTI
Thanasis Polykandriotis was born in 1948, in Athens, Greece.
Son of a folk music teacher, Theodoros Polykandriotis, it was not long before he started studying music and at the age of eight he took his first guitar lessons. In early 60s, he participated as a guitarist, in music bands of those days (JUNIORS, TRIO ESPERANTO) with other young musicians and three years later his professional career began unfolding.
Although a devoted classical guitarist, his talent as a musician was first discovered in the summer of 1964, through bouzouki. He came to be recognized as one of the best bouzouki players worldwide and in the years that followed, he participated in the 90% of the Greek music recording industry.
In 1971 he appears with Nana Mouskouri and Marinella in a BBC show. Right after, Manos Xatzidakis features him as a soloist in the “Hard April of 1945”, a musical work which is currently re-released. At the same time he worked together with all of Greece’s great singers, such as: Kazantzidis, Dionyssiou, Parios, Marinella, Voskopoulos, Poulopoulos and others.
In 1968 Thanasis Polykandriotis starts composing and until today he has recorded more than 1.000 songs. He has also written music for TV shows, series and radio.
He has performed in the greatest theatres and concert halls of Europe, the United States and Australia, such as the Albert Hall (London), the Opera House (Sydney), the Kennedy Center, the Carnegie Hall (United States), Shanghai Concert Hall (Shanghai).
