Events

“Khandan” Poetry in Music

2 November 2024 by georg gstrein

Voice and Classical Guitar

The concert Khandan refers to both poetry and singing.
Teti Kassioni and Yorgos Athanasiou showcase their latest musical performance featuring world poetry. Several notable poets from various eras have had their work turned into music, including Charles Baudelaire, Nazim Hikmet, Jacques Brel, Odysseas Elytis, Kostas Varnalis, Lina Nikolakopoulou, Violetta Parra, and Ilias Papakonstantinou. Among the composers whose works will be featured in the music program are Jacques Brel, Manos Hatzidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Nikos Xylouris, Manos Loizos, Dimitris Lagios, Ilias Andriopoulos, Nikos Doukas, and Teti Kassioni.

Teti Kassioni, a Greek singer and composer, resides in Brussels. She pursued her studies in Music with the vocalist Areti Topouzidou and in French Literature(Universities of Thessaloniki & of Bologna). Her career began as a singer in various bands in Greece like Graviton and Antidotum Tarantulae, leading to collaborations with several Greek composers and lyricists including Lina Nikolakopoulou, Marios Strofalis, Ilias Papakonstantinou, and others, performing at different concert halls across Europe. She has put out two solo albums and has been involved in numerous collaborative albums too. In 2016, she came out with her inaugural solo album named “Petagma,” followed by her second album, “De Marron et d’ Amour,” which was released in 2023.The second one was inspired by the poetry of Ilias Papakonstantinou and translated into French by her. Thymios Papadopoulos, a prominent Greek musician and composer, is responsible for producing and orchestrating her albums.

Yorgos Athanasiou, a classical guitarist native to Greece, currently resides in Brussels. Since he was very young, music has been the sole focus of his life. He completed his studies in classical guitar at the Polyrhythmia Conservatory of Preveza under the guidance of Professor Nikos Rossos, earning a Superior Degree in Classical Guitar with distinction. He continued his studies in Athens with the soloist Kostas Grigoreas, and in 2015, he received the highest Diploma in classical guitar with honors. He is also a graduate of the Department of Music Studies of the University of Ioannina and has obtained the Master Level 2 in Classical Guitar Virtuosity and Performance at the Conservatory of Avellino, Italy. He is a teacher of Classical Guitar in Brussels and in The Hague, and he performs in many concerts in Benelux and in Greece.