Yanni (keyboardist/composer, USA)

Yanni, born Yannis Chryssomallis on November 14, 1954 in Kalamata, Greece, is a self-taught pianist, keyboardist, and composer. He left his home country at the age of 18 to attend the University of Minnesota. After receiving a B.A. in psychology he moved to California to work in the movie industry as a soundtrack composer.

His breakthrough success came with the release of “Yanni Live at the Acropolis”. Yanni has performed live in concert in more than 20 countries around the world. He has accumulated more than 35 platinum and gold albums globally, with sales totaling over 20 million copies.

On May 2004, the regents of the University of Minnesota conferred upon Yanni the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

Yanni Official website
Yanni at Wikipedia
Yanni's favorite destination: Greece (Chicago tribune, 22.03.2009)
Yanni honored at University of Minnesota

Diamanda Galas (Vocalist, US)

galas Diamanda Galas is an American avant-garde vocalist, keyboardist and composer, noted her wailing, four-octave vocal range as well as for her fiercely confrontational style. Born and raised in San Diego, California, she is the daughter of Greek Orthodox immigrants.

Critic Robert Conroy has said that she is 'unquestionably one of the greatest singers America has ever produced', and comparisons are frequently made between her and another soprano of Greek origin, Maria Callas.

She has worked with many avant-garde composers including, Iannis Xenakis and Vinko Globokar. She made her performance debut at the Festival d'Avignon in France as the lead in Globokar's opera, Un Jour Comme Un Autre.

Galas - Official Website
Galas at All Music
Galas at Wikipedia

Alex Kapranos (Musician, UK)

franz Alex Kapranos, lead singer and guitarist of indie rock band Franz Ferdinand, was born in Almondsbury, England to an English mother and a Greek father. The family moved to the North East of England when he was three months old, spending his early childhood in Sunderland and South Shields, while most summers were in his father's native Greece.

Formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 2001, and named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the band's debut eponymus album "Franz Ferdinand" was released in February 2004 in the U.K. and a month later in the US. The group's momentum continued with the release of their single Michael and their Mercury Prize win. Franz Ferdinand released their second album, You Could Have It So Much Better in 2005.

Franz Ferdinard - Official Website
Franz Ferdinand at All Music
Franz Ferdinand at Wikipedia

Foals score chart hit with debut album in the UK

foals Foals album, ‘Antidotes’, has gone straight into the UK album charts at number three. Foals is a five-piece band from Oxford, England. NME describes them as "brainy, mathletic puzzle-popsters who know how to rock a party; the ambitious sonic voyagers who’d rather play a gig in your garden shed than at the Brixton Academy."

Greek born guitarist and vocalist Yannis Philippakis was recently voted 45 in music magazine NME's 2007 Cool List.

Foals at Wikipedia
NME about Foals

Christos Hatzis (Composer, Canada)

hatzis1 Greek - born (Volos, Greece, March 21, 1953) Christos Hatzis is an award winning Canadian composer, whose music has featured in international festivals, is regularly broadcast by CBC and is frequently performed worldwide. In addition to composing, Hatzis teaches composition full-time as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.

Christos' compositional language has undergone several changes over the years, and since the early eighties, he has stylistically gravitated towards eclecticism, eventually developing his own unique post-modern aesthetic influenced by the music of the third world, jazz and pop, the music of J. S. Bach and of other Baroque composers.

Hatzis' Homepage
Hatzis at the University of Toronto

Dimitri Pittas (Tenor, USA)

pittas Tenor Dimitri Pittas is one of the most exciting and promising young tenors in the opera world today. He is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and winner of numerous prizes.

A native New Yorker of Greek-American descent with Mediterranean charm and elegance, Dimitri combines a uniquely beautiful lyrical voice with a dramatically strong, expressive and engaging stage presence. He was recently praised by The New York Times for "his effortless and cultured singing".

Review of Dimitri Pittas's performance at the New York Metropolitan Opera
Dimitri Pittas - Official Website

Nana Mouskouri (Singer)

nana1 Greek singer Nana Mouskouri was born as Ioanna Mouskouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete. Globally speaking, Nana Mouskouri is the biggest-selling female artist of all time.

Gifted with a distinctive, angelic soprano, Mouskouri's repertoire was varied enough to support the universal appeal she aimed for: jazz standards, well-known pop tunes from before and after the rock era, French cabaret chansons, movie songs, classical and operatic repertory, religious music, folk songs from her native Greece and elsewhere, and more. Mouskouri was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in October 1993.

Nana Mouskouri - Official Website
Mouskouri at Wikipedia

Vangelis Papathanassiou (Composer)

A Greek composer of electronic, new age and classical music and musical performer, Vangelis Papathanassiou is best known for his Academy Award winning score for the film Chariots of Fire, and scores for the films Blade Runner and 1492: Conquest of Paradise.

In 1968 Vangelis formed in Paris the progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child with fellow Greek expatriates Demis Roussos and Lucas Sideras, soon scoring a major European hit with the single "Rain and Tears" and went on to become one of the most successful and admired electronic composers of his era.

Vangelis Papathanassiou - Official Website
Papathanassiou at Wikipedia

Vicky Leandros (Singer)

A Greek singer with a long international career, Vicky Leandros is the daughter of singer, musician and composer Leandros Papathanasiou.

Leandros was 13 when she released her first single, "Messer, Gabel, Schere, Licht," in 1965. A hit around northern Europe, it led to her being invited to represent Luxembourg at the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. She finished fourth with "L'Amour Est Bleu," but the record went on to become a major hit across Europe and Leandros' career went into overdrive.

Vicky Leandros - Official Website
Vicky Leandros at Wikipedia

Demis Roussos (Singer)

demis_roussos1 Singer Demis Roussos, known for his dramatic, operatic vocal stylings, was born Artemios Ventouris Roussos in Alexandria, Egypt, on June 15, 1946, to Greek expatriate parents.

A member of rock band Aphrodite's Child, his solo career peaked in the 1970s with several hit albums. His single, "Forever and Ever", topped the charts in several countries in 1973. Other hits were "My Friend the Wind", "My Reason", "Velvet Mornings", and "Goodbye, My Love, Goodbye".

Demis Roussos - Official Website
Roussos at Wikipedia

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