“Songs Under the Spotlight”

One voice and two guitars are the epicenter of a concert that is full of sounds of ballads and lyricism.

The concert is a compilation of songs by Notis Mavroudis with one of the greatest contemporary voices of Greece Giota Negka. Her performance interconnects past, present and future and that reveals the magic charm of the Greek music. In addition, Notis Mavroudis is going to play Latin American guitar duets with George Tossikian.  

Songs from various decades are going to create a unique atmosphere of music and lyrics and the guitars will be the guide in this whole new world. We are going to meet all the songs that have left their eternal mark on our common sensitivity and dream.

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For five decades, Notis Mavroudis, along with his teaching career, he has been dynamically present at almost all festivities concerning the guitar in Greece. He studied at the National Conservatoire and his teacher was Dimitris Fabas. In 1969, he continued his studies in Spain with Jose Tomas. He has given numerous concerts and recitals as guitar-soloist, teacher of the guitar and composer, in Greece and abroad. In 1965 he won the First Prize of National Song Festival of Thessaloniki and in 1969 he also won the First Prize at the International Guitar Contest of Milan. In 1990, he was awarded for his own song at the International Contest of Children’s Song in Lisbon. During the same year, the Embassy of Brazil in Greece gave him the award «Heitor Villa-Lobbos».

All these years, his presence is multiple: his theatrical and cinematic pieces of music, his articles in newspapers and magazines, his productions for radio and his teaching work. He has also been director of public foundations/organizations and he has been the artistic manager in many festivals.

During 1983-1987, he was the director and publisher of Tar Magazine (a magazine that is dedicated to the guitar) and he organized important guitar concerts. His large oeuvre (25 personal albums) includes works for classical guitar and songs for popular singers. Since 2000, he records six albums under the general title “Café de l’ art”.  These albums contain new versions of popular songs from various decades.  In 2005-2006, he won the Prize “Arion” for the album “Café de l’ art”: Tsitsanis and Vamvakaris Revised.

During 2002-2006, he was the founder and the artistic manager of the discography label “Corifeo” by “Eros music”. The master-class of 29 Greek guitarists and his selection as the manager for the music that is played at the Athenian Metro are some highlights. In 2008, he publishes his book “Ichologimata” about music and culture (Nefeli Publishing).

Since October 2006, he runs the on-line version of Tar magazine (http://www.tar.gr) and the Tar e-radio (http://www.tar-radio.com). In 2013, he is the editor of the INTERNATIONAL CHRONOLOGY of MUSIC (IANOS Publishing).

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Giota Negka’s first recording of the song “With the Eyes Shut” in Panayotis Kalantzopoulos’ cd-single, made a huge hype and it introduced Giota’s unique voice. Her performances are sentimental and they carry elements from Greek song history. Giota leaves her vocal imprint to everything she sings and that makes her easily recognised only through three personal albums and some participations in the albums of great composers.

Her live performances with popular singers such as Eleni Vitali, Pantelis Thalassinos, Eleni Tsaligopoulou, Kostas Makedonas, Elli Paspala, Miltiadis Paschalidis, Gerasimos Andreatos, Dimitris Basis, Giannis Koutras and others, made Kostas Livadas and Thodoris Gkonis select her for their music performance “Echo Anthropo”.

The distinct lines between ballads, Greek traditional songs and contemporary songs are blurred by a voice that combines every subtlety of emotion with a wide range of performing skills in a magic musical landscape.

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George Tossikian was born in Piraeus, in 1981. He studied the guitar under the instructions of Iakovos Kolanian at the Contemporary Conservatoire of Athens and he was graduated with “Distinction”. The seminars of well-known guitarists such as Manuel Barrueco, Roland Dyens, Oscar Ghiglia, Evaggelos Asimakopoulos and Liza Zoi helped him improve even more his skills.

He has won the first prizes in national contests (Guitar Festival in Ermoupolis, Guitar Festival in Patras) and honors from the Association “Friends of the Guitar – Dimitris Fabas”. Since 2005, he gives recitals in Athens and other Greek cities. He has also participated in many festivals (Guitar Festival in Patras, Symi’s Festival, Youth for Youth and European Music Day).

In 2008, he participated in the cultural events organized by Cervantes Institute of Athens (cooperation with the Spanish poet Antonio Gamoneda) and in 2009, he had his first recital in London (Ekon Festival 2009). During the last years, he is a permanent member and partner of Giorgos Varsamakis’ orchestra. Since 2011, he plays guitar-duets with Notis Mavroudis. His first album “Guitar Music by Greek Composers” was released by MOTIVO. He is a teacher of the classical guitar in Sinchroni Mousiki Paidia (Contemporary Music Education).