Yiorgos Kaloudis

Yiorgos Kaloudis
Yiorgos Kaloudis, cello
Yiorgos Kaloudis, cello
Yiorgos Kaloudis, 4-string Cretan Lyra
Yiorgos Kaloudis, 4-string Cretan Lyra
Yiorgos Kaloudis, 4-string Cretan Lyra with sympathetic strings

Songs

J.S. BACH Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra
These are just preview samples. You need a valid account and be logged in to hear the full tracks.

Videos

Yiorgos Kaloudis playing live
These are just preview samples. You need a valid account and be logged in to watch the full clips.
  • country:Greece
  • region:Athens
  • style(s):Classical, Baroque
  • label:DNA Label
  • type:Solo, Composer/Songwriter
  • gender:male
  • instrumentation:instrumental, string
  • artist posted by:DNA Label

Line up

  • Yiorgos Kaloudis (4-string Cretan lyra, violoncello)

Links


Yiorgos Kaloudis is a classically trained cellist, Cretan lyra performer, improviser, composer, and producer at the DNA Classical Label. He has collaborated in numerous CD’s, films and Theatre Productions in the Greek scene. He performs regularly in concert halls, museums and festivals around the world and since 2014 he teaches Cello at the Athenaeum Conservatory, in Athens.

EARLY YEARS

Born in Athens, Greece (1973) from a musical family, Yiorgos Kaloudis’s first language of expression has always been music. He started playing the Cretan lyra at a very early age, and continued the family tradition, being the fourth generation of native Cretan lyra players.

His formal studies of the cello were completed at the Athenaeum Conservatory (Athens) where he graduated with honors. Yiorgos was awarded a scholarship by the Fulbright Foundation, providing him the opportunity to continue his studies in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Ted Greene in composition and improvisation; which further expanded his innovative techniques on the cello.

DISCOGRAPHY

His personal discography consists of his debut solo cd album entitled Truth (2005), followed by On the Wind (2009) with the generous support of the J.F. Costopoulos Foundation.

Yiorgos Kaloudis’s new album, J.S.BACH: Cello Suites on the Cretan lyra (2016), has been officially released by the DNA Label Records in a world premiere recording. Here, he worked by maintaining the original tonalities of the work, in deep respect for the tone colour of the composer in attempting to avoid unnecessary changes in the music.

What makes this last record so special is that for the very first time a Greek traditional instrument interpreted classical music. In addition to this, there is the particular lyra that he used to perform the music. By mean of his Cretan background and his technical knowledge of the cello, he created an innovative Cretan lyraby adding to the traditional three-string instrument a fourth one, the low C of the cello. The result is stunning, as this lyra gives an impressive and unique character to the interpretation of the work of Bach, revealing the ancient relation to its great-grandson, the cello.

Working at this project has been a longstanding effort and has taken twelve years of study and research before achieving it. It is due to his passion, commitment, his distinct approach to music, and the remarkable ability to honour the traditional Cretan lyra.

HONORS AND COLLABORATIONS

In March 2018, he presented the recital “Innovating Tradition”, in Athens, at the Megaron Concert Hall.

In February 2018, he presented the recital "Innovating Tradition", in Cyprus, at Kastelliotissa Hall in Nicosia.

In October 2017, he presented the recital “Innovating Tradition”, in Cyprus, at the archeological Royal Manor House in Paphos.

In August 2017, the Regional Union of Chania and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania invited him to give the premiere recital of the “Innovating Tradition” at the reopening of the Ancient Theatre of Aptera, in Chania, after more than 2000 years of silence.

On March 2017, he presented the J.S.BACH: Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra, in Megaron Athens Concert Hall, in a World Premiere concert.

In October 2016 participated at Paris “Nuit Blanche” Festival by playing extracts from the album J.S. Bach Cello Suites on the Cretan lyra.

In September 2015, he was awarded the Special Jury Prize for the Best Musical Composition and Interpretation at the IV International Puppet Festival in Almaty Kazakhstan.

Yiorgos is also a frequent guest at many important music festivals all over the world such as the Fringe Festival in New York, Biennale in Rome, Manchester Jazz Festival.

He also collaborated with international orchestras including the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Lege Artis Chamber Choir in St. Petersburg, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Thessaloniki.

He performs regularly in numerous venues, cathedrals, concert halls and collaborations around the world, namely in England, Scotland, Wales, Russia, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Cyprus, Netherlands, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Australia, USA and Canada.

While performing, Yiorgos combines his personal technique and different cello and lyra timbres with an extensive use of live loop recording, which allows him to transport the audience in the Cretan landscape and create a particularly atmospheric soundscape, with elements of classical, ambient, world music.

www.yiorgoskaloudismusic.com

Records

"TRUTH" - Yiorgos Kaloudis

"On the wind" - Yiorgos Kaloudis