Alkinoos Ioannidis (; born 19 September 1969) is a

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots (, ) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming almost 99% of the 737,196 Cypri ...

composer, lyricist, singer, and

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

Biography

He was born in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

on 19 September 1969 to a

father and a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

mother. His artistic family, with a painter father and poet brother was a source of inspiration for him. He first wanted to study drums, but couldn't do so due to the lack of a drum teacher in Nicosia. Instead, he studied guitar. For the first 20 years of his life, he lived in a Nicosia suburb. After his military service, he went off to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

to study theatre. He also entered the School of Philosophy, University of Athens, which he later gave up. He was more successful in his theatre studies where he played some major roles in well known Greek tragedies such as ''

Alcestis Alcestis (; Ancient Greek: Ἄλκηστις, ') or Alceste, was a princess in Greek mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her life story was told by pseudo-Apollodorus in his '' Bibliotheca'', and a version of her death and return from t ...

''. At the age of 23 he recorded his first album called ''Stin Agora Tou Kosmou'' (Greek: Στην Αγορά Του Κόσμου, ''In The World's Market'') with lyrics and music written by Nikos Zoudiaris. This demo tape eventually reached the hands of a well known singer,

Dimitra Galani Dimitra Galani () is a Greek singer and songwriter. Galani was born 1952 in Athens and began her musical career at the age of 16 providing vocals on several tracks of Dimos Moutsis and Nikos Gatsos on the album "A Smile": (). She subsequently ...

. She instantly became fond of their music and Alkinoos' voice and helped them get a record deal. Alkinoos and Zoudiaris followed with another album called ''Opos Mistika Kai Isicha'' (Greek: Οπως Μυστικά Και Ήσυχα, ''As Secretly and Quietly''). Both albums turned

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. From 1993 to 1997 he toured frequently in support of other artists, including one of the most important female figures of Greek music, Eleftheria Arvanitaki. In 1997, his first self-penned album, ''O Dromos, O Hronos Kai O Ponos'' (Greek: Ο Δρόμος Ο Χρόνος Και Ο Πόνος, ''The Road, The Time and The Pain''), was released to critical praise. The cover was painted by his father. His subsequent albums have also had their covers painted by his father. In 1999 he released another self-penned album, ''Anemodiktis'' (Greek: Ανεμοδείκτης, ''Weather Vane''). In 2000 he released a double-disc live album ''Ektos Topou kai Xronou'' (Greek: Εκτός τόπου και χρόνου, ''Out of Space and Time''). In 2003, he released ''Oi Peripeties enos Proskiniti'' (Greek: Οι περιπέτειες ενός προσκυνητή, ''The Adventures of a Pilgrim''). It was a popular and critical hit. In April 2006, he released an album of Cypriot folk songs titled ''Pou Disin Os Anatolin'' (Greek:΄Πού Δύσην Ώς Άνατολήν, ''From dusk till dawn'') with his longtime violinist Miltiadis Papastamou. On 9 March 2009, he released the album ''Neroponti'' (Greek: Νεροποντή, ''Downpour''). Released in March 2012, ''Local Stranger'' is his 12th solo album and examines the “political and economic whirlwind” that has hit Greece in recent months. In 2014 he released Mikri Valitsa (Greek: Μικρή βαλίτσα, Small Suitcase) dedicated to people who have been forced to leave their homeland and to those who feel their homeland has deserted them and the hardships that refugees face. Ioannidis rarely appears to give interviews or take part in television shows.

Concerts

Alkinoos regularly performs in

and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and has toured across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and around the world including North America (USA, Canada), Australia, Brazil, Russia and Egypt. He has toured as a soloist, with cellist and Cretan lyra player Yiorgos Kaloudis or as a band supported by other notable Greek musicians.

Band members

* Yiorgos Kaloudis: ''Acoustic Cello, Cretan Lyra'' * Manolis Pappos: ''Bouzouki, Lute'' * Fotis Siotas: ''Violin'' * Dimitris Tsekouras: ''Double bass'' *Alkinoos Ioannidis: ''Vocals, Acoustic Guitar'' Alkinoos Ioannidis performed at

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of trad ...

Glasgow's annual folk, roots and world music festival in 2018 and 2014, where he collaborated with Scottish singer-songwriter Karine Polwart to perform The Slaves Lament / St. Marina's Lullaby. They also performed together in Athens in 2013 and with the Cyprus Youth Chorus as part of Pafos European Capital of Culture in September 2017. In January 2016 Alkinoos Ioannidis was the headline act of the 2016

Lonsdale Street Lonsdale Street is a main street and thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Australia. It runs roughly east–west and was laid out in 1837 as one of Melbourne's original boundaries within the Hoddle Grid. The street ext ...

Festival,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. In 2020 Alkinoos Ioannidis planned concerts in the US, in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, were postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Discography

*1993 ''Stin Agora Tou Kosmou'' *1995 ''Opos Mistika Kai Isicha'' *1997 ''O Dromos, O Hronos Kai O Ponos'' *1999 ''Anemodiktis'' *2000 ''Ektos Topou kai Xronou'' (Live) *2003 ''Oi Peripeties enos Proskiniti'' *2006 ''Pou Disin Os Anatolin'' *2006 ''Manos Hadjidakis 4 THEATRICAL MYTHS'' *2006 ''Synantisi'' *2007 ''LIVE IN LYCABETTUS (Alexiou - Malamas - Ioannidis)'' *2009 ''Neroponti'' *2011 ''Gyalinos Kosmos'' (Live) *2011 Sykomidi (Harvest), a box set of 8 albums containing prints of all the albums’ artwork by Alkinoos’ father *2012 ''Local Stranger'' (This is a best of album from Alkinoos on Wrasse Records) *2014 ''Mikri Valitsa – Small Suitcase''

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ioannidis, Alkinoos 1969 births Living people Cypriot male composers Cypriot guitarists 20th-century Cypriot male singers Cypriot singer-songwriters Modern Greek-language singers of Cyprus Musicians from Nicosia 21st-century Cypriot male singers