Alkinoos Ioannidis ( el, Αλκίνοος Ιωαννίδης; born 19 September 1969) is a

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...

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 ...

. He was born in Nicosia on 19 September 1969. 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 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,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

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 Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy. Greek tragedy is widely believed t ...

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 ( el, Δήμητρα Γαλανή) 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 ...

. 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 with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. 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 to 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 ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

and has toured across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

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 tra ...

Glasgow's annual folk, roots and world music festival in 2018 and 2014, where he collaborated with Scottish singer-songwriter

Karine Polwart Karine Polwart ( ) (born 23 December 1970) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. She writes and performs music with a strong folk and roots feel, her songs dealing with a variety of issues from alcoholism to genocide. She has been most recognised f ...

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 city centre of Melbourne, 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 extends from ...

Festival, Melbourne. In 2020 Alkinoos Ioannidis planned concerts in the US, in New York, Boston, Atlanta and Austin, were postponed due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

outbreak

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''

Concerts

Band Members

Discography

References

External links