Aikaterine "Keti" Chomata (
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 ...
: , ; October 24, 1946 - October 24, 2010) was a Greek singer and actress.
Biography
Chomata was born in
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
in 1946; her family's origin was from the island of
Naxos
Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...
. She lived in the
Plaka
Pláka () is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residential areas of the ...
district of Athens and studied classical dance. According to Chomata, she became a singer after being expelled from school at age 16. She was discovered by
Alekos Patsiphas, who met her at the Giorgos Oikonomides' radio show which dealt with searching for people of talent. Papastephanou introduced her to composer
Giannis Spanos
Ioannes "Giannis" Spanos (, ; 26 July 1934 – 30 October 2019), also transliterated as Yannis Spanos, was a Greek music composer and lyricist. In his early days as a musician he was also a piano accompanist. Spanos won the music prize at the 1971 ...
.
Chomata became one of the leading representatives of the
Greek New Wave genre and one of the favourite performers of Spanos' compositions; she performed with great success in the Athens boîte scene.
Composers with whom she has worked include
Manos Hatzidakis
Manos Hatzidakis (also spelled Hadjidakis; ; 23 October 1925 – 15 June 1994) was a Greek composer and theorist of Greek music, widely regarded as one of the greatest Greek composers of all time. He was one of the main proponents of the " Ént ...
,
Mikis Theodorakis
Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works.
He scored for the films '' Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' (1969), and '' Serpico'' (1973). He was a three-ti ...
,
George Kontogiorgos and
Stavros Xarchakos
Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (born 14 March 1939) is a Greek composer and conductor.
Stavros Xarchakos was born in Athens, where he studied at the Athens Conservatoire. He has family origins from the Mani Peninsul ...
. In 1965 she participated in
Thessaloniki Song Festival
The Thessaloniki Song Festival (, ), officially the Greek Song Festival (, ) was a Greece, Greek song festival hosted between 1959–1997 and 2005–2008. The host city of the event was initially Athens (1959–1961) but the contest was later mo ...
with the song ''The summer is gone'' (Greek: Έφυγε το καλοκαίρι) written by
George Kontogiorgos. A famous hit song of Chomata is ''Mia agape gia to kalokairi'' (Greek: Μια αγάπη για το καλοκαίρι, "A love for the summer") released in her debut 7' EP in 1964. The song was later used for the
Vasilis Mavromatis' 1969 film ''Skies sten ammo'' (Greek: Σκιές στην άμμο, "Shadows on the sand"); a film in which she had the leading role and the only one in she ever played.
Personal life
Chomata was married twice having two daughters and four grandchildren. Her first husband, with whom she had her children, was actor and director Vasilis Mavromatis; her second husband was Giannis Lianos, one of her loyal admirers.
Death
Chomata was suffering from cancer in 2010. She died on her 64th birthday, after a car accident.
Discography
Chomata published 18 albums, having sung over 200 songs.
See also
*
Arleta
*
Mariza Koch
Mariza Koch (; born 14 March 1944) is a Greek folk music singer who has recorded many albums since starting her career in 1971. On the wider stage she is best remembered for representing her homeland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 with the so ...
*
Rena Koumioti
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chomata, Keti
1946 births
2010 deaths
Actresses from Athens
20th-century Greek women singers
Singers from Athens