Manolis Mitsias (

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 ...

: Μανώλης Μητσιάς, ; born 26 February 1946) is a Greek singer. He has been a significant artistic presence in the

laïko Laïko or laïkó (, ; " ongof the people", "popular ong; ) is a Greece, Greek folk-pop music genre in accordance with the tradition of the Greeks, Greek people. Also referred to as "folk song" or "urban folk music" () in its plural for ...

, light laïko and entekhno genres of modern Greek music.

Early life

Mitsias was born in the village of Doumpia, close to the town of

Polygyros Polygyros (Greek languages, Greek: Πολύγυρος) is a town and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Central Macedonia, Central Macedonia, Greece. It is the capital of Chalkidiki. Geography Polygyros town (pop. 7,779 at ...

. From an early age, he was interested in

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

music and was a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

for a time period. Later, studying in Thessaloniki, he joined the 'Arts and Letters Club of Northern Greece' while at the same time founded a nightclub (boîte) where he began his career as a solo singer. His first record came in 1969, with the song 'Στην Ελευσίνα μια φορά' ('In

Elefsina Elefsina () or Eleusis ( ; ) is a suburban city and municipality in Athens metropolitan area. It belongs to West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is located in the Thriasio Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf. North of Elefsina ...

Once'), written by Dimos Moutsis.

Collaborations

In his five and a half decade career, Mitsias has worked with almost all of Greece (and Cyprus's) most well-known contemporary composers, such as the aforementioned Dimos Moutsis,

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 ...

, Loukianos Kilaidonis,

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 ...

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 ...

Vassilis Tsitsanis Vassilis Tsitsanis ( 18 January 1915 – 18 January 1984) was a Greek songwriter and bouzouki player. He became one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern Rebetiko and Laiko music. Tsi ...

Marios Tokas Marios Tokas () (8 June 1954 – 27 April 2008) was a Cypriot composer of traditional music born in Limassol, Cyprus. During the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, invasion, he fought as a soldier against the Turkish invaders. In 1975, he went to At ...

, Giorgos Hatzinasios,

Thanos Mikroutsikos Athanasios "Thanos" Mikroutsikos (; 13 April 1947 – 28 December 2019) was a Greece, Greek composer and politician. He is considered one of the most important composers of the recent Greek musical scene. Biography Personal life He was born on ...

, Yannis Markopoulos,

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 ...

and Stamatis Kraounakis, to name but a few. He has sung lyrics by many Greek poets and lyricists and even Spanish writer

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

. In terms of fellow singers, he has worked with

Maria Farantouri Maria Farantouri or Farandouri (; born 28 November 1947 in Athens) is a Greek singer and also a political and cultural activist. She has collaborated with Greek composers such as Mikis Theodorakis, who wrote the score for Pablo Neruda's ''Canto G ...

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 ...

, Vicky Moscholiou, Babis Stokas, Sotiria Bellou and others. He has appeared in concert around Greece and Cyprus and for Greek audiences abroad (London, New York and other cities). During the summer of 2009, he celebrated forty years of his career.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitsias, Manolis 1946 births 20th-century Greek male singers Greek laïko singers Living people People from Chalkidiki