Socrates Sinopoulos

Socrates Sinopoulos was born in Athens in 1974. At the age of fourteen he met Ross Daly and began to study the Constantinopolitan lyre and the lute. One year later he joined the music group ‘Labyrinthos’, participating in numerous concerts and recordings over the next six years. Simultaneously he pursued an active musical career in groups following various musical traditions, including traditional Greek, Byzantine, classical Ottoman, Jazz and Rebetiko. A virtuoso of the Constantinopolitan lyre and the Constantinopolitan lute, he has developed his own distinctive style of playing, forged through his training in diverse musical traditions, both Western and Oriental.

He studied classical guitar, Byzantine music and traditional Greek music at the music school of Simon Karas. In 1997 he graduated in Musicology from Athens University. He has participated in numerous concerts and recording sessions of both Greek and foreign groups and has collaborated with various musicians, including Chronis Aidonidis, Ara Dinkjian, Loreena Mckennitt, Evanthia Reboutsika and Derya Turkan. In 1989 he started his collaboration with Domna Samiou, playing the Constantinopolitan lyre for her record Songs about Greeks far from home. Since then he has participated in numerous concerts by Domna Samiou and in most of the productions of the ‘Domna Samiou Greek Folk Music Association’ both playing music and also as musical supervisor.

In 2000 he was awarded by the Ministry of Culture with the ‘Melina Merkouri’ State Prize for Young Artists. He is a professor in the Department of Musical Science and Art at the University of Macedonia.

Sources: Socrates Sinopoulos

Songs

Records

This recorded show includes stage performances of carnival songs and other related popular rituals from different areas of Greece, as they were presented at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall on the 4th of March 2003. Watch the songs in a PlayList on YouTube.
This CD contains the live recording of the tribute concert for Domna Samiou’s seventieth birthday, at The Megaron, the Athens Concert Hall, in 1998. Some of her closest friends and collaborators were invited as guests: Lykourgos Angelopoulos, Dionysis Savvopoulos, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, and the distinguished Turkish musicians Fahrettin Çimenli and Volkan […]
This videotaped stage performance, held at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on 11th of October 2005, includes songs and rituals related to the cycle of the agricultural year, rewarding human labour and telling of man’s relationship to nature.
This significant edition aims to convey the spirit of Easter, the Christian feast celebrated amidst the glory and promise of springtime, through the selected rituals of that period of the year and their related sacred songs and tunes. (barcode: 5204910000524)
The publication includes 30 songs, inspired by the popular tradition of story-telling, relating tales of brave warriors, both high-ranked lords, and lowly soldiers. Centering on heroic Digenis, they originate from all parts of Greece. The publication also contains a detailed booklet analyzing the history surrounding the songs, and their interpretation. […]
In fables, fragments of ancient myths are preserved. On this CD, Domna Samiou & her collaborators sing tales of the fabulous and the fantastic combining the real world with the supernatural and narrating stories, often tragic, which might once have occurred – or could do so one day – however […]
This CD is the proof of what an enthusiast Maecenas can achieve! Here Domna collected some of her most favourable songs: slow and tranquil songs, melodious and sad; songs of sorrow and of love, of parting and of loved ones far away. These songs are rarely, if ever, included in […]
This CD includes songs and tunes in ‘7 beats to the bar’ (the rhythm of kalamatianos dances) and in ‘9 beats to the bar’ (the rhythm of zeibekikos and karsilamas dances) with lyrics and melodies both erotic and sorrowful. (barcode: 5204910000425)
Reissue of the Caprice album Grekisk folkmusik (Ξενιτεμένο μου πουλí) on a CD with 9 extra tracks, and a comprehensively informative booklet about Greek folk music and the woman behind this production – Domna Samiou.

Concerts

A concert for children performed by children with traditional songs, dances, games and reenactment of folk customs. Twelve children’s groups from Epirus, Kalyvia of Attica, Crete, Karpathos, Olympus, Zefyri of Attica, from Nea Erythraea representing the Asia Minor tradition, Volakas of Drama, Skyros, Larissa, the “Argonauts-Komninoi” from Kallithea, Kozani and […]
A carnival feast at the stage of the Thessaloniki Concert Hall with songs, dances, and customs of the carnival period. In addition to Domna and her collaborators, musicians, singers, dancers and bands from regions of Greece take part, where even today the celebrations and rituals of Carnival maintain their authenticity.
Traditional songs and events that follow the course of the cycle of the year. Starting from the autumn, which marks the beginning of the working and ecclesiastical year, a harvest revival, events of the twelve days of Christmas, Easter festivities, Saint John of Kledon customs, and summer festive events.
Carols and songs at the stage of the Megaron the Athens Concert Hall. A special Christmas event. The concerts were part of the ‘Christmas Celebrations’ series and were given on December 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th of 1996. Lambros Liavas was in charge of the music research and artistic supervision.
An Asia Minor tribute concert. A tribute to the muse of the historical space of the Greek East. Traditional songs from the western coast of Asia Minor, the Propontis, Constantinople, Pontus and Cappadocia and two Byzantine hymns from the musical tradition of the Orthodox Church. A musical variety that is […]
A great concert called ‘The known and unknown Domna’, part of the series ‘Bridges’; a tribute concert for her seventieth birthday. Some of her closer friends and collaborators were invited as guests: Lykourgos Angelopoulos, Dionysis Savvopoulos, Eleftheria Arvanitaki as well as the two distinguished Turkish musicians Fahrettin Çimenli and Volkan […]

See also