'Sonic Convergence' at the 2022 Athens Epidaurus Festival

Sonic Convergence

Composition: Christos Hatzis

Bass & vocals: Petros Klampanis

Violin: Antonis Sousamoglou, David Bogorad

Viola: Thanassis Sourgounis

Cello: Vassilis Saitis

I am excited to be part of the 2022 Athens Epidaurus Festival, presenting Sonic Convergence, together with world class musicians I look up to and respect! This project brings us together to bridge our different backgrounds and allows us to:

• create music that is not trapped in artistic silos nor characterized as a particular genre,

• experience a true learning experience ourselves, through the collaboration and reconciliation of many different elements,

• develop a musical language that transcends musical categories, instilling messages of social unity through the cultural diversity that music brings

We aspire to create sound convergence and a musical consensus well beyond the limits of our individual specializations and the prejudices and stereotypes that these typically create. We believe that collectively we possess the tools to achieve it substantially, not only for ourselves, but – above all – for a multicultural audience!

Cheap Smokes (Φτηνά Τσιγάρα) in Athens, Greece!

Excited and honored to be part of a production of the Greek National Opera, presenting Cheap Smokes, a musical based on the cult film of 1999, that marked the early 2000s thanks to its urban romanticism and nocturnal, youthful aesthetic.

February 11th to March 13th

at the Greek National Opera Alternative Stage

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center

The play features original crew members such as Panagiotis Kalantzopoulos and Renos Haralambidis, and is directed for the stage by Konstantinos Rigos.

Composer Panagiotis Kalantzopoulos adds 18 new songs to the original soundtrack, while Konstantinos Rigos’ atmospheric direction portrays the sensual core of this sui generis slacker movie with film noir elements through a masterly use of space, condensing the locations of the original script around a versatile, hallucinogenic lounge.

Of vital importance is the live onstage presence of the film’s director and screenwriter Renos Haralambidis as the narrator, encapsulating the aesthetic venture of a show that takes the form of a flash-back between two time zones: here, the central character, an Athenian flâneur (portrayed in the original film by Haralambidis himself), is torn between his past and present self, casting a glance at once nostalgic and critical toward the transition –which defined both the hero and the city– from languid post-adolescence to maturity and from the 20th to the 21st century.

If you are in Athens between February 11th and March 13th, make sure you mark your agenda! Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.nationalopera.gr/en/tickets

(info from www.nationalopera.gr)

Silver Lining coming soon...!

Producing an album during a pandemic was definitely not something I

would ever imagine doing…

Yet, somehow magically, this work has become a beacon of hope for me: a

Silver Lining at a time when everything we took for granted, no longer is. It

is this shift in perspective that we have tried to convey in our music; to look

at our world through a different lens, one that is sensitive enough to pick up

the slightest ray of light, the sun behind the clouds.

Giovanni has always been like family to me: our musical DNAs are routed in drama and opera; lyricism being the common denominator of Greeks and Italians. He is someone I can effortlessly create with, being confident that the end result will be so much more than the sum of our individual ideas. And, over and above anything else, he is a dear Friend.

This project would not be realized without the soulful support of our Sound Engineer, Jason Kronick, who invited us to put his Steinway to work and hosted us in his studio, adding value to our music and ensuring impeccable sound.

Art has the power to create emotions and mobilize our consciousness.

Immerse in it and may you be inspired to find your own Silver Lining.