Asteris Koutoulas
Encyclopedia
Asteris Koutoulas was born in Oradea
on 5 April 1960. He is a Berlin-based Greek-German event and music producer, publicist, translator, filmmaker and author. Asteris Koutoulas was the manager of Mikis Theodorakis
and the event producer of Gert Hof.
in 1960, Asteris Koutoulas and his family moved to East Germany in 1968. He graduated from Dresden’s Kreuzschule and went on to study German language and the history of philosophy at Leipzig University (1979–1984).
Since 1981, he has translated numerous works of notable Greek authors into German, a. o. poetry, essays and prose by Constantine P. Cavafy
, Giorgos Seferis
, Nikos Engonopoulos
, Yiannis Ritsos
and Odysseas Elytis
, but also the autobiography and writings on music by composer Mikis Theodorakis
. Furthermore, Asteris Koutoulas has published a range of his own essays and interviews as well as translations of works by other authors in several German and Greek literary magazines and newspapers. Until the latter’s death in 1990, he enjoyed a great friendship and collaboration with the poet Yiannis Ritsos
.
Between 1987 and 1989, Asteris Koutoulas produced “Bizarre Städte” (Bizarre Cities), a self-published “unofficial” literary series popular with many East German authors, painters and musicians (Heiner Müller
, A. R. Penck etc.) who contributed to the range, followed by the magazine “Sondeur” (1990–91) after the Fall of the Wall.
Since 1980, he has been working with Mikis Theodorakis
, producing around 30 music CDs and organising more than 150 concerts (a. o. in Canada, Chile, Russia, Israel, South Africa, Turkey, Australia and most European countries). Asteris Koutoulas has been contributing to the official Theodorakis homepage (by Guy Wagner) since the late 1980s, a. o. with numerous texts, updates and entries. In 1998, he published the Theodorakis catalogue of works in Greece, considered a staple and standard by Theodorakis scholars.
Furthermore, Asteris Koutoulas served as co-author and co-director of several documentary film productions as well as dramatic advisor of theatre productions.
Since the early 1990s, Asteris Koutoulas has been active in the realm of music and event production. As managing director of his own company, Asti Music, he not only organised countless of productions by fellow Greek artists (Maria Farantouri
, George Dalaras
, Demis Roussos
, Elli Paspala, Alkistis Protopsalti
etc.) in Europe, but also arranged or accompanied concerts by international stars like Mercedes Sosa
, Sting, Thomas Anders
, Milva
, Kelly Family, Zülfü Livaneli
etc.
Since 1999, A. Koutoulas has been acting as manager and producer of the director and light architect Gert Hof. To date, he has produced more than 40 mega events across the world, a. o. the simultaneous millennial events at Berlin’s Victory Column and the Athens Acropolis as well as the millennial events “1000 years of Hungary” in Budapest and the millennial celebrations in Beijing for the Chinese government, the European Union’s “Welcome Europe Event” on Malta in 2004, Moscow’s “City Day” on the Red Square in 2003, Donald Trump’s “Lights of Freedom Event” in Atlantic City in the same year, 2005’s “Light from the Arab World” celebrations for the sultan of Oman, the opening event for Vilnius’ celebrations as the chosen European Capital of Culture 2009 or the closing ceremony of the Israel Music Festival 2010 in Jerusalem. Throughout all these events, A. Koutoulas always worked closely with the events’ chosen composers, e. g. Mike Oldfield
, Scorpions
, Motörhead, Klaus Schulze
or Perikles Koukos, or those directly involved in the event’s choreography, a. o. Gabi Delgado-Lopez, Buena Vista Social Club
, Ruslana
or Westbam
.
He is married to the German poet Ina (Schildhauer) Koutoulas.
Oradea
Oradea is the capital city of Bihor County, in the Crișana region of north-western Romania. The city has a population of 204,477, according to the 2009 estimates. The wider Oradea metropolitan area has a total population of 245,832.-Geography:...
on 5 April 1960. He is a Berlin-based Greek-German event and music producer, publicist, translator, filmmaker and author. Asteris Koutoulas was the manager of Mikis Theodorakis
Mikis Theodorakis
Mikis Theodorakis is one of the most renowned Greek songwriters and composers. Internationally, he is probably best known for his songs and for his scores for the films Zorba the Greek , Z , and Serpico .Politically, he identified with the left until the late 1980s; in 1989, he ran as an...
and the event producer of Gert Hof.
Biography
Born to Greek immigrants in RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
in 1960, Asteris Koutoulas and his family moved to East Germany in 1968. He graduated from Dresden’s Kreuzschule and went on to study German language and the history of philosophy at Leipzig University (1979–1984).
Since 1981, he has translated numerous works of notable Greek authors into German, a. o. poetry, essays and prose by Constantine P. Cavafy
Constantine P. Cavafy
Constantine P. Cavafy, also known as Konstantin or Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, or Kavaphes was a renowned Greek poet who lived in Alexandria and worked as a journalist and civil servant...
, Giorgos Seferis
Giorgos Seferis
Giorgos or George Seferis was the pen name of Geōrgios Seferiádēs . He was one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, and a Nobel laureate...
, Nikos Engonopoulos
Nikos Engonopoulos
Nikos Engonopoulos was a modern Greek painter and poet. He is one of the most important members of the Greek Generation of the '30s as well as a major representative of the surrealistic movement in Greece...
, Yiannis Ritsos
Yiannis Ritsos
Yiannis Ritsos was a Greek poet and left-wing activist and an active member of the Greek Resistance during World War II.-Early life:...
and Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis was regarded as a major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979 he was bestowed with the Nobel Prize in Literature.-Biography:...
, but also the autobiography and writings on music by composer Mikis Theodorakis
Mikis Theodorakis
Mikis Theodorakis is one of the most renowned Greek songwriters and composers. Internationally, he is probably best known for his songs and for his scores for the films Zorba the Greek , Z , and Serpico .Politically, he identified with the left until the late 1980s; in 1989, he ran as an...
. Furthermore, Asteris Koutoulas has published a range of his own essays and interviews as well as translations of works by other authors in several German and Greek literary magazines and newspapers. Until the latter’s death in 1990, he enjoyed a great friendship and collaboration with the poet Yiannis Ritsos
Yiannis Ritsos
Yiannis Ritsos was a Greek poet and left-wing activist and an active member of the Greek Resistance during World War II.-Early life:...
.
Between 1987 and 1989, Asteris Koutoulas produced “Bizarre Städte” (Bizarre Cities), a self-published “unofficial” literary series popular with many East German authors, painters and musicians (Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller was a German dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. Described as "the theatre's greatest living poet" since Samuel Beckett, Müller is arguably the most important German dramatist of the 20th century after Bertolt Brecht...
, A. R. Penck etc.) who contributed to the range, followed by the magazine “Sondeur” (1990–91) after the Fall of the Wall.
Since 1980, he has been working with Mikis Theodorakis
Mikis Theodorakis
Mikis Theodorakis is one of the most renowned Greek songwriters and composers. Internationally, he is probably best known for his songs and for his scores for the films Zorba the Greek , Z , and Serpico .Politically, he identified with the left until the late 1980s; in 1989, he ran as an...
, producing around 30 music CDs and organising more than 150 concerts (a. o. in Canada, Chile, Russia, Israel, South Africa, Turkey, Australia and most European countries). Asteris Koutoulas has been contributing to the official Theodorakis homepage (by Guy Wagner) since the late 1980s, a. o. with numerous texts, updates and entries. In 1998, he published the Theodorakis catalogue of works in Greece, considered a staple and standard by Theodorakis scholars.
Furthermore, Asteris Koutoulas served as co-author and co-director of several documentary film productions as well as dramatic advisor of theatre productions.
Since the early 1990s, Asteris Koutoulas has been active in the realm of music and event production. As managing director of his own company, Asti Music, he not only organised countless of productions by fellow Greek artists (Maria Farantouri
Maria Farantouri
Maria Farantouri was born in Athens on 28 November 1947. She is a Greek singer and also a political and cultural activist. She has collaborated with prominent Greek composers such as Mikis Theodorakis, who wrote the score for Pablo Neruda's Canto General, which Farantouri performed...
, George Dalaras
George Dalaras
George Dalaras , also possibly spelled as Yorgos or Giorgos Dalaras, is a Greek singer. He is of international fame and has recently been selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. He was born in Nea Kokinia, Piraeus. His father was Loukas Daralas, a singer of rebetiko.-Early...
, Demis Roussos
Demis Roussos
Artemios Ventouris Roussos is a Greek singer and performer, best known for being the main musical partner of movie soundtrack composer Vangelis and a string of international hit records as a solo performer in the 1960s and 1970s...
, Elli Paspala, Alkistis Protopsalti
Alkistis Protopsalti
Alkistis Protopsalti , born as Alkistis Sevasti Attikuzel ) is a Greek singer.- Early life :Alkistis Protopsalti was born in 18 October 1954 in Alexandria, Egypt by Egyptiot parents....
etc.) in Europe, but also arranged or accompanied concerts by international stars like Mercedes Sosa
Mercedes Sosa
Haydée Mercedes Sosa, known as La Negra, was an Argentine singer who was popular throughout South America and some countries outside the continent. With her roots in Argentine folk music, Sosa became one of the preeminent exponents of nueva canción. She gave voice to songs written by both...
, Sting, Thomas Anders
Thomas Anders
Thomas Anders is a German singer, composer and record producer. Anders was the lead singer of Germany's popular pop-duo Modern Talking in 1984–1987 and in 1998–2003.-Early years:...
, Milva
Milva
Maria Ilva Biolcati , known as Milva, is an Italian singer, actress and television personality. She is also known as 'La Rossa', , due to the colour of her hair, and additionally as the 'Panther of Goro', which stems from the Italian press having nicknamed the three most popular Italian female...
, Kelly Family, Zülfü Livaneli
Zülfü Livaneli
Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu is a popular Turkish folk musician , a novelist, newspaper columnist and a film director who has been highly popular for decades...
etc.
Since 1999, A. Koutoulas has been acting as manager and producer of the director and light architect Gert Hof. To date, he has produced more than 40 mega events across the world, a. o. the simultaneous millennial events at Berlin’s Victory Column and the Athens Acropolis as well as the millennial events “1000 years of Hungary” in Budapest and the millennial celebrations in Beijing for the Chinese government, the European Union’s “Welcome Europe Event” on Malta in 2004, Moscow’s “City Day” on the Red Square in 2003, Donald Trump’s “Lights of Freedom Event” in Atlantic City in the same year, 2005’s “Light from the Arab World” celebrations for the sultan of Oman, the opening event for Vilnius’ celebrations as the chosen European Capital of Culture 2009 or the closing ceremony of the Israel Music Festival 2010 in Jerusalem. Throughout all these events, A. Koutoulas always worked closely with the events’ chosen composers, e. g. Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
, Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
, Motörhead, Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried. He was briefly a member of the electronic bands Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades.-1970s:In...
or Perikles Koukos, or those directly involved in the event’s choreography, a. o. Gabi Delgado-Lopez, Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club
The Buena Vista Social Club was a members club in Havana, Cuba that held dances and musical activities, becoming a popular location for musicians to meet and play during the 1940s...
, Ruslana
Ruslana
Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko is a World Music Award winning and MTV Europe Music Award nominated artist, and the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004....
or Westbam
WestBam
WestBam, real name Maximilian Lenz , is techno DJs in Germany. His brother is Fabian Lenz, also known as DJ Dick....
.
He is married to the German poet Ina (Schildhauer) Koutoulas.
Selected bibliography
- Asteris Koutoulas: O Mousikos Theodorakis / Theodorakis the Musician (in Greek). Nea Synora - A. A. Livani, 1998. ISBN 960-296-216-7
- Mikis Theodorakis: The ways of the archangel. Autobiography 1925-1949 (in German), edited and translated by Asteris Kutulas, Insel Verlag, Frankfurt 1995, ISBN 3-458-16689-0
- Asteris Kutulas: Mikis Theodorakis. A Life in pictures (in German), Coffee-table book with DVD & 2 CDs. Schott Music, Mainz 2010, ISBN 978-3-7957-0713-2
Selected CD Productions (as Producer or Co-Producer)
- Zülfü LivaneliZülfü LivaneliÖmer Zülfü Livanelioğlu is a popular Turkish folk musician , a novelist, newspaper columnist and a film director who has been highly popular for decades...
& Mikis Theodorakis - Together (Tropical, 1996) - Mikis Theodorakis - First Symphony & Adagio (Intuition, 1996)
- Maria Farantouri - Poetica (Peregrina, 1997)
- George Theodorakis - Nothing in mind (Peregrina, 1998)
- Mikis Theodorakis - Requiem (Intuition, 1999)
- Rainer Kirchmann & Maria Farantouri - Sun & Time (Lyra, 2000)
- Mikis Theodorakis - Mauthausen Trilogy (Pläne, 2000)
- Mikis Theodorakis - First Songs (Intuition, 2005)
- Mikis Theodorakis - The Metamorphoses of Dionysus/ Opera (Intuition, 2006)
- Mikis Theodorakis - Rhapsodies for Cello and Guitar (Intuition, 2006)
- Maria Farantouri - Way home (Peregrina, 2007)
- Mikis Theodorakis - East of the Aegean (Intuition, 2008)
- Mikis Theodorakis & Francesco Diaz - Timeless (Wormland White, 2010)
External links
- www.asteris-koutoulas.de - official Homepage (in German, some parts in English)
- The cooperation with Gert Hof