Kristi Stassinopoulou
Encyclopedia
Chrisavgi Stassinopoulou (Athens, 1956) is a Greek singer, lyricist and fiction writer. A native Athenian, she is an internationally known artist of the world music
circuit. She is accompanied by composer, arranger, co-producer and multi-instrumentalist Stathis Kalyviotis. Their music combines traditional Greek rhythms and sounds, Byzantine vocal lines, rebetiko
music, psychedelic rock, ambience and electronica.
Her work has been compared to that of Hedningarna http://www.globalvillageidiot.net/Archives4.html, Grace Slick http://worldmusiccentral.org/2003/04/17/the-music-of-the-balkans/ and Bjork. http://www.cdroots.com/res-stassi07.html
and at the theatre-school of Petros Katselis.
In 1978, while still a student, she participated in an audition for the Greek production of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Tim Rice
and Andrew Lloyd Webber
and was selected among 300 professionals and amateur singers for the role of Mary Magdalene; that was her debut as a professional singer.
In 1983 Stassinopoulou represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
in Munich, where she interpreted the song of Antonis Plessas, Mou Les.
At that year she was picked for the role of Peron's young mistress in Tim Rice's and Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Evita, produced in Athens by Aliki Vougiouklaki
, who was playing the main role of Evita Peron
. http://www.theatremuseum.gr/index.php?frm=0&cat1=28&cat2=41&mod=therga&qd11=1&tcapid=2000010092&objid=102928&clsid=61&oclsid=3&lang=english
In the 80's and until the early 90's Stassinopoulou performed and toured together with songwriters/singers/composers: Lakis Papadopoulos (Lakis-me-ta-psila-Rever), Demos Moutsis, Nikos Portokaloglou-Fatme, George Pilali. She also collaborated with Pavlos Sidiropoulos
, a most legendary figure of the Greek underground rock scene.
Her first record Kristi Stassinopoulou was released in 1986 by Adelfi Falirea. Composer/singer Stavros Papastavrou co-wrote the songs of this record together with Kleon Antoniou (of the ethno-jazz band Mode Plagal
) and Takis Barberis.
For her second LP record, Sti Limni me tis Paparounes (By the lake with the Poppies), she collaborated with songwriters/composers Panagiotis Kalantzopoulos and Evanthia Reboutsika and lyricist Afroditi Rayla. The record was released by Lyra in 1993.
Together with Stathis Kalyviotis, drummer Vangelis Vekios and guitarist Kostis Anagnostopoulos they formed, Selana (sometimes cited as Selena), a band with an ethnopunk sound that never made an album, but became cult, often performing also as the support group of late Pavlos Sidiropoulos
.
In 1997, Stassinopoulou and Kalyviotis produced their first album Ifantokosmos which was released by the independent label Thesis. Their next album, Echotropia, was released in 1999. It was distributed in Greece, N. America and Brasil and was the first Greek album to reach the Top 10 position in the World Music Charts Europe.
In July 2000 Stassinopoulou, Kalyviotis and their band were the first Greeks to perform at the International Jazz Festival in Montreal http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/program/concert.aspx?id=8202, on its 21st edition. Their first North American appearance took place in July 2002 and it was organized by Dan Berhman. There they played a.o. at the Winnipeg Folk Festival http://www.winnipegfolkfestival.ca/wp/about-us/past-performers/ in Canada, the Millenium Stage of the Kennedy Centre http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=11144&source_type=B in Washington DC, the Central Park Summer StageFestival in New York. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/16/arts/summerstage-is-bringing-the-world-to-central-park.html
In May 2001 she participated in the Greece in Britain series of concerts at the Barbican Theatre of London; the late Charlie Gillett
, who was in the audience, hosted Stassinopoulou and Kalyviotis live in his Saturday BBC 3 radio show, The Sound of the World. http://www.charliegillett.com/playlist.php?date=26October02
In 2002 The Secrets of the Rocks was released in Greece by Hitch Hyke Records. In October 2002 Stassinopoulou, Kalyviotis and their band played at Womex in Essen, Germany.
In January 2003 The Secrets of the Rocks reached number 1 on the World Music Charts Europe, went number 2 in February and remained for 6 months in total in the top-10 list. The album was also released in N. America, Spain the U.K.
In March 2003 Stassinopoulou was the cover story of the world music UK magazine, fRoots, interviewed by Ian Anderson. In October 2003 she played in Union Chappell http://www.womex.com/virtual/hitch_hyke_music/news/kristi_stassinopoulou, London, in the Europe in Union series of concerts organized by fRoots. In August and September 2004, Stassinopoulou and Kalyviotis toured for one-month tour in 17 cities in Brazil, Mostra de Artes Mediterraneo, Roteiro Verde 2005. http://portal.process.com.br/novo/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9420
In 2007, Taxidoscopio was released in Spain, Germany, Japan and Greece and was included in the toptop-15 of WOMEX World Music CDs of the year . http://www.womex.com/realwomex/main.php?id_headings=48&id_realwomex=9&subheading=40 Together with their band, or as a duo, Stassinopoulou and Kalyviotis have appeared on several music festivals and clubs in Europe, N. America and Brazil. http://krististassinopoulou.com/index.php?show=festivals
Her first book Epta Fores stin Amorgo (Seven Times in Amorgos) containing seven short mystery stories set on the Cycladic island of Amorgos, was published in1993 by Kastaniotis Editions.
Her second book Pyrini Romfaia (Fiery Sward) is a novel of magic set in Athens in the early 90s and was published in 1995 by Livanis Editions.
She has also been writing and publishing short-stories and articles mainly on music, in magazines and fanzines. Stassinopoulou has also worked as a radio producer, presenting her own radio shows in the Athenian based radios: Sky 100,4 (1989–1992), Kanali 15 (1992-3), En Lefko (1998-9). .
Kristi also supplied voices of Ariel in the Greek 1989 dub of The Little Mermaid
and Belle in the Greek dub of Beauty and the Beast
.
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
circuit. She is accompanied by composer, arranger, co-producer and multi-instrumentalist Stathis Kalyviotis. Their music combines traditional Greek rhythms and sounds, Byzantine vocal lines, rebetiko
Rebetiko
Rebetiko, plural rebetika, , occasionally transliterated as Rembetiko, is a term used today to designate originally disparate kinds of urban Greek folk music which have come to be grouped together since the so-called rebetika revival, which started in the 1960s and developed further from the early...
music, psychedelic rock, ambience and electronica.
Her work has been compared to that of Hedningarna http://www.globalvillageidiot.net/Archives4.html, Grace Slick http://worldmusiccentral.org/2003/04/17/the-music-of-the-balkans/ and Bjork. http://www.cdroots.com/res-stassi07.html
Studies and early years
Kristi Stassinopoulou has studied acting and drama at the school of Theatro Tehnis, Karolos KounKarolos Koun
Karolos Koun was a Greek theater director, widely known for his lively staging of ancient Greek plays. He had been praised all over Europe for his bawdy, colorful stagings of the 5th century BC political comedies of Aristophanes...
and at the theatre-school of Petros Katselis.
In 1978, while still a student, she participated in an audition for the Greek production of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
and Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
and was selected among 300 professionals and amateur singers for the role of Mary Magdalene; that was her debut as a professional singer.
In 1983 Stassinopoulou represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1983
The Eurovision Song Contest 1983, the 28th in the series, was held in Munich, then West Germany, on 23 April 1983. The presenter was Marlene Charell. Corinne Hermes was the winner of this Eurovision with the song, "Si la vie est cadeau". This was Luxembourg's fifth victory in the contest which...
in Munich, where she interpreted the song of Antonis Plessas, Mou Les.
At that year she was picked for the role of Peron's young mistress in Tim Rice's and Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Evita, produced in Athens by Aliki Vougiouklaki
Aliki Vougiouklaki
Aliki Vougiouklaki was a Greek actress. She is considered as one of the most popular and successful actresses of Greek cinema.-Biography:...
, who was playing the main role of Evita Peron
Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
. http://www.theatremuseum.gr/index.php?frm=0&cat1=28&cat2=41&mod=therga&qd11=1&tcapid=2000010092&objid=102928&clsid=61&oclsid=3&lang=english
Collaboration with artists of the Greek music scene
Kristi Stassinopoulou has also collaborated with several composers, song writers and singers.In the 80's and until the early 90's Stassinopoulou performed and toured together with songwriters/singers/composers: Lakis Papadopoulos (Lakis-me-ta-psila-Rever), Demos Moutsis, Nikos Portokaloglou-Fatme, George Pilali. She also collaborated with Pavlos Sidiropoulos
Pavlos Sidiropoulos
Pavlos Sidiropoulos was a Rock musician, noted for supporting the use of Greek lyrics in rock music, at a time when most Greek rock groups were using English lyrics.- Art :...
, a most legendary figure of the Greek underground rock scene.
Her first record Kristi Stassinopoulou was released in 1986 by Adelfi Falirea. Composer/singer Stavros Papastavrou co-wrote the songs of this record together with Kleon Antoniou (of the ethno-jazz band Mode Plagal
Mode Plagal
Mode Plagal is an originally Greek group who perform traditional Greek music blended with jazz, funk and other international styles. They have been described as "the preeminent ambassadors of the much-maligned vernacular Greek music in the 21st century"...
) and Takis Barberis.
For her second LP record, Sti Limni me tis Paparounes (By the lake with the Poppies), she collaborated with songwriters/composers Panagiotis Kalantzopoulos and Evanthia Reboutsika and lyricist Afroditi Rayla. The record was released by Lyra in 1993.
Collaboration with Stathis Kalyviotis
In 1989 Stassinopoulou met multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Stathis Kalyviotis, member -among others- of the Anipofori (The Unbearables), one of the first Greek punk bands in the early 80s, the first to do their songs in Greek lyrics and not in English, as was the habit in the Greek indie-underground-rock scene of the times.Together with Stathis Kalyviotis, drummer Vangelis Vekios and guitarist Kostis Anagnostopoulos they formed, Selana (sometimes cited as Selena), a band with an ethnopunk sound that never made an album, but became cult, often performing also as the support group of late Pavlos Sidiropoulos
Pavlos Sidiropoulos
Pavlos Sidiropoulos was a Rock musician, noted for supporting the use of Greek lyrics in rock music, at a time when most Greek rock groups were using English lyrics.- Art :...
.
In 1997, Stassinopoulou and Kalyviotis produced their first album Ifantokosmos which was released by the independent label Thesis. Their next album, Echotropia, was released in 1999. It was distributed in Greece, N. America and Brasil and was the first Greek album to reach the Top 10 position in the World Music Charts Europe.
In July 2000 Stassinopoulou, Kalyviotis and their band were the first Greeks to perform at the International Jazz Festival in Montreal http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/program/concert.aspx?id=8202, on its 21st edition. Their first North American appearance took place in July 2002 and it was organized by Dan Berhman. There they played a.o. at the Winnipeg Folk Festival http://www.winnipegfolkfestival.ca/wp/about-us/past-performers/ in Canada, the Millenium Stage of the Kennedy Centre http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=11144&source_type=B in Washington DC, the Central Park Summer StageFestival in New York. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/16/arts/summerstage-is-bringing-the-world-to-central-park.html
In May 2001 she participated in the Greece in Britain series of concerts at the Barbican Theatre of London; the late Charlie Gillett
Charlie Gillett
Charlie Gillett , was a British radio presenter, musicologist and writer, mainly on rock and roll and other forms of popular music...
, who was in the audience, hosted Stassinopoulou and Kalyviotis live in his Saturday BBC 3 radio show, The Sound of the World. http://www.charliegillett.com/playlist.php?date=26October02
In 2002 The Secrets of the Rocks was released in Greece by Hitch Hyke Records. In October 2002 Stassinopoulou, Kalyviotis and their band played at Womex in Essen, Germany.
In January 2003 The Secrets of the Rocks reached number 1 on the World Music Charts Europe, went number 2 in February and remained for 6 months in total in the top-10 list. The album was also released in N. America, Spain the U.K.
In March 2003 Stassinopoulou was the cover story of the world music UK magazine, fRoots, interviewed by Ian Anderson. In October 2003 she played in Union Chappell http://www.womex.com/virtual/hitch_hyke_music/news/kristi_stassinopoulou, London, in the Europe in Union series of concerts organized by fRoots. In August and September 2004, Stassinopoulou and Kalyviotis toured for one-month tour in 17 cities in Brazil, Mostra de Artes Mediterraneo, Roteiro Verde 2005. http://portal.process.com.br/novo/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9420
In 2007, Taxidoscopio was released in Spain, Germany, Japan and Greece and was included in the toptop-15 of WOMEX World Music CDs of the year . http://www.womex.com/realwomex/main.php?id_headings=48&id_realwomex=9&subheading=40 Together with their band, or as a duo, Stassinopoulou and Kalyviotis have appeared on several music festivals and clubs in Europe, N. America and Brazil. http://krististassinopoulou.com/index.php?show=festivals
Other activities
Kristi Stassinopoulou has published two books:Her first book Epta Fores stin Amorgo (Seven Times in Amorgos) containing seven short mystery stories set on the Cycladic island of Amorgos, was published in1993 by Kastaniotis Editions.
Her second book Pyrini Romfaia (Fiery Sward) is a novel of magic set in Athens in the early 90s and was published in 1995 by Livanis Editions.
She has also been writing and publishing short-stories and articles mainly on music, in magazines and fanzines. Stassinopoulou has also worked as a radio producer, presenting her own radio shows in the Athenian based radios: Sky 100,4 (1989–1992), Kanali 15 (1992-3), En Lefko (1998-9). .
Kristi also supplied voices of Ariel in the Greek 1989 dub of The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid (1989 film)
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was originally released to theaters on November 14, 1989 and is the twenty-eighth film in...
and Belle in the Greek dub of Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
.
Discography
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Kristi Stasinopoulou | - |
| 1993 | By the lake with the Poppies | - |
| 1997 | Ifantokosmos | - |
| 2001 | Echotropia | Top10 in the World Music Charts Europe |
| 2003 | The Secrets of the Rocks | #1 in the World Music Charts Europe |
| 2006 | Taxidoskopio | - |