Katsigiannis Andreas

Andreas Katsigiannis was born in Athens in 1976. He comes from a family with close connections to Greek music. He grew up in a music environment related to Byzantine music, Rembetiko songs and contemporary Greek music. At the age of twelve he got involved with music, essentially starting his professional career playing the santur in recordings and live performances. In parallel, he took up studying Byzantine Music next to leading precentors such as Manolis Chatzimarkos and Michalis Meletis and music theory and harmony at the Municipal Conservatoire of the City of Volos. Between 1993 and 1997 he studied Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. During his studies he remained actively involved with music and started co-operating with important violinist Kyriakos Gouvendas. Together they introduced various innovations in Greek music discography, which have influenced the contemporary music movement in Greece at large, particularly after 1998. Since 2001 he has been working as a music teacher in Greek Secondary Public Education. The turning point in Andreas's musical career was definitely his initiative for the foundation of the orchestra Estudiantina of Nea Ionia-in-Magnesia in 1998, with the support and collaboration of fellow musicians of the same age from the city, Nea Ionia, and Volos. The Estudiantina embarked on a rigorous musically active program, which led to hundreds of live performances in Greece and abroad, as well as numerous recording works comprising 12 Cd's and 2 dvds, achieving high rankings in Greece and abroad. As a santur soloist Andreas has participated in a great number of recordings and live performances collaborating with renowned Greek artists, both in Greece and abroad. He is an active member of the Mikis Theodorakis' Orchestra and has worked with other important Greek composers such as Yannis Markopoulos, Eleni Karaindrou, Stavros Xarchakos, Stamatis Spanoudakis as well as the famous Turkish composer Zülfü Livaneli. Central to his career has been his collaboration with Giorgos Dalaras, with whom they have been working very closely since 2000, producing and co-editing various recordings and publications. Since 2003 Giorgos Dalaras has taken up the role of the artistic consultant and producer of the Estudiantina recorded and live performances. Andreas has collaborated with many other well-known Greek singers, such as Nana Mouskouri, Maria Farantouri, Manolis Mitsias, Glykeria as well as with the majority of the new generation of contemporary singers, singers from traditional musical genres, such as the late Domna Samiou, Hronis Aidonidis, Xanthipi Karathanasi and virtuoso musicians, such as the late Giorgos Koros, Yannis Vasilopoulos and Vasilis Saleas. In 2003 the Swedish Ministry of Culture organized a tour of Estudiantina Orchestra in Sweden, accompanied by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Stockholm performing themes from the Greek tradition but also music of Greek composers for santur and orchestra. In 2008 Andreas composed the official Anthem of the Mediterranean Games for the bid for hosting the 2013 Games chosen following a vote. In March 2009 His Holiness the Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa Theodoros II presented him with the distinction of "Sovereign Master In Cathedra" in recognition of his cultural work and his contribution to the Hellenism of the Diaspora. He composed music for the documentary film Imvros & Tenedos islands, a tale of memories in collaboration with the Hellenic History Foundation under the auspices of UNESCO and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The music of the film was published in 2012 with the participation of Giorgos Dalaras and Zulfu Livaneli. In 2013, he composed and published a new album called Ikona Achiropoiiti in collaboration with EMI and Eleftherotypia newspaper. His music was based on poems by great Greek literary figure Alexandros Papadiamantis. In September 2014 he started his collaboration with Mimi Denisi, a well-known Greek actress and director, and the Foundation of the Hellenic World. He composed the music for the play Beloved Smyrne and he also released a new album with Sony Music Turkey, called IZMIR. Alkistis Protopsalti, Kostas Makedonas, Sophia Mermigka, Babis Tsertos, Ayda Mosharraf and Mehmet Erdem participated in the album. In more recent years he has collaborated as a song writer with well-known lyricists such as Lefteris Papadopoulos, Elias Katsoulis, Isaak Sousis, Eleni Giannatsoulia and Lina Dimopoulou In 2016 three new albums were released Pesto gia mena (Say it for me) singing Giorgos Dalaras, Tis kardias ta pathi (Heart passions) singing Babis Tsertos and the instrumental album Euphoria. In 2017 his work entitled 1906 was released featuring actor Nikos Xanthopoulos as narrator singing Eleni Vitali, Manolis Mitsias, Kostas Makedonas, Dimitris Basis and the children choir of Spyros Lambrou. Ten poems by Cypriot writer Polys Kyriakou singing Vasiliki Chatziadamou were recorded in the Cypriot Greek dialect. In 2018 MLK recording company released a series of songs based on poems by Kostas Kartelias singing Manolis Lydakis. In June and October 2017 Andreas Katsigiannis had two great concerts at the Odeon of Herod Atticus under the Acropolis in Athens attended by an audience of 8,000. Over the theatrical season 2018-2019 he composed the music and played live in the play Loxandra at the Veaki theatre in Athens directed by Sotiris Chatzakis. His music can be found in scores of albums and recorded collections around the world. Up to date he has composed more than 400 songs and 200 instrumental pieces released in compilations as well as his personal discography.