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Fengaros Festival publishes the Tenth Anniversary schedule!

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 08:19:38 GMT

It’s been more than 1,000 days since Fengaros last revealed its daily schedule. There’s only one more month to go until we’ll be at the village for three days of 45+ live bands and DJ sets, across 3 stages and secret locations, and a selection of food, beer and cocktails - all with a whole bunch of festival-goers coming together for unforgettable experiences this summer that can only happen at Fengaros.

28-30/7, #Fengaros2022

Info/Tickets: www.fengaros.com

Fengaros Festival 2022: The Tenth Anniversary

Sun, 29 May 2022 16:45:11 GMT

Fengaros Festival drops its official Tenth Anniversary Lineup

Fengaros is back to the ultra-unique village of Kato Drys this summer to celebrate its Tenth Anniversary with a bang.

We’re talking world-renowned trailblazers, more than 45 hours of music from live bands and DJ sets from across the globe, camping underneath the stars and a whole community of music-lovers all gathering together in the village.

Fengaros came out of a huge need to change things up in Cyprus. Each year, the village evolves, the community flourishes together with a common desire, and more of our favourite fresh artists hit the stage.

We’re returning to three days of wandering from stage to stage and secret locations under the summer night sky, and exploring winding village roads where undiscovered musical treasures call you to join in on the celebrations.

Festival tickets are on sale NOW from the Fengaros website - gather round to experience the entirety of the festival and choose to dance along with as many artists as your heart desires.

GET TICKETS

Fengaros is known for combining top-notch music with the jaw-droppingly breathtaking scenery of a traditional Cypriot village where festival-goers can explore and camp underneath the stars of the summer night sky, creating the ultimate festival experience unlike anything else on the island.

A leader on the island in normalising environmentally conscious music practices and platforming underrepresented genders on festival lineups from the entire region, Fengaros is a pioneer: it has spearheaded the creation of a three-day music festival in overlooked, picturesque Mediterranean villages such as Kato Drys, where visitors can experience an astounding three days, and live the festival in all its glory.

Info/Tickets: www.fengaros.com/tickets

Facebook: www.facebook.com/fengaros
Instagram: www.instagram.com/fengaro s

Fengaros Music Village: 21 - 26 July 2022

Sun, 01 May 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Workshops - Lectures - Concerts

Fengaros Music Village welcomes its ninth edition, taking place on the 21st to the 26th July in the rejuvenating village of Kato Drys in the Larnaca district. Providing arts education through a series of nine music and theatre workshops, the summertime establishment nurtures a broad network of artists from Cyprus and beyond to gather in the village and foster creative collaboration. This edition’s workshops will be taught by industry professionals with expertise in a range of fields including drumming, orchestration and arrangement, jazz, and folk music traditions.

Attendees will be able to participate in their workshop of choice which will take place daily during the morning and afternoon hours, revitalising the quaint Cypriot village with music and creativity. Each evening free concerts will be available to the public, followed by open jam sessions at the village’s traditional cafe. Fengaros Music Village’s goal is to hone a long-lasting and resourceful community of artists to cultivate diverse creative and disseminative opportunities amongst one another.

APPLICATION FORM

Registration:

Limited spaces are available for each workshop. Registrations are secured on a first come, first served basis upon payment of the participation fee via the sign-up page.

** All registrations secured and paid for, will include a personal, non-transferable three-day invitation to the tenth anniversary of Fengaros Festival as a gift.

Each Workshop Duration:
Attendees register for one workshop amounting to around 30 hours of morning and afternoon sessions.

Cost of Participation:
€160 - Full-time participation in one workshop
€200 - Full-time participation in one workshop and five lunch meals

Accommodation :
Free Camping (with showers and toilets)
Shared Agrotouristic Lodges available for renting for two, three or four persons

Refundable cancellation of registration until the 21st of June 2022.

THE WORKSHOPS AND INSTRUCTORS

Antonia Charalambous & Athina Kasiou (Cyprus) - From the Text

Unravelling a performance for all roles, and using the text as a starting point

Christodoros Mnasonos (Cyprus) - Makam Taksimleri ve Saz Eserleri

Aesthetics of makam through organic compositions and taksim

Ermis Michail (Cyprus) - The Guitarist’s Perspectives Vol. 2

Conceptualising the guitarist’s and bassist’s capacities and responsibilities

Eleni Irakleous & Stelios Chatziktoris (Germany) - Free the Voice and Sing Up!

Applying embodied practices to expression in vocal performances

Fotis Siotas (Greece) - The Roles of the Strings in Popular Music

Innovating arrangement, orchestration and performance for string instruments

George Kontrafouris (Greece) - Jazz and Beyond Vol. 2

Improvisation and exploring instrument roles through group interaction and performance

Martha Mavroidi (Greece) - Musical Nuclei: Improvisation and Composition

Exploring musical variations through group composition and improvisation

Stefanos Meletiou (Cyprus) - Grooves, Stickings, Subdivisions and their Musical Applications

Applying a balanced routine between practising technique and advancing musicality

Vassilis Philippou (Cyprus) - Words and Sounds of Cyprus in Contemporary Songwriting

Revitalising Cypriot music, poetry and dialect

Eurotoire - On A Red Thursday

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 09:13:03 GMT

On A Red Thursday is the result of complete strangers from 10 countries challenging themselves on a sequestered island to release a collaborative album together

Once in a lifetime, you’ll experience a pandemic. Once in a blue moon, you’ll have a chance to escape to a secluded island. Once on a red Thursday, as the local saying in Cyprus goes, you’ll be in a situation with a group of complete strangers, fully immersed in the sparks of creation flying forth. On A Red Thursday (9 March) is the product of just such a gathering of musicians from a multitude of backgrounds, journeys, skills and preferences. Their first single, ‘ Until We Meet Again’ , performed by Eurotoire team members Panayi and Jolien marks the beginning of sharing their experiences of stepping outside their comfort zones with the world. Following this first offering is alternative RnB number ‘ So Lonely ’ (3 February) performed by Maris Pihlap. ‘ Figures ’ (25 February) is the final single before the album’s release and sees Raveloe and Tamara van Esch punk out in a commentary on obstacles womxn face.

DOUBLE LP, DIGITAL ALBUM - found.ee/OnARedThursday

In a songwriting programme piloted by Cypriot label, Louvana Records called Eurotoire, songwriters, producers, and session musicians from ten countries were invited to gather in Cyprus to test their limits, trust strangers, and allow their artistry to merge. Their initial week-long meeting began on a Thursday in June at Studio eleven63 in the island’s capital of Nicosia and blossomed into fifteen demos. After another two writing and recording sessions in July and September, the tracks bloomed into the Eurotoire team members’ fully-fledged album. Now they’re using On A Red Thursday to spread the word about the power of surrendering to creative instinct and collaborating with the unknown. On 13 February, the Louvana Records YouTube channel premiered a short documentary created by all eighteen artists with a single camera shared between them. Clips shot by the artists were edited together by videographer Antonis Pouliasis to depict their journey from complete strangers to collaborators as they untie forces to create an album together.

Welcoming Fotis Siotas! Pre-order new single 'Skouria Kai Meli' out on 4 October

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 08:02:06 GMT

Fotis Siotas reunites with Louvana Records to release 'Skouria Kai Meli' the theme song of 'Meliartos' the new TV series by Loris Loizides and Theodosis Economides

Lush strings, jangly guitars, exotica-tinged organs, and the husky vocals of celebrated Greek artist Fotis Siotas cooning through the theme song ‘Skouria Kai Meli’: this track is just one piece from the extensive collection of music all written by Cypriot producers Andreas Trachonitis and Lefteris Moumtzis exclusively for the soundtrack of brand new TV series ‘Meliartos’ by actor-screenwriter Loris Loizides’ and director Theodosis Economides. With lyrics by Stavrous Stavrou, ‘Skouria Kai Meli’ sees Trachonitis and Moumtzis reunite with longtime friend Siotas who had previously collaborated with Louvana Records as frontman of his rock band Sotires (Σωτήρες).

BUY / STREAM NEW SINGLE

The Meliartos score nods to the silver screen soundtracks of Mimis Plessas and Mikis Theodorakis. References to Hiotis, rebetiko, Sinatra and Greek teddy-boy (“teddyboides”) shake and garage rock were a starting point for Trachonitis and Moumtzis, resulting in a retro sonic timewarp laced with overdriven bouzouki solos, sauve organ melody lines, and velvet smooth orchestrations to accompany Meliartos’ nostalgic storyline.

credits

releases October 4, 2021

Music by Lefteris Moumtzis, Andreas Trachonitis
Lyrics by Stavros Stavrou
Produced by Lefteris Moumtzis, Andreas Trachonitis
Recorded and mixed by Andreas Trachonitis at Studio eleven63, Cyprus
Mastered by Yiannis Christodoulatos at Sweetspot Productions, Greece
Cover Artwork by George Vasiliou

Freedom Candlemaker - I Am Love

Mon, 31 May 2021 07:08:08 GMT

Alternative pop artist Freedom Candlemaker releases new single 'I Am Love'

Freedom Candlemaker constructs a celestial journey with his fusion of dreamy, esoteric pop with nu-folk, psychedelic and shimmery soundscapes. The brainchild of musician/producer Lefteris Moumtzis, Freedom Candlemaker is a direct translation of the artist’s name into English.

Freedom Candlemaker’s latest offering ‘I Am Love’ sees the artist lead an emboldened, grand call for embracing and hailing the pure, true self. The track presents a repeated mantra as layers of orchestrations march into an immersive dimension of soaring piano, brass and synth pulsations to illuminate clarity of perception.

BUY / STREAM THE NEW SINGLE

OPEN CALL - Eurotoire

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 10:43:23 GMT

Introducing Eurotoire: A songwriting and production camp for emerging musicians.

Eurotoire is aimed at emerging musicians with specialisms ranging in songwriting, performing, recording and producing music, as well as a strong knack for video producing. Participants will co-write, produce, release and promote a ten-song album, and perform at a music festival.

Co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission , the programme will consist of a series of training events, including three co-creation and co-production retreats, plus remote mentoring sessions from experienced professionals in various fields relating to music production and promotion.

Selected applicants will benefit their careers by collaborating with others, and increase their understanding of the songwriting, music production, recording and promotion value chain.

We’re building a dream team of 20 musicians, with multiple skills consisting of 10 songwriters, 6 session musicians and vocalists, 2 engineers/producers and 2 video producers.

What's in it for you:

Boost creative writing and production skills
Develop your studio performance techniques
Gain knowledge to produce a ten-song collaborative album
Tap in to the local markets and fanbases of new collaborators
Gain training in business skills from experienced music professionals
Further develop your network
Gain training in promoting your work
Perform at an international music festival

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT EUROTOIRE: http://eurotoire.com/

Application Process

Selection Process: Calls are open from February 12th to February 28th, midnight EET. Interviews of prospect participants will take place between March 3rd to March 5th. All successful applicants will be informed by March 6th.

Eligibility: The call is open to applicants between the ages of 18-35 with up-to-date travel documents from all countries that participate in the Creative Europe Programme Culture. Participants must be fluent in English.

Selection Criteria: Participants will be selected based on their portfolio, technical skills, musicality, openness and ambition towards creative collaboration and production, dedication towards promotion and further development of collaborative outputs.

APPLY: http://eurotoire.com/

Eleni Era - Younger Heart

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 17:08:21 GMT

Alternative pop artist Eleni Era announces her sophomore album Younger Heart out on 31 March

Eleni Era writes dreamy pop merged with baroque drifts and cushioned with the sonic luminosity of her electric-acoustic orchestrations. Her songs are the washing away of layers of stinging festers, an antidote available only via prescription signed by the ego.

Following her collection of pop deviations on her 2019 debut album, Rise Love , Eleni Era plunges deep into an overdue appointment with her soul in her sophomore album, Younger Heart to gain insight that transcends from the glowing embers of the heart, in through the fingertips, and out onto the piano.

PRE-ORDER YOUNGER HEART CD, LP AND DIGITAL FORMATS

Raised in the invigorating stillness of a small Cypriot village before moving to Berlin at eighteen to study classical voice and piano, Eleni Era has an infallible knack for translating selfcare into the aural elixir that is her lyric and songwriting. Her first album Rise Love followed solo live videos showcasing stripped-down cuts of the album’s songs. Using both English and her native Greek tongue, the songwriter builds on themes of empowered compassion in Younger Heart (out on 31 March) by way of equanimous ballads, psychedelic chamber pop, and nostalgic vintage gospel infusions.

Fengaros Reacts | 10 - 31 January 2021

Sat, 19 Dec 2020 15:17:09 GMT

People need music. Artists need to perform.

People need music. Artists need to perform. Therefore, Fengaros Reacts: An online festival presenting a top-notch selection of 10 original Cypriot bands and solo acts performing live on the Louvana Records YouTube channel from the 10th - 31st January. This is our reaction to what is happening right now with the music scene in Cyprus. Supporter contributions are going live from NOW! Every bit of support is going straight to the musicians and art workers behind Fengaros Reacts . REACT!

Fengaros, Cyprus’ open-air summer festival is moving out of its quaint, rural landscape and heading into the digital realm with its very first online edition, named Fengaros Reacts. From the 10th - 31st January 2021, Fengaros Reacts will present a programme of ten Cypriot acts, streamed on Louvana Records’ & Fengaros Festival’s Facebook and YouTube channel.

With an exclusively local lineup, Fengaros Reacts is gathering some of Cyprus’ most exciting independent acts and promoting the music that the secluded island’s new generation of artists have been brewing recently - all available for audiences to tune in to the musicians’ live sets for free! From now and until the end of the festival, fans will be able to donate and support the artists and art workers involved in Fengaros Reacts, plus grab some artist merch from the festival platform.

Support the musicians and art workers by contributing or grabbing merchandise here: https://fengaros.com/reacts

Autumn 2020 Sale

Fri, 27 Nov 2020 10:06:47 GMT

Autumn discounts for the entire Louvana Records store

We're having a sale! All orders over €30 will receive 20% off until the end of the month.

Use the code AUTUMN20 at check-out.

https://www.louvanarecords.com/stor

Fresh takes:

Have a look through what's on offer: the Louvana Records book plus a whole host of genres available on vinyl, CD and digitally - punk rock, dreamy indie pop, folk rock and experimental classical guitar.

Recent release: Balothizer - Cretan Smash

Louvana Records' latest release is Balothizer's second album, ' Cretan Smash '. Featuring a fusion of thrash metal and traditional Cretan folk music, this album was met with a host of positive reviews from the metal and world music scene.

"Miss not." ★★★★ - The Morning Star
"It’s every bit as good as a souvlaki." - Musipedia of Metal
"Watch for this on the best albums of 2020 page at the end of the year." - New York Music Daily
"Balothizer’s new record takes listeners on a journey, and if you’re looking to expand your horizons, this is what you need. " - New Noise Magazine
"Cretan warriors with a taste of metal" . - Mark Kidel, The Arts Desk

Balothizer - Cretan Smash

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 09:59:22 GMT

The power trio return with a sophomore album, out on November 13 2020

Balothizer are a power trio who describe their renditions of Greek island Crete’s traditional music as “post-Cretan”. Their following however has come up with a tagline that defines their concoction of thrash metal with acid-blotted Cretan folk… Cretan Music From Hell! A tagline that became the title of their debut album. With their fusion of Cretan music and poetry traditions with heavy bass lines and thunderous drumming, Balothizer are releasing their sophomore album, Cretan Smash. This is a whole new level of unabashed Cretan spirit: grittier arrangements of the Crete’s fiery traditional music performed with a raw, jackhammering intensity - all mixed by Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier. The result is something that sounds like a coupling of Psarantonis and a 1980s punk gathering in a grimy basement full of moshing weirdos.

Balothizer’s beginnings lie in London just as the metropolitan city was experiencing a “world music” and jazz renaissance with immigrant musicians embracing their own traditions from beyond the western European world. Simultaneously, the Greek rock scene was turning into a phenomenon across the European and especially Balkan stoner and metal underground - it’s no surprise that Balothizer’s Greek-language, folk-meets-metal came about.

Their first single 'Ponente & Levante' is out now.

PRE-ORDER DIGITAL AND WHITE VINYL EDITION OF CRETAN SMASH

Fengaros Music Village 2020

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 07:09:18 GMT

WORKSHOPS - LECTURES - CONCERTS | JULY 23 - 28 / KATO DRYS / CYPRUS

Having found a solution for education and arts and culture at a time when such challenges have seemed impossible to overcome, we are delighted to announce that Fengaros Music Village 2020 will be taking place as scheduled this year.

We’re dedicated to providing opportunities where experienced arts professionals and emerging musicians and artists alike can come together and learn from each other. Over the past few weeks we have worked hard to adapt and unearth ways to implement the 7th edition of Fengaros Music Village and all that it stands for. We are now more excited than ever to be reunited with the entire community of educators, artists and supporters at Fengaros Music Village 2020.

Moving Forward:

Fengaros Music Village is returning to the village of Kato Drys this summer from the 23rd to the 28th of July, providing arts education through a series of music and theatre workshops. The workshops will take place daily during the morning and afternoon hours, filling the traditional Cypriot village with music and creativity. Attendees will be able to choose from nine workshops taught by industry professionals with expertise in fields ranging from jazz and popular music, to film scoring, to acting, and to non-western musical traditions. This year’s instructors will include artists from Cyprus, Greece and Germany. Participating in Fengaros Music Village will expose attendees to a new network and community of artists. Now in its seventh edition, the event has become an institution and is one of the most important meetings on the island for musicians from Cyprus and abroad.

Throughout the years, Fengaros Music Village has functioned as the birthplace of many musical and artistic collaborations and projects. In recent years, participants have gone on to accomplish several music releases, numerous festival and concert performances in Cyprus and abroad, not to mention access to a nurturing networking pool of music and arts creatives based in Cyprus.

Click here to head to our website where workshop descriptions, more information and registration forms are available.

About Fengaros Music Village:

The aim of Fengaros Music Village is to foster productive knowledge and idea exchange between artists of varied backgrounds, including workshop instructors and participants alike. Each evening free concerts are available to the public followed by jam sessions in the village’s café. Moreover, it is of utmost importance that the creation of a long-lasting, hybrid artistic community, characterised by solidarity, both in the field of collective creativity and in the production and distribution of artistic work, is cultivated.

Acknowledging the financial difficulties that musicians and artists are facing during these times, Fengaros Music Village, along with the gracious help of our longtime sponsors and collaborators, are delighted to be providing a significantly discounted participation fee from €180.00 to €95.00, plus important discounts on all agrotouristic lodges that participants can book through Fengaros Music Village. Together with our new food vendor, we have also arranged for the 5 lunch meals to be discounted from €40.00 to €36.00.

With the valuable assistance of the Community Council of Kato Drys and in line with government announcements and measures on gatherings and classrooms, Fengaros Music Village will do all that is possible to provide a healthy environment during workshops, lectures and concerts plus an open-air camping site that registered participants can enjoy.

The Workshops:

George Kontrafouris (Greece) - The Jazz Workshop

Reharmonisation and improvisational techniques and approaches for the new jazz standards

Stelios Xydias (Cyprus) - Elements of Drumming

Elements of drumming, techniques and aesthetics

D imitris Mystakidis (Greece) - Rembetiko: Artistry and Technique

Structure and progression of modal scales, rhythms and harmonizations in rembetiko music

Marios Takoushis (Cyprus) - Behind the Picture: Composing and Producing Music for Films, TV and Commercials

Composing for the moving image, contracts, analysis of storyboards and scripts

Stela Fyrogeni (Cyprus) - Theatre Workshop: The One, The Nobody and The Other

Acting and self-expression as the stage’s sole-actor

Babis Papadopoulos (Greece) - Stylistic Decisions in Orchestration

Orchestration for musicians, composers and songwriters

Christodoros Mnasonos (Cyprus) - Theory and Practice of Eastern Multimodal Music Traditions

Revitalising multimodal music traditions from the Balkans, Mediterranean and Middle East

Eleni Irakleous (Germany) - Cultivating Musicality through Singing

Group singing, vocal confidence, and embodied performance

Demetris Yiasemides & Eva Stavrou (Cyprus) - The Art of the Winds

Innovative and artistic techniques for wind instruments

Lefteris Moumtzis (Cyprus) - Being Present in Performance [Artist Residency]

Ensemble performance and skill-cultivating in limited time situations

More information and workshop descriptions, registration, accommodation and payment

www.fengaros.com/MusicVillage

Each Workshop Duration:

Around 30 hours, morning and afternoon sessions.

Cost of Participation:

€95 - Full-time participation in one workshop

€131 - Full-time participation in one workshop and five lunch meals

Accommodation:

Free Camping (with showers and toilets)

Agroturistic Lodges available for renting

Refundable cancellation of registration until the 23rd of June 2020.

In case that a foreign instructor is unable to attend due to travelling restrictions, the organization will propose a replacement instructor. If the student prefers to not go ahead with the replacing instructor or another workshop, they will be refunded. If they wish to go ahead with the replacing instructor and workshop the last date for a refund will be the 23rd of July.

Sponsors : Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth, US Embassy Cyprus

Supporters : Community Council of Kato Drys

We’re grateful for the support, cooperation and dedication to our venture from the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth, the U.S. Embassy in Cyprus, our partner hoteliers of Kato Drys and Lefkara, our catering providers To Kouzinaki tis Stavroulas, and the Community Council of Kato Drys. All of our instructors at this moment are attending as planned, and in the case that flights are restricted, we will be updating the instructor lineup accordingly

LOUVANA RECORDS PRESENTS: EVDOMADA LOUVANA 16-23 NOVEMBER 2019

Mon, 21 Oct 2019 10:02:02 GMT

Ten Years: One of Cyprus’ longest-running, most active, and internationally successful record labels, Louvana Records, is celebrating its tenth anniversary by premiering its new project: Evdomada Louvana this November. Set in multiple venues across its home base in Nicosia, Evdomada Louvana will see the label doing what it knows best: presenting concerts by both past and present Louvana Records artists plus affiliated acts, as well as educational masterclasses and open discussions, mirroring the label’s history in providing educational arts workshops - all topped off with a week-long audio-visual exhibition and a specially published smart book documenting Louvana Records 10-year history, an important part in Cyprus’ twenty-first century music culture.

Running from 16-23 November, Evdomada Louvana will kick off with its inaugural exhibition, curated by Orestis Kalvari s and set at Prozak, presenting photographic material, videos, posters and audio documents. A specially-published smart book, curated by the writer and journalist Eleni Xenou , that traces the history and works of Louvana Records over its ten-year span will also premiere during Evdomada Louvana. Sunday 17.11 and Tuesday 19.11 will see a series of Masterclasses and Open Discussions aimed at facilitating a creative dialogue. Instructors and curators will include Fotis Siota s (Sancho 003, Sotires, Papakonstantinou, Malamas), Marios Takoushis (composer; ‘Need for Speed; Hot Pursuit’, BBC and Channel 4 (UK), Mighty Sugarcane), Michalis Karakatsanis (Cyprus Music Information Centre), Panayiotis Georgiou (frontman of Arcadian Child), Antonis Antoniou (frontman of multi award-winning and internationally successful folk trio Monsieur Doumani), and will be held at Ethniko Odio Kyprou. The masterclasses and open discussions are open to musicians, producers, arts professionals and cultural managers.

CLICK FOR COMPLETE SCHEDULE & TICKETS

Customarily, Louvana Records will be hosting multiple concerts during the celebratory week, spread across notable Nicosia venues ARTos Foundation, Theatro Dentro and Prozak. Artists will include the world-renowned ‘Queen of the Balkans’ Martha Mavroidi premiering a brand new project with Giorgos Ventouris and Ioannis Papadopoulos ; Lefkosia Loop Festival favourites, Bunty and Sancho 003 ; intimate sets from Freedom Candlemaker (Lefteris Moumtzis); long-time associate, classical guitarist Kostas Makrygiannakis ; a long-awaited throwback live concert by Stelafi (fronted by actress/singer Stela Fyrogeni ), as well as more recent partnerships made through past Fengaros Festival lineups: dream pop artist Nalyssa Green ; young singer-songwriter Náma , as well as two Cypriot acts, Larva , and a duet by artists Vassilis Philippo u and Giannis Kouti s.

Label co-founders Lefteris Moumtzis and Andreas Trachonitis, two young and daring music-lovers (and musicians/producers in their own right) first met after Moumtzis returned to Cyprus from London, where he had been organising and promoting concerts under the name ‘Louvana’ and Trachonitis return from Boston after finishing his studies. When the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Moumtzis had booked a recording session with musician and producer/sound engineer, Trachonitis at his newly-founded recording facility, Studio eleven63 , neither of them had expected that the session would mark the beginning of a partnership that has since exposed Cyprus to over hundreds of international and Cypriot musicians through its festivals and concerts (most famously, Fengaros Festival ), and invaluable workshops that have kick-started the careers of multiple young Cypriot musicians and arts creatives. Within its history Louvana Records has established itself as the only organisation in Cyprus that focuses on live, original, popular-music from local independent songwriters, as well as music masterclasses and workshops. The organisation has not only gained recognition from abroad but has cemented its exclusive relationships between Cyprus and foreign industry professionals who are keen on involving Cyprus in Europe’s contemporary, popular, music-culture.

The audience of Louvana Records’ native country is of the utmost importance. Whether a fan purchases every single label release, attends each of its festivals, events or workshops and masterclasses, the impact with which the Louvana Records audience has supported the label’s efforts is extraordinary. The November premiere of Evdomada Louvana holds its audience in an extremely special place in its heart.

CLICK FOR COMPLETE SCHEDULE & TICKETS

Studio Drumming Masterclass

Thu, 12 Sep 2019 08:54:22 GMT

Providing both budding and working drummers and sound engineers/producers alike with a hands-on full day of training.

Instructed by the well-known session drummer and performer, Michael Kapilidis ( Anna Vissi, Alkinoos Ioannides, Eleonora Zouganeli ) and one of Cyprus’ most sought-after producer/engineers, Andreas Trachonitis, the Studio Drumming Masterclass will provide both budding and working drummers and sound engineers/producers alike with a one-day training event.

Who is the Masterclass for? For drummers, producers and engineers that are looking for hands-on tips and techniques to perfect their next recording session and walk confidently into the studio.

BOOK HERE

A hands-on series of classes

Divided into four sections, the masterclass will teach registrants the importance of strong collaborations between the drummer and the producer/engineer in order to fully conceptualise the recording and production process of an original song. Each part of the process will be given thorough analysis by the masterclass instructors.

Timetable:

9:30-10:00

Arrival of attendees, Refreshments

10:00-12:00

Selection of drum-kit, drumheads and cymbals: How, why and what to select to fit the production
Drum setup and tuning: Myths and reality

12:00-14:00

Microphone placement and various drum recording techniques: Fix it in the mix?
Soundcheck: Levels, Compression, EQ and most importantly musicians headphone mix

14:00-14:30

Short Break, Refreshments

14:30-16:30

Drums recording: Various takes will be recorded approaching different drumming ideas.

16:30-18:30

Drum take selection: Discussion and editing
Mixing ideas

The masterclass is suitable for drummers, sound engineers and producers, regardless of style of music. Drummers will be able to further explore their knowledge and extend their palette when recording in the studio and both sound engineers and producers alike will be able to enhance their recording and production techniques. The event is ideal for those that wish to accelerate their technical knowledge with a hands-on approach by experienced professionals who also have extensive experience in teaching.

 BOOK HERE

Cost of Participation : €80 per person / Only 10 spaces available . Refundable cancellation of registration until the 11th of September 2019.

Location : Studio eleven63 (Iras 8E, 2234 Latsia, Cyprus)

Facebook Event : Click HERE .

MICHAEL KAPILIDIS & ANDREAS TRACHONITIS

Michael Kapilidis:
Upon completing his studies in drums and percussion, Michael Kapilidis began touring, recording and performing for some of Greece’s most popular musicians including Alkinoos Ioannides, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Anna Vissi, Alkistis Protopsalti and Eleonora Zouganeli . He has been a member of various jazz, blues and rock groups in Greece such as Hopla Loon, Haemus, Extended Funk Family amongst others and has released numerous records both solo and with various bands.
w: kapilidis.widget.gr/bio/

Andreas Trachonitis:
After graduating from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Music Production and Engineering and in Contemporary Writing and Production, he established his own recording facility, studio eleven63 in Nicosia, Cyprus. From his studio, Trachonitis works with the cream of the Cypriot scene and with acclaimed international clients, producing, recording and mixing records, songs, jingles, film scores, and designing sound for animations. In addition to his work in the studio, he has extensive experience in live music, being the production manager of Fengaros Festival. Trachonitis also has been a faculty member of the Fine and Applied Arts department at Frederick University for the last 9 years, teaching audio production.
w: facebook.com/eleven63

 BOOK HERE

FENGAROS MUSIC VILLAGE 2019

Wed, 03 Apr 2019 11:01:21 GMT

JULY 25TH TO 30TH / KATO DRYS

Fengaros Music Village is held for the sixth consecutive year at Kato Drys village in the Larnaca district and consists of eleven music, theater and radio production workshops, as well as an artist residency. Artists from Cyprus, Greece, England, Germany and Holland will conduct the workshops, proposing alternative methods of learning and creating.

The event has become an institution and is one of the most important meetings of musicians from Cyprus and abroad, on the island. During its years of existence, the Fengaros Music Village has functioned as the "birthplace" of many musical (and not only) collaborations and projects.

The workshops will take place daily during the morning and afternoon hours, with evening concerts and presentations, open to the public, will complete the daily schedule.

Goals of Fengaros Music Village:

The implementation of educational, interactive workshops, instructed by artists of international caliber in the areas of modern and traditional creation. The themed sections of each workshop intend to approach the arts in a broad, yet effective way, whilst concentrating on original and innovative aspects of artistic development.

The encouragement of both organised and spontaneous performances executed by students and instructors.

The productive exchange of ideas and experiences between artists, students and participants of varied backgrounds.

The creation of a long-lasting, hybrid artistic community, characterised by solidarity, both in the field of collective creativity and in the production / distribution of artistic work.

The workshops:

- Egenios Voulgaris - Pre-War Rebetiko: Theory and practice workshop

- Yiannis Dionysiou - Urban Folk Singing - From Dalgas to Kazantzidis

- Andys Skordis - Takendim...Rhythms and polyrhythms

- Odysseas Toumazou - Beyond the six strings

- Michalis Kapilidis - Rhythm section: Ways to function, ways to support Music

- Eleni Irakleous - MILA RE SOL! The development of musicality and musical pedagogy through singing

- Sophie Fetokaki - Approaches to musical embodiment

- Marios Takoushis - Music for the moving picture

- Stelios Ktoras - Dimitris Fyrios - The radio and music producer (is ...)

- Lefteris Moumtzis - The musician’s mindset

- Athina Kassiou - Theatrical workshop - Through the text

- Kostas Makrygiannakis - Going moδular [Artist residency]

- SuCarMuS - Sustainable Careers in the Music Sector [Parallel Action] - BY INVITATION ONLY

Goals of Fengaros Music Village:

The implementation of educational, interactive workshops, instructed by artists of international caliber in the areas of modern and traditional creation. The themed sections of each workshop intend to approach the arts in a broad, yet effective way, whilst concentrating on original and innovative aspects of artistic development.

The encouragement of both organised and spontaneous performances executed by students and instructors.

The productive exchange of ideas and experiences between artists, students and participants of varied backgrounds.

The creation of a long-lasting hybrid, artistic community, characterised by solidarity, both in the field of collective creativity and in the production / distribution of artistic work.

Info/Registration/Accommodation/Payment

www.fengaros.com/MusicVillage

Each Workshop Duration:

Around 30 hours, morning and afternoon sessions.

Cost of Participation:

€180 - Full-time participation in one workshop

€220 - Full-time participation in one workshop and five lunch meals

** For all registrations paid before the 10th of June 2019, a personal three-day invitation to Fengaros Festival will be included.

Accommodation:

Free Camping (with showers and toilets)

Agroturistic Lodges available for renting

Contact:

+35799735225 (5μμ - 8μμ)

FengarosMusicVillage@gmail.com

Refundable cancellation of registration until the 25th of June 2019.

Sponsor: Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture, US Embassy Cyprus

Supporters: Community Council of Kato Drys

Communication Sponsor: Deejay 93.5

Fengaros 2019 / Kato Drys / August 1-3

Fri, 01 Feb 2019 13:06:38 GMT

Returning to the fields and cosy streets of Kato Drys! Three days, three stages, camping, food stalls, festival market and more... Stay tuned for all the info.

Eleni Era 'Not Her' - New Single and Album Pre-Order

Wed, 23 Jan 2019 06:42:04 GMT

Louvana Records proudly presents Not Her , the first single from Eleni Era's upcoming album Rise Love.

Opening up about the song, Eleni Era states: “It’s one of my most personal songs on the album. The song talks about the dilemma of personal identity. It’s about not feeling comfortable in one’s skin, losing the person that you once were and missing them at the same time. Even though the song is already recorded, in a way I feel that it is unfinished, because this process is still ongoing.”

VINYL, COMPACT DISC and DIGITAL ALBUM PRE-ORDER

Her upcoming album Rise Love will be released on 1 March. The album is confessional - at times confronting bleak situations of despair, facing loneliness and the passage of time as well as the necessity to love one’s self - but also sees the singer-songwriter recounting childhood adventures and the innocent songwriting sessions she shared with her siblings. It is filled with tales of a young woman’s coming of age, faced with the challenges of change. Eleni Era’s devotion to these experiences and their indivisibility from her identity are tangible throughout. Her delivery of silky-smooth vocals which extend from full-bodied to delicate, crystalline runs, are driven by a background of lush piano chord sequences, trance-like and mellow beats, and folk melodies.

“A lot of these songs have been written during sleepless nights. I find salvation in heading to the piano, humming through a yet unborn melody at 3am, waiting for the exact words to come out so that I can listen to what they have to say. It helps me understand myself and I heal in the process. This process is also what the album is about.”

STREAM and FOLLOW ELENI ERA

In Rise Love, Eleni Era’s songs surge together, inviting listeners to contemplate on their own experiences of facing life's challenges and hardships, when it seems that there is no one else to share them with, and allowing oneself to be vulnerable enough to let others into their life. Eleni Era sings in both English and her native Greek and brings forth equal grace and conviction. The songs showcase her on vocals, piano, and synths. Long-time friends and fellow artists, Lefteris Moumtzis (Freedom Candlemaker) and Andreas Trachonitis are on production duties, and Moumtzis is also on most of the accompaniment (electric guitars, bass and drums).

Originally from a small village on the mediterranean island, Cyprus, Eleni Era was trained as a classical concert pianist and has won various distinctions. Since her teen years she has been working as a musician in local bars and hotels. From the age of 18, she continued her training in her current base in Berlin, performing in concert halls around Germany and in venues like the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Kammersaal der Philharmonie Berline, before conducting the junior groups of the Berlin State Choir for girls. The changing musical landscape of her native Cyprus, with artists beginning to push boundaries and experimenting both with tradition and their experiences in other countries is apparent in Eleni Era’s artistry in Rise Love.

Balothizer - eleven63 Sessions

Fri, 11 Jan 2019 16:46:41 GMT

Louvana Records presents another episode of its live recorded video series, eleven63 Sessions featuring Balothizer , an electric power trio based in Haringey, North London. In a city where cultures are constantly fused together, Haringey has been the birthplace of Balothizer's amalgamation of a dynamic, ethereal style of music which the band dub as Post Cretan. Raw energy, fast and furious Cretan lute riffs, smashing drum patterns and heavy basslines, mark Balothizer‘s unique and powerful sound and style of music; Cretan Music from Hell!

The video series of this edition of ‘eleven63 Sessions’ features live versions of the songs Kissamos Waves and Cradle to the Grave found on the highly anticipated debut album of Balothizer “Cretan Music from Hell” and Foustalieris Two a song that will be included on the band’s second album “Cretan Music from Hell Vol. 2”. Their second album will be released by Louvana Records in June 2019.

Balothizer are: Pav Mav on the bass and lead vocals, Nikos Ziarkas on the electric Cretan lute, vocals and electronics and Stephen John Payne on drums and vocals. The live videos were produced at studio eleven63 (Nicosia, Cyprus), by Andreas Trachonitis and were directed and edited by Andreas Christophides. The audio was recorded, mixed and mastered by Andreas Trachonitis.

Own/Stream/Follow Balothizer at:

Bandcamp: h ttps://tinyurl.com/ycfae4fr

Louvana Records Store: https://tinyurl.com/ybals3nr

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/y9papa2g

iTunes: https://tinyurl.com/ycoyd3cx

Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/y9l5nmnq

Deezer: https://tinyurl.com/ycvhhd7w

New Release - Balothizer - Cretan Music from Hell

Sun, 18 Nov 2018 13:48:23 GMT

We are thrilled to be announcing our collaboration with Balothizer, a very unique and powerful trio based in North London. We are releasing their first album 'Cretan Music from Hell' on our online store and all other digital platforms on the 30th of November! Live shows in London, Greece, Cyprus and elsewhere will follow. Look out for their first music video as well dropping on the same day as the album release! To read about the band follow the link .

Album will be officially released on November 30th, 2018. Look out for their first music video as well dropping on the same day as the album release!

New Release - Theologos Mamolis - Luxemvourgo

Tue, 06 Nov 2018 14:59:48 GMT

Pre-Order Digital Album Now

Louvana Records is very happy to announce the digital release of the album 'Luxemvourgo' by Greek songwriter Theologos Mamolis. The album is a fresh approach to Greek pop music with Mamolis flirting with rebetiko, rock, reggae, never staying long enough in one style, to be stigmatised by it. He uses humour as an antidote to the difficulties of the time. 'Luxemvourgo' also features the voices of Petros Malamas, Stamatis Anastopoulos and Panagiotis Skoulas, sharing singing duties along with the songwriter. The production is by Lefteris Moumtzis, who also plays most of the instruments.

Watch below the first single of the album "I Thalassa Griniazi" featuring Petros Malamas

Album will be officially released on December 19th 2018.

Pre-order album NOW to receive a digital download of the first single of the album"I Thalassa Griniazi" featuring Petros Malamas

New Release - Kostas Makrygiannakis - Fragments

Wed, 24 Oct 2018 07:43:39 GMT

Order Album Now

Fragments is a musical mosaic. It’ s made of things I love most. Like figures whose natural habitat is the canvas of a painter. Or figures seen by the photographer’s eye through a camera lens. Or dancers playing hide-and-seek with the light. Or spectres of troubadour heroes singing songs, unharmed by time. Totemic almost. It is also us, sharing thoughts with artists we wish we could meet. Fragments is a musical mosaic. The sound of my little things.

The debut album by guitarist Kostas Makrygiannakis. Recorded by Andreas Trachonitis at studio eleven63, Nicosia, Cyprus. Produced by Andreas Trachonitis & Kostas Makrygiannakis. Photography by Yannis Gutmann. Cover photo by Kostas Makrygiannakis. Layout and design by Zara de Arakelian. Fragments was recorded with a Koumridis guitar ( https://koumridis-guitars.com )

Lemesios - eleven63 Sessions

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Louvana Records presents the second episode of its live recorded video series, eleven63 Sessions , featuring the band Lemesios . The band was created in 2017, for the live needs of Constantinos Lemesios’ debut album Dysphasia . Constantinos Lemesios is a Cypriot composer, songwriter and singer. Among others, he is a performer, a producer and he composes music for films.

The band consists of Constantinos Pavlides on drums, Nektarios Cassar on bass, Antonis Koumbari on the electric guitar, Andreas Hadjipandelis on the electric guitar and live electronics and last but not least, Constantinos Lemesios on vocals, guitar and loops. For the live needs of the eleven63 Sessions, Christina Averkiou and Andreas Moyseos joined the band on backing vocals.

The live video series of the second ‘eleven63 Sessions’ consists of the songs “Little Boy”, “Picture Perfect” and “Stepping Down” . The music was written by Constantinos Lemesios and the lyrics by Qliona. The album has progressive and alternative rock musical influences, combined with electronic and film scoring components. Lemesios’ songs have an exceptional musical sound and melodicity, which are effortlessly combined with the rock music elements and the ‘hard’ guitars, creating a highly emotional musical world, full of contradictions. His music is influenced by artists such as Jeff Buckley, Queens Of The Stone Age, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Leo Brouwer, György Ligeti, Clint Mansell and Moderat, Nicolas Jaar.

The live videos were produced at studio eleven63 , by Andreas Trachonitis and Constantinos Lemesios, and were directed and edited by Andreas Christophides. The audio was recorded and mixed by Andreas Trachonitis and it was mastered by Yiannis Christodoulatos.

More info about the artist: www.lemesios.com

Buy/Stream the Lemesios eleven63 Sessions EP here: www.smarturl.it/lemesios.eleven63

Fengaros 2018 - Aftermovie

Thu, 20 Sep 2018 10:29:33 GMT

After the successful 8th Fengaros Festival, Louvana Records presents the Aftermovie of this year's festival, which took place at Journalists' Village, Pervolia Larnaca, on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of August.

The video sums up in two minutes, everything that took place over the three days, where 22 acts from all over the world were hosted.

Enjoy above!

PS. Fengaros 2019 will take place on 1st, 2nd and 3rd of August. Mark the dates!

Lemesios - eleven63 Sessions - Out on October 3rd 2018

Thu, 13 Sep 2018 09:30:29 GMT

The new episode of Louvana Records ’ live recorded video series eleven63 Sessions will be released soon, featuring the rock band Lemesios . The band performed three songs from Constantinos Lemesios’ first album, Dysphasia , live at studio eleven63 in Nicosia,

Lemesios' music is a fusion of progressive and alternative rock, with electronic and film scoring components, which produce a fascinating and unique experimental sound. His songs are distinguished by Lemesios’ impressive technical craftsmanship and sensuality.

You can have a glimpse of what’s to follow above! The full videos will be released on the 3rd of October at Louvana Records Youtube Channel and all digital platforms. Stay tuned!

https://www.facebook.com/Louvana/videos/435577623633029/

More info about the artist at:

Lemesios.com | facebook.com/Lemesios

Student Collective - Fengaros Music Village 2018

Sun, 02 Sep 2018 17:25:33 GMT

Selecting a small group from this year's Fengaros Music Village students, Resident Artist Dave De Rose guided them through the creation of a loosely planned improvised piece. Within this collaborative and experiential sound you will hear the influences of some of the learnings they acquired during their FMV week long experience as well as what were already their own inspiring musical abilities. The students created their own parts and lyrics on the spot using their imagination under Dave's influence.

Elli Aloneftou - vocals

Gül Sev - vocals

Alexandros Adam - guitar

Odysseas Vlamis - keyboard

George Demetriou - bass

Angelos Vlamis - drums

Produced by Andreas Trachonitis and Dave De Rose for Louvana Records

Recorded by Andreas Trachonitis

Mixed and mastered by Dave De Rose

Camera and editing by Andreas Christophides

Special thanks to the Community Council of Kato Drys

Belua New Single Release - 'Woman'

Fri, 25 May 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Belua has just released their new single called Woman. Watch it in the link below!

The band's new line up includes Mikaela Tsangari on guitars/vocals, Mario Michael on bass, Nicolas Melis on keys, Loizos Paphitis on guitars and Lefteris Lefkatis on drums.

Written and produced by Mikaela Tsangari, the song was recorded and mixed at Studio eleven63 by herself and Andreas Trachonitis, and mastered at Sweetspot Productions in Athens by Yiannis Christodoulatos.
The amazing cover art is by art photographer Kyriakos Christodoulides , taken from his personal archive and soon to be released project 'ΓΔΥΜΝΙΑ'. You can follow his instagram page here .

Belua will be performing on Friday 3rd at Fengaros Festival.

Support the artist. Buy/Stream Belua - Woman:

Louvana Store: https://tinyurl.com/yagchytu

Spotify : https://tinyurl.com/yab8vvvp

iTunes: https://tinyurl.com/y6v5w2ng

CdBaby: https://tinyurl.com/y7uouenj

Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/y8r69db9

Αmazon: https://tinyurl.com/y9oqrajx

Fengaros Festival 2018

Wed, 02 May 2018 00:00:00 GMT

2 - 4 August, Journalists’ Village, Pervolia, Cyprus

The biggest and most exciting festival in Cyprus announces the most ambitious line-up of its 8 year journey. Acclaimed international artists will perform at the festival’s stages, thus including Cyprus in their European tours for the first time. This year’s line up balances between world-renowned artists like Joan As Police Woman from New York, TootArd from Golan Heights, Deerhoof from San Francisco and up-and-coming talents such as the South African Alice Phoebe Lou and Berliners Tau . At the same time, Fengaros Festival has chosen the most interesting acts of the current Greek music scene such as Σtella, Negros tou Moria and Bazooka , among others, and just like every year it will present the best and most active bands from Cyprus.

The festival is moving its location this year and it will be located by the sea for the first time. 22 acts and DJs in total will perform at the festival’s Field and Playground stages from Thursday, August 2nd until Saturday, August 4th in an idyllic setting.

Tickets/Info: www.fengaros.com

Tickets Presale: €21.50 One-day / €37.50 Three-day

Tickets at the door (if Available): €25 One-day / €45 Three-day

Location: Journalists’ Village, Pervolia, Cyprus

LIVE ACTS:

Joan As Police Woman (US) / Deerhoof (US) / TootArd (Golan Heights) / Alice Phoebe Lou (ZA) / Negros tou Moria (GR) / Bazooka (GR) / Σtella (GR) / A Hawk and A Hacksaw (US) / Soccer96 (UK) / TAU (IE) / Sillyboy’s Ghost Relatives (GR) / Arcadian Child (CY) / Balothizer (UK) / Black Anis (CY) / Mighty Sugarcane (CY) / Belua (CY) / Eleni Era (DE) / Lemesios (CY) / Avgi (CY)

DJs:

Duru Duru (GR) / Blue Lagoon (GR) / Black Athena (GR)

Presenter: Carlsberg Beer
Sponsors: Cyprus Tourism Organisation / Οργανισμός Νεολαίας Κύπρου / Youth Board of Cyprus
Media sponsors: Popaganda / Parathyro
Supporter: Cyprus Journalists Union

A small taste from last year's festival:

Eleni Era - 'eleven63 Sessions'

Sat, 21 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Louvana Records new live video series

Louvana Records kicks off its new live video series titled ‘eleven63 Sessions’ by introducing Berlin-based artist Eleni Era. This is the songwriter’s first official release and serves as a small taste of her upcoming debut album, out in early 2019.

Even though Eleni first came out on the scene as a classical concert pianist, now conducting the Berlin female youth choir, her songs blend folk-y melodies and lush piano chord sequences, with silky choral vocal loops .

‘Pos’ (How), sung in Greek, is built around a folk melody floating on a backdrop of voices, which builds up with nostalgic electric piano and synth pads. In ‘Omorfo Fengari’ ( Beautiful Moon), also in Greek, she delivers an immaculate performance on a ballad that is just as modern as reminiscent of impressionist harmonies. The song “No one’s near” starts off with layers of looped voices and a spoken quote by Carl Gustav Jung about loneliness, evolves into a piano and synth-bass driven vamp with interlaced dreamy vocals, and peaks with a soaring improv which showcases her flawless technique.

The live videos were produced at studio eleven63 in Nicosia, Cyprus, by Andreas Trachonitis, co-produced by Lefteris Moumtzis and Mikaela Tsangari and directed/edited by Andreas Christophides. It was recorded, mixed and mastered by Andreas Trachonitis and Mikaela Tsangari.

Fengaros 2018

Sun, 15 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Early Bird Tickets Now Available

Fengaros invites you to discover the best new music of 2018, over the three brightest days of this summer by the sea. The new location will give a fresh look to the familiar leading music festival of the East-Mediterranean.

This year's line-up will go well beyond the usual and predictable, as the Field and Playground stages will welcome exquisite names from the full spectrum of the current international music scene. The line-up will be announced on May 2nd on the festival’s website and on all social-media. Stay tuned!

The first 3-day Early-Bird tickets are now on sale at the price of €28.50 on

www.fengaros.com

/tickets

and will be available until May 2nd, or until they are sold out.

Location: Journalists Village, Pervolia, Cyprus

Presenter: Carlsberg Beer

Fengaros Music Village 2018

Mon, 26 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMT

21 - 26 July, Kato Drys, Larnaca

Fengaros Music Village is held for the fifth year at the village of Kato Drys in the Larnaca district and consists of ten music and storytelling workshops, one architecture workshop and an artist residency . Artists from Cyprus , Greece and England will coordinate the workshops, proposing alternative methods of learning and creating.

The workshops will take place daily during the morning and afternoon hours, while the evening concerts and presentations, which are open to the public, will complete the daily schedule.

The workshops:

Evgenios Voulgaris - Makam and folk scales: communication codes of pre-war Rebetiko

Martha Mavroidi - The Happy Hour Choir Vol.2: a workshop for the human voice
Andys Skordis - Ta-ketsak- Di-Ki- Na-tsak- Tom…

Giorgos Kalogirou - Creative writing workshop - “Place - Lyric - Sound”

Charis Ioannou - Jazz music Workshop

Ermis Michail - Modern Guitar Vol.3

Michael Kapilidis - Odd time signatures: Greek and Balkan rhythms for the drumset

Marios Takoushis - Music for the moving image

Lefteris Moumtzis - The musician’s mentality
Marina Katsari - Storytelling Workshop

Architecture Workshop - xssummer workshop IV

Dave De Rose - Artist Residency

Goals of Fengaros Music Village:

The implementation of educational, interactive workshops, instructed by artists of international caliber in the areas of modern and traditional creation. The themed sections of each workshop intend to approach the arts in a broad, yet effective way, whilst concentrating on original and innovative aspects of artistic development.

The encouragement of both organised and spontaneous performances executed by students and instructors.

The productive exchange of ideas and experiences between artists, students and participants of varied backgrounds.

The creation of a long-lasting hybrid, artistic community, characterised by solidarity, both in the field of collective creativity and in the production / distribution of artistic work.

If you wish to participate in one of the workshops, you can fill in the application form here.

General Information

Each Workshop Duration:

Around 30 hours, morning and afternoon sessions.

Cost of Participation:

€175 - Full-time participation in one workshop

€215 - Full-time participation in one workshop and five lunch meals from the restaurant “The House of the Wind”.

** For all registrations paid before the 31st of May, a personal three-day invitation to Fengaros Festival will be included.

Accommodation:

Free Camping (with showers and toilets)

Agroturistic Lodges available for renting

Info/Registration/Accommodation/Payment

http://www.fengaros.com/fengaros-music-village/2018

Contact:

(+357) 99735225

info@louvana.com.cy

Refundable cancellation of registration until the 5th of July 2018.

Sponsor: Cultural Services, Ministry of Education and Culture

Supporters: House of the Wind, studio eleven63, Community Council of Kato Drys

Lefkosia Loop Festival 2018

Sun, 25 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Louvana Records once again presents Lefkosia Loop Festival 2018, on 22 – 24 March , at three different locations. The festival will be initiated on March 21st with a workshop at studio eleven63 . On the 22nd of March the festival will begin with a documentary screening and a live performance at Thkio Pppalies . For March 23rd and 24th , six live performances will take place from artists from Cyprus, United Kingdom, Finland and Greece at Theatro Dentro .

The festival’s line up are the duets of Man Duo (FI), Earth Eye Loop (UK), Underwater Chess (GR), Side Effect (CY) and the solo acts of Dimitris Sideris (GR), isel (CY) and Eleni Era (DE/CY). The documentary “Lute Electric” will be previewed with the presence of its director Vasilis Demetriades (GR) and it will be followed by a Q&A session.

Festival Programme:

Wednesday, 21 March (studio eleven63)
18:00 - 21:00 - “Crafting a soundscape - how to design sound for visuals” / Andreas Trachonitis

Thursday, 22 March (Thkio Ppalies)
20:30 - Documentary "Lute Electric"
22:00 - isel (CY)

Friday, 23 March (Theatro Dentro)
20:30 - Doors open
21:00 - Side Effect (CY)
22:00 - Dimitris Sideris (GR)
23:00 - Underwater Chess (GR)

Saturday, 24 March (Theatro Dentro)
20:30 - Doors open
21:00 - Eleni Era (CY/DE)
21:45 - Earth Eye Loop (UK)
23:00 - Man Duo (FI)

Tickets:
Workshop: €22 (Free with the purchase of a three-day ticket – only 15 spaces available)
Thursday 22 March: €6
Friday 23 March: €15
Saturday 24 March: €15
Three-day ticket: €22

Presale: www.lefkosialoopfestival/tickets

*In order to secure a place at the workshop, an email has to be sent at info@louvana.com.cy, with the subject “Crafting a soundscape”. The email has to include name, phone number and a short CV.

Sponsor: Cultural Services, Ministry of Education and Culture

Supporters: studio eleven63, Prozak Coffee Shop

Media Sponsors: Parathyro.com / Popaganda.gr

Info/Tickets: LefkosiaLoopFestival.com | facebook.com/LefkosiaLoopFestival | 70007610

Fengaros 2017

Tue, 02 May 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Fengaros festival returns for its seventh consecutive year , dedicated to its everlasting goal of presenting fresh and original live music from around the world! The scenic village of Kato Drys will once again provide the beautiful backdrop for the festival, where three different stages will entertain for three days from the 3rd to the 5th of Augu st. The Field Stage, the Village Stage and the Church Stage , will host more than 35 acts from Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Niger, Israel, Australia, England and the USA, in a line-up that showcases the multi-dimensional, uncompromising and selective aesthetic of the organization. Parallel events will also take place at the village’s Museum of Folk Art.

The first day of Fengaros - a Thursday this year - will kick start the festival with a dynamic burst of psychedelic, progressive, indie and stoner rock, but also jazz. The Field Stage will host superb rock bands from Greece Villagers of Ioannina City, Acid Baby Jesus and Ηoly Monitor , whilst the Village Stage will host English indie-band Happyness , jazz-funk band Datfunk from Athens and the jazz group of composer / double-bassist Αlexi Davi d from New York, amongst others. The night will close with the cinematic music of duo Sancho 003.

The festival’s second day, Friday August 4th, will celebrate the beauty of cultural diversity and take the audience on an exotic World Music journey. The stages will host the unique duet of Xylouris White , who mix Cretan music with american rock and improvisation, the contemporary rebetiko band Pliri Ntaxi from Salonica and the groovy balkan / gypsy band Baildsa , who are guaranteed to get everyone’s feet off the ground. Also, on the bill are Ouzo Bazooka from Tel-Aviv, who play their own version of Mediterranean rock and the Sardinian Paolo Angeli with his unique custom-made guitar. The highlight of the day will undoubtedly be the world-famous Bombino from Niger, who will bring the sounds of the Tuareg tribe from the deserts of Africa to Kato Drys.

The closing day will reveal the height of its versatility! Such extraordinary acts as the polyphonic choir of Marina Satti & Fonέs, folk singer Petros Malamas Trio and fusion band Jan Van from Greece, the delightfully unique singer-songwriter from Kuwait, Υousif Yaseen, as well as the much-loved Cypriot folk-band Monsieur Doumani will take on the stages for a multi-flavoured combination of performances. The most anticipated name of this year’s festival is headliner Fantastic Negrito from Oakland, California, who will be closing the Field Stage with his explosive live set, just months after winning a Grammy as Best Contemporary Blues Album of the Year. The audience will then head to the Village Stage for the finish line, where Greek-duo Κid Flicks and the Cypriot solo artist Spivak will end the live performances with electronic music, to be followed by a closing DJ set by the beloved Fengaros DJ, Sofronis.

DJ sets, radio shows, live-links and parallel events will run for the duration of the festival in various corners of the village. Free camping for ticket holders, bars and food stalls will also be available.

Info/Programme: www.fengaros.com
Tickets: €20 One Day / €36 Three Days (pre-sale until August 1st - www.festapa.com/louvana )

Fengaros Music Village 2017

Tue, 14 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT

27 July - 1 August | Kato Drys, Cyprus

Fengaros Music Village enters its fourth year with ten music, storytelling and architecture workshops as well as an artist residency. Artists from Cyprus, Greece, U.S.A. and England will instruct workshops, proposing alternative methods of learning and creating.

The village of Kato Drys in the Larnaka District provides the ideal setting to host the workshops, lectures and concerts that take place in the framework of Fengaros Music Village. The workshops and lectures will take place daily during the morning and afternoon hours, while the evening concerts / workshop presentations, which are open to the public, will complete the daily schedule.

Goals of Fengaros Music Village:

• The implementation of educational, interactive workshops (masterclasses), instructed by artists of international caliber in the areas of modern and traditional creation. The themed sections of each workshop intend to approach the arts more broadly, yet effectively, whilst concentrating on original areas of artistic development.

• The encouragement of both organised and spontaneous performances executed by students and instructors.

• The productive exchange of ideas and experiences between artists, students and participants of varied backgrounds.

• The creation of a long-lasting hybrid, artistic community, characterised by solidarity, both in the fields of collective creativity and in the production / distribution of artistic work.

The workshops:

Martha Mavroidi - A workshop for the human voice

Each voice is unique. Our goal is to make good use of the particularities of our voice and experiment with it in a creative manner. The workshop explores the possibilities and limits of the human voice, treating the voice as a musical instrument. Commencing from simple vocal forms, we will create a vocal orchestra, named Happy Hour Choir. The Happy Hour Choiris an orchestra which is transformed into a vehicle, ready to embark on a journey in the world of music. An instrumental composition from Manos Hadjidakis, a song from Lilipoupoli, a melody from the Arabic world orchestras, a polyphonic tune from Bulgaria, a rhythmic form from India, a traditional song from Dodekanisa; all these different elements will form a source of inspiration for the next music station of our journey. At the same time, the workshop functions as an experiment, touching upon the means with which we participate in a group and the way we contribute to the end result through our advantages and our weaknesses, discovering the power of our voice within our coexistence with other voices.

This workshop is addressed to anybody who would like to explore his/her voice as part of a vocal ensemble, professionals and amateurs, musicians or non-musicians.

Ermis Michail - Modern Guitar Vol. 2

The workshop’s goal is for the students to gain more ease and technical ability with the instrument by exploring the world of improvisation, and at the same time to expand their knowledge regarding the guitar’s role in an ensemble. During the lessons the students will work on technique, aesthetics, and building a musical vocabulary in all aspects (melody, harmony and rhythm), which will eventually allow them to express themselves with greater freedom. The formation of ensembles among students from other workshops will be highly encouraged as to aim towards team creativity as well as the practice of perception regarding the personal role that each individual has within a larger group.

The workshop is open to guitarists of all levels.

Rodos Panayiotou - Afro-Brazilian Percussion

In this percussion workshop students will have the opportunity to learn and familiarise themselves with a handful of genuine percussion instruments such as the surdo, ganza, caixa, tamborim, agogo bells, repinique, cuica and pandeiro. During the lessons the rhythmology, technique and phrasing of each instrument will be taught separately for each instrument. A lot of emphasis will be given to Afro-Brazilian musical genres such as Samba Batucada and Samba Reggae. The workshop aims, besides the student’s personal musical experience, to encourage team communication and creativity as well as to show students the musical strengths and benefits of performing in a group. This will be a unique and fun experience for students as they will be able to perform what they have been taught in front of an audience at the end of the week.

The workshop welcomes anyone who is interested in this music genre and enjoys the sound of percussion. No previous musical education or experience is required.

Giorgos Kalogirou - Place, Speech, Sound - Creative Writing Workshop

The creative writing workshop will be dealing with the techniques of setting lyrics or poems to music and with the lyric-writing art as material to be set to music. The source of inspiration will be the concept of place (space), as it provides the setting in which the life and history of its people evolves, in this case Cyprus. The workshop will use elements from both Cypriot traditional music and the broader modern Greek creation. The workshop’s goal is the development / improvement of the participants’ creative skills and their practice of composing different musical and lyrical elements, inspired both by their country as well as their personal music influences.

The workshop invites musicians, actors, composers, lyricists, poets and anyone interested in songwriting in both modern Greek, and the Cypriot dialect. The musicians can participate using any musical instrument.

Fotis Siotas: not just a loop, not just a loop, not just a loop, not just a loop...

Composition, musical arrangement and transcription of songs in an environment resembling that of a rehearsal, using loop-stations, effect-pedals, as well as acoustic instruments. Musicians that have already been experimenting with effect-pedals, and acoustic-instrument players will come together in this workshop, with the goal of shaping a unique orchestra. The students will study with one another so that they are able to compose and transcribe music with all the means they will acquire through the sessions. We will approach this through the manipulation of effects and their capabilities / usage as tools of musical arrangement, combining them with acoustic instruments to discover new paths in how they can blend musically.

This workshop can be attended by students interested in effects manipulation and loop stations, instrument players or singers, as well as people who play acoustic instruments.

Michalis Kapilidis - Finding Your Voice

As a sequel to last year’s workshop, Michael Kapilidis will attempt to help participants navigate themselves with more ease and efficiency in the long journey of discovering their own voice on their instrument. Devoted to his philosophy of a teaching approach that ignores all music genres (agnostic way of teaching), he will provide students with tips, share his concepts and recommend exercises / techniques; all of which can be tailored to suit and cater to each student’s needs for their own personal expression.

This workshop is mainly addressed to drummers, but also welcomes bass players and guitar players of intermediate / advanced level.

Alexi David - Jazz Music Workshop

Jazz is a music taught in the oral tradition. This workshop will involve ensemble-playing with analytical talk. The focus is on rhythm, which sonically is what defines Jazz. There is way too much focus in schools on harmony – a Eurocentric concept. Jazz operates on the same principles as African music. We will talk about why historically certain things were played, and what their meaning is. It is about learning a language, a way of life. Musicians will play tunes, which may be interrupted for criticism. There will be no sight-reading as the workshop will mainly focus on listening and learning by ear. Participants must be prepared for heavy criticism if the situation warrants it; Egos can be checked at the door. The same rules that apply in Jazz also apply to learning any other language; the same is true regarding group improvisation – how you play on the bandstand mirrors how you interact with other humans in everyday life. The focus will be on Jazz – defined by me personally as music that sounds like it came from Louis Armstrong. There will be no focus on later derivatives such as Electric-Fusion, Free Improvisation and the like.

Τhe workshop concerns musicians of all levels, instruments and backgrounds, as well as individuals who have an interest in jazz. The workshop will be taught in English.

Marina Katsari - Storytelling Workshop

Marina Katsari returns to Fengaros Music Village with a comprehensive storytelling workshop, which incorporates learning-by-doing and full participation. The instructor invites her participants to traverse and practise the theory of the narrative art in action; she challenges them to track down and analyse the ineffable strength of oral ability and delve deeply into the techniques of narration. This year, Marina Katsari will trace back the boundaries between personal and collective narration; boundaries between the “I” and the “we” of people’s stories, making good use of docudrama. Additionally, a real-time connection between narration as such and other figurative arts is attempted (music, dance etc).

The workshop is addressed to aspiring narrators, educators of all levels, motivators, all kinds of team leaders, professionals and amateurs from the Arts and all creative occupations.

Manolis Pappos - Bouzouki

This workshop will reveal the virtues and positive facets of the instruments that have marked the tradition of Greece, through the hands and the aesthetic of one of the greatest living bouzouki players. The lessons will concentrate on the two important aspects of the Bouzouki (and other similar instruments): technical dexterity and the principles of improvisation, while paying special attention to “dromoi” and their harmonization.

Concerns professional musicians and advanced students of bouzouki, tzouras and baglamas.

* This particular workshop’s duration is 25 hours from the 27th until the 31st of July, only afternoon sessions

Dave de Rose - Artist Residency

Dave de Rose will be attending the Music Village as Resident Artist, spending the first few days in all the workshops as well as getting heavily involved in the running of each evening's jam sessions. During the initial days of the Music Village he will be selecting a few students from each workshop to create an ensemble, which will perform on the first day of Fengaros Festival. The group will rehearse outside of workshop hours and the music will be catered to the students' abilities making use of diverse music material including some of Dave's compositions,so as to present a final production that showcases the many aspects of their learning at the village. The ensemble will be collaborating on every aspect of the final performance, including scheduling rehearsals and managing all aspects of their preparation, from stage presentation to sound, as well as musical direction and arrangements. The group will be encouraged to stretch the compositions beyond recognition in order to create an original performance which showcases their personalities and creativity.

Architecture Laboratory - Xssummer Workshop III

The workshop is based on the design and implementation of an architectural installation in the village of Kato Drys. The workshop will be addressing public space within the traditional Cyprus village, as a collector of rich and complex interactions, both planned and spontaneous. The installation will support activities of Fengaros festival while energising the space with new programmes. The creation of these spaces will address the needs of the various users, social and cultural requirements, encouraging both planned and spontaneous social interaction. During the workshop, participants will go through all the stages of the design process, eventually constructing the final proposal(s) at 1:1 scale on the proposed site. Workshop Tutors and curators: Delis Papadopoulos, Eleonora Antoniadou, Teresa Tourva, Dimitris Thomopoulos, Dimitris Economidis, Eleni Flouri and Andreas Tsiaklis.

The workshop concerns architecture students, young architects and other professionals within the design disciplines. The workshop will begin on July 26th and end on August 1st. Participation fee is set to €120 (€160 including five lunch meals), which includes free accommodation for all participants and an invitation to attend Fengaros Festival 2017. ( https://xssummerworkshop.com )

*Supported by Frederick University

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Youth Supporter: Bank of Cyprus

Sponsor: Cultural Services of Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture

Supporters: House of the Wind, studio eleven63

Lefkosia Loop Festival 2017

Wed, 01 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT

1 - 4 March | Satirikon Theatro Basement & Prozak Kafenio

Lefkosia Loop Festival is celebrating its sixth birthday this year and for the first time it's taking place in the spring time, in two different, venues for four days, presenting artists from Cyprus, Greece and England. Τhe cosy space of Prozak Coffee Shop will host three acts on 1st, 2nd and 3rd of March, with free entry, while the Satirikon Theatre Basement will host the main day of the festival with five acts, on the 4th of March.
Stylistically, the artists vary from electronic music, hip hop, post-rock and beatbox, with emphasis on improvisation. In this year's edition of Lefkosia Loop Festival we will be exposed to: the frantic and distorted musical world of Larry Gus (who had everyone talking about his set at Fengaros 2016), the brand new project by the colorful sound machine that is Βunty, the cinematic ambience and drony melodies of Sugar Factory, the sweet psychedelia of ELY, the unique violin and vocal sounds of Fotis Siotas (Sancho 003), the improvisational set of Emiddio Vasquez using a tape machine, the synthezisers and drum machines of Spivak and the live recording and processing of the sounds of Kalvaris by ΤROMPKTN!

The festival will also host for the first time, the two hour workshop "Live Looping & FX" by master-looper and musician Fotis Siotas. The workshop addresss musicians interested in the live-looping techinque, as well as performers who want to broaden their knowledge. The workshop will take place at the Ethnikon Odeon Kiprou concert hall in Ayios Dometios on Thursday March 2nd at 17:00, with free entry. It's a unique opportunity for the public to watch one of the most experienced and impressive users of live-looping!

SCHEDULE

Wednsday, 1st March - Prozak Coffee Shop - Free Entry
21:00 - TROMPKTN feat Kalvaris (CY)

Thursday, 2nd March - Εthnikon Odeon (Ayios Dometios) - Free Entry
17:00 - Looping & FX - Workshop with Fotis Siotas (GR)
Booking in advance needed

Thursday, 2 Μαρτίου - Prozak Coffee Shop - Free entry
21:00 - Fotis Siotas (GR)

Friday, 3 March- Prozak Coffee Shop - Free Entry
21:00 - ELY (UK/CY)

Saturday, 4 March -Satiriko Theatre Basement
21:00 - Emiddio Vasquez (CY)
21:45 - Sugar Factory (GR)
22:45 - Spivak (CY)
23:30 - Bunty (UK)
00:30 - Larry Gus (GR)

Tickets: €15 (for Saturday 4th of March 2017)
Pre-sale: Begins February 15th, only 250 tickets available
Sponsors: Carlsberg, Ministry of Culture and Education, Youth Board Cyprus
Supporters: studio eleven63, Prozak Cofee Shop, Frederick University (Audio Visual Communication)
Media Sponsors: Parathyro, Street Radio, cyprusnews.eu

For more information call 70007610 or visit:
www.louvana.com.cy/festival/lefkosia-loop-festival/lefkosia-loop-festival-2017.html

Year in Review - What happened in 2016

Sun, 01 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT

This year has been another productive year for the non-profit record label, Louvana Records. It was, perhaps, its most successful year in its 7-year-long course in the cypriot music scene.

Lefkosia Loop Festival 2016

Lefkosia Loop Festival 2016 took place on the 5th and 6th of January 2016, celebrating its 5th birthday and hosting twelve acts from Cyprus, Greece, England and Poland for a crowd of more than 300 viewers. The festival is unique in its kind in that it has been offering an exclusive preview of the live-looping technique every year since its begginings.

Watch videos from this year's festival below:

Lefteris Moumtzis – Now Happiness

On the 16th of January, we released Lefteris Moumtzis' first solo album titled " Now Happiness " , which was then presented live in Cyprus, Greece, Germany, France and England to great reception. It has recently been voted as the 4th best album of 2016 by greek website Avopolis. In May, it was also released on vinyl.

Watch the official video of first single here:

Β elua – As Good a Time as Any

On the 28th of the same month, Louvana Records released Belua 's debut album titled ‘ As Good a Time as Any ’, which the band presented live at Enallax in Nicosia on the same night. The album was later performed in Athens and on further concerts in Cyprus.

Listen to the whole album here:

Live at the Library – Amalgamation Choir

On the 3rd of March, the second Live at the Library series was released, featuring Amalgamation Choir , directed by Vasiliki Anastasiou . The series showcases four songs, three re-arrangements of traditional songs and an original written by Giorgos Kalogirou . The series was a great success and has reached thousands of viewers on a global level.

Watch it below:

‘Before Fengaros Vol.1, Vol.2 and Vol.3’

In June and July, three promotional concerts took place to "warm up" the crowd for the coming Fengaros Festival. The events were organised in collaboration with Bank of Cyprus ' Cultural Centre and the festival Faneromeni 16 , and were presented at the foundation's' outdoor space. The artists that took part were Belua, The Low Spark and Vasiliki Anastasiou with pianist Andreas Pantel i .

Fengaros Music Village 2016

Fengaros Music Village took place at the end of July for the third consecutive year, offering five days filled with music, theatre and storytelling workshops, free concerts, lectures and presentations at the beautiful village of Kato Drys . The organisation had its most successful year, hosting 75 students from Cyprus, Greece, France, Germany, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, and 11 instructors from Cyprus, Greece and England, slowly building up an international artistic community.

Fengaros Festival 2016

Fengaros Festival came right after Fengaros Music Village, lasting three days, and hosting, on three stages, more than 40 acts from Cyprus, Greece, England and Israel in the warm setting of Kato Drys. More than 4000 guests from Cyprus and Europe attended the three-day event, proving once more that it's one of the highlights of the Cypriot summer.

Watch the Aftermovie of this year's festival:

‘Α week at the village 2016’

On the 24th of September, a lovely outdoor event was hosted at Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, where the latest mini-documentary " Fengaros Music Village 2016 - A week at the village " was shown. The evening also featured a perfrormance by the band Fuzz Bus , which later became a jam session with lots of Music Village student musicians and other guests musicians.

Watch the documentary below:

Sotires - Sotires

Finally, on the 28th of November, Louvana Records released its 3rd release for 2016 titled Sotires , a new band, which is a result of the collaboration between Greek and Cypriot musicians. The album was presented live in December in Athens, Thessaloniki, Limassol and Nicosia, after two videoclips were released. The third edition of the series "Live at the Library " featuring Sotires will be released on the 15th of January 2017.

Watch the video for the second single here:

We would like to thank all musicians, artists, collaborators, volunteers and staff that worked with us in this past year. Special thanks to our sponsors and supporters and their contributions to all of the above.

Most of all, we'd like to thank the audience that supports our every effort.

Have a happy new year!

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Louvana Records deals mainly with the organisation of festivals, concerts and workshops which revolve around music. The company also deals with the production and release of music albums by local and international artists, following through the stages of recording until their release and promotion. In the past few years Louvana also creates and releases music video as a means of artist promotion. Totaling the release of seven albums and two performance video series, Louvana is set to release 2 more albums and 2 more performance videos in 2017

Fengaros 2016

Mon, 02 May 2016 00:00:00 GMT

The much-anticipated Fengaros Festival, οne of the leading summer festivals of the island, returns for another year! The festival’s three stages will host more than thirty acts, while parallel events will enrich this musical weekend in the village of Kato Drys, in the Larnaka District.

This year’s line-up surpasses all previous editions since it will include even bigger names from the international music scene, such as the English soul-diva Joss Stone , the experimental rockers Electric Litany and Adam Beattie with his full band. On the 1st day Pavlos Pavlidis and B-Movies will take the stage, only to be followed by Boom Pam from Israel, who call their music Mediterranean Surf Rock. Also traveling from Greece, is violinist / singer Fotis Siotas ’ new band called Sotires which features an impressive lineup, the pop-rockers Super Stereo and the The Noise Figures . The rock-trio The Low Spark, The Ladderman from Larnaca and Rumba Attack are some of the many Cypriot acts which will grace the festival’s Main Stage.

On Friday, The Village Stage will host Harris Lambrakis Quartet , and lute virtuoso Giorgis Manolakis from Crete with Spyridakis and Papatzanis , while Larry Gus will headline Saturday. Sunday will be headlined by the folk / blues Moa Bones and folk songstress Brooke Sharkey from England. From Cyprus, Sandy Brour will be performing songs from their newly-released album, among others.

Louvana Records is once again teaming up with Alternative Brains Rule who will be in charge of the (open to the public) ABR Stage, presenting djs, local acts, radio interviews, in a chilled out atmosphere.

Τickets/Presale
Presale - €17 1-DAY / €30 3-DAY
At the door - €23 1-DAY / €40 3-DAY

Presale of three-day tickets has began online. On May 16th, single-day tickets will also be available online and at all presale points.

Online : https://www.thelittleboxoffice.com/louvana/
Nicosia: Crepaland Engomi (22261000), Prozak Kafeneion (22104244), Crepaland Central (22261050)
Limassol: LMS Leons Music Store (25336079)
Larnaca:Three Sitting Birds (24255880)
Paphos: Vintage Espresso Bar (96838366)
Paralimni: Expresso Coffee Shop (23820860)

Accommodation
Free camping space with showers and toilets. The campsite will ONLY BE OPEN to Fengaros Festival ticket possessors. Trespassers with no tickets will NOT BE ALLOWED ENTRY TO THE CAMPSITE. Agrotouristic lodges will be available at Kato Drys and the surrounding villages (Lefkara, Vavla, Vavatsinia, Skarinou, Choirokitia etc).

Information: www.fengaros.com | tel 70007610 | facebook.com/fengaros

Fengaros Music Village 2016

Thu, 03 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMT

24 - 29 July | Kato Drys, Cyprus

Fengaros Music Village enters its third year with twelve workshops! Artists from Cyprus, Greece and England are instructing workshops about music, theatre and storytelling, proposing alternative methods of learning and creating.

The village of Kato Drys in the Larnaka District has inspired the organisers who chose it as the ideal setting to host the workshops, lectures and concerts that take place in the framework of Music Village. the workshops and lectures will take place daily during the morning and afternoon hours, while the concerts, open to the public will complete the daily schedule.

Goals of Fengaros Music Village:

• Educational sessions in the form of interactive masterclasses, which will be instructed by artists / musicians of international caliber in the areas of modern and traditional music. The themed sections of each workshop intend to approach the art of music and theater more broadly, yet effectively, whilst putting particular emphasis on original areas of artistic development.

• Both organised and spontaneous performances of musical / theatrical pieces by the students.

• The productive exchange of ideas and experiences between artists, students and participants of varied musical backgrounds and nationalities.

• The creation of a long-lasting hybrid, artistic community, characterised by solidarity, both in the fields of collective creativity and in the production / distribution of artistic work.

The workshops

Vasiliki Anastasiou - The power of your voice vol. 3

Singing is therapeutic, relaxing, it promotes good physical condition and self respect, it gives motivation and internal strength. It creates conditions of self-awarness, expands our knowledge and it activates our emotional world. Moreover, singing in a group creates new friendships and develops the feeling of belonging and sociability.

Participants of this workshop will have the opportunity to explore a plethora of timbres that the voice, as a musical instrument, can produce and learn about sound production and healthy ways of using the voice. All of the above will take place within a framework of learning songs from musical traditions of countries neighbouring Cyprus, through a modern prism and with a teaching method that evokes relationships within the group. The students will form their personal routine of exercises (range, tuning, longer phrasing, timbre, placement, breathing, support, relaxation, stage-fright control, warm up exercises, voice-breaking, voice-recovery etc.)

Open to all ages above 16. Concerns individuals who want to develop their vocal ability through group-learning, regardless of musical background or profession. No previous experience required nor musical knowledge.

Andys Skordis - Takedimi - Tadighinaton - Take

Rhythm is undoubtedly a big part of our lives. From the moment we are born, our heart beats and we are synchronised with something rhythmical that accompanies us until the “end”. In our workshop we will be studying rhythm extensively through a different approach, the polyrhythmic one; in other words the existence of two or more rhythms at the same time. During the lessons we will be taught various ways of approaching rhythm, through the techniques of Karnatic Music (Classical music of South India) and how to correctly execute and create polyrhythms using our voices (Konnakol method). At the same time we will learn how to develop polyrhythms and how to understand and perform complicated rhythmical structures. To summarise, the workshop introduces the participants to the meaning of polyrhythms by suggesting methods of improving the feeling of pulse. Ultimately, we will transfer the polyrhythms we learned to our musical instruments and we will create a composition which will include the rhythmical matters we have covered along with more elements from Carnatic music (Ragas - Scales, Tala - Meter, Form, etc). The piece will be presented in a concert at the Music Village.

The workshop is suitable for musicians of all styles and levels as well as dancers

Zacharias Spyridakis - Cretan Music

This workshop will deal with all aspects of Cretan music, starting with a short historical introduction, as well as a short introduction in the construction method of the Cretan lyra. Students will then work with tunings, technique, repertoire and a short introduction to songs, through which they will familiarise themselves with the different local idioms of Cretan music. The workshop aims to organise musical ensembles with all participating students.

Suggested instruments: Lyra, Lute, Mandolin, Saz, Violin, Guitar, Percussion

Harris Lambrakis - Sound, modes, and maqams today

This workshop will concentrate on music coming from Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, and the surrounding countries that used to be a part of the Ottoman Empire. We will focus on a few maqams, or modes (depending on your point of view), and we will try and see how they form, modulate, mutate, and adjust themselves in the different situations occurring through various repertoire.

Musicians of all levels, playing instruments relevant to this genre of music, are welcome, as long as they have a basic knowledge of reading music

Rodos Panayiotou - Afro-brazilian Percussion

In this workshop, students will have the opportunity to learn and play different authentic percussion instruments such as the surdo, ganza, caixa, tamborim, ago-go bells, repinique, cuica and pandeiro. During the lessons, the rhythmology, technique and phrasing of each instrument will be taught separately for each instrument. A lot of emphasis will be given to Afro-Brazilian genres such as Samba Batucada and Samba, Reggae. The workshop aims, besides the student’s personal musical experience, to encourage team communication, group creativity and show students the musical strengths and benefits of team-effort. This will be a unique experience for students since, by the end of the week, they will be able to perform what they have been taught in front of an audience.

Concerns professional and amateur musicians, dancers, and generally music lovers that want to take part in a percussion ensemble.

Andreas Panteli - Improvisation - Music Ensembles (in collaboration with Ermis Michail)

This workshop concerns musicians who are interested in exploring the world of improvisation away from sheet music. The main goal is for students to develop an intimate relationship with their instrument and to be able to use it as a medium to express their own musical thoughts. The morning sessions will be dedicated to unlocking the instrument technique-wise, to building a musical vocabulary and to intelligent studying, which will make the student reach his goals easier and more effectively. In the afternoon there will be a collaboration with the guitar (Ermis Michail – Modern Guitar - Music Ensembles) workshop, where the students will form ensembles (groups). The aim of that will be group creativity and practicing the perception of the personal role that each musician has in the group.

Concerns music students and professional musicians.

Ermis Michail - Modern Guitar - Music Ensembles (in collaboration with Andreas Panteli - Improvisation)

The aim of this workshop is for students to acquire an ease on the instrument and to widen their perception regarding the role of the guitar in a musical ensemble. The morning sessions will mainly focus on technique, helping the students gain more freedom when expressing themselves on the instrument. In the afternoon we will be collaborating with the improvisation workshop (Andreas Panteli - Improvisation - Music Ensembles), creating ensembles (groups). The aim of the collaboration will be group creativity and practicing the perception of the personal role that each musician has in the group.

Concerns music students and professional guitarists.

Michalis Kapilidis - Practicing and Playing From Within

Μichalis Kapilidis will use a special approach in improving the drum performance of his students. The workshop’s goal for the attending musicians is to build their internal clock (time), develop the way they hear and perceive rhythm (feel) and ultimately train their body to be able to obey and respond to what their ears and instinct command them to do (technique). It’s a holistic approach which will allow students to become self-critical so that they will be able to build upon their true potential and develop their weaknesses. The workshop will not focus on any music idiom, but rather the instrument itself, allowing each participating musician to interpret their choice of genre with their own artistry and expand on the exercises shown according to their own level of performance and needs. The workshop’s final goal is to provide the drummer with the strongest and most long-lasting results, so that their live performances will focus solely on what really matters - playing music!

-Building internal clock (pulse&subdivision)

-Playing (only) what you can (really) hear

-“Real life” drumset co-ordination

-Improvising effectively

-Expanding/capitalizing on an idea/excersise

-Focusing on the most difficult 20% of what you’re practicing

-Get the most out of your practice time and improve faster

-(Actual) drumset technique (vs. “pad hands”)

Concerns professional and amateur drummers

Kostas Makrygiannakis - Guitar Ensemble Workshop

The Guitar Ensemble Workshop aims at studying and performing a large selection of Chamber Music works, both original compositions and re-works. The challenge in treating sound parameters such as sound duration, tone, group sound, and role-sharing is always present and always interesting! The workshop will deal with all of the parameters mentioned above, in their entirety, and will closely look at pieces written for guitar ensembles.

The workshop is intended for all types of classical guitar players, as well as musicians who perform instruments involved in Chamber Music works that include guitars. All guitarists, amateur and professionals are welcome, as well as already established ensembles (duets, trios, quartets or larger groups).

Dimitris Kountouras - Early Music Workshop

This classical music workshop applies to singers and instrumentalists (wind instruments, strings, percussion) alike that show an interest in Early Music. A lot of emphasis will be given to early music ensembles formed by the participating students, but the workshop will also touch upon solo work. Introductory lectures on historical performance practice and ornamentation will also be part of the course.

Addressed to advanced singers and instrumentalists, students and/or young professional musicians.

Athina Kasiou / Joel Harwood - Through the Text

The director Athina Kasiou and the writer Joel Horwood will focus on how a text comes to direct communication with the ‘now’. Within the framework of the preparation of a new collaboration, Athena Kasiou and Joel Horwood will work together at Music Village for a week exploring the play Six Characters in Search of an Author by Pirandello. Together with the participants, through text analysis, improvisations and setting questions about the play and its contemporary necessity, the team will create / gather material for a contemporary adaptation of the text. During the workshop the instructors will share methods and techniques regarding direction and creative writing. Through text analysis, improvisations and by setting questions in regards to the theatrical play and its contemporary neccesity, the team will create / gather material for a contemporary reworking of the text.

The workshop concerns actors, directors, set designers, writers, choreographers, and generally people who are, or want to get involved with theatre.

Marina Katsari - With the word, the voice and two hands

Within the framework of the experiential workshop “with the word, the voice and two hands” the participants get in touch with the various techniques of storytelling and familiarize themselves with all the necessary tools for their occupation with the Art of Storytelling. The workshop is addressed to professionals or future professionals of education of all levels, to parents, to people who work with groups (motivators, team leaders, educators).

The workshop will be structured into the following sections: introduction of the art of storytelling, the secrets of read storytelling, the secrets of oral storytelling, types of storytellers, techniques and tools, fiction in creative storytelling, storytelling is elsewhere (as well)... The participants will have the opportunity, among others, to be initiated experientially in various storytelling techniques, to study oral and reading storytelling techniques, to be initiated experientially to the rhythm and musicality of storytelling and to develop their expression tools: the body, the voice, gestures and grimaces.

Concerns professional or future professionals of any level, parents, people who work with teams (motivators, team leaders, educators and more)

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Sponsors: Cultural Services of Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture, Bank of Cyprus

Communication Sponsors: Parathyro, CyprusNews.eu

Online Communication Sponsors: Heart Cyprus

Supporters: Municipality of Kato Drys, House of the Wind, studio eleven63

The Amalgamation Choir “Live At The Library”

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Mini – live concert released on video

Τhe Amalgamation Choir was spawned from the workshop “The power of your voice” by Vasiliki Anastasiou, which took place at Fengaros Music Village 2014 and 2015 . It is a group of voices that performs original compositions with traditional-music influences as well as re-arranged songs from the Mediterranean and the Balkans. Vasiliki Anastasiou conducts the choir and Andreas Panteli has helped on the arrangements.

In the 2nd series Live At The Library (the 1st one being J. Kriste, Master of Disguise – Live at the Library) four songs performed live by the choir have been recorded and captured on video at the Cyprus Library, a beautiful space with acoustics that compliment the group’s harmonies. The videos, directed by Michalis Kalopedis (Zedem Media) and produced by Andreas Trachonitis, are going to be released on the first day of March 2016 on the Louvana Records website, as well as Louvana’s YouTube and Vimeo channels. The audio tracks will also be available as digital downloads on iΤunes, Amazon and other online digital stores.

www.facebook.com/amalgamationchoir

Louvana Records 2016 Releases

Fri, 15 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Louvana Records is primarily involved with the organization of music festivals, concerts, and workshops centered around music. At the same time, the label curates the production of music records from start to finish, including their promotion and distribution, as well as the distribution of records by local/foreign independent artists. Lately, Louvana has branched out into the field of video production by creating live music videos as part of its artists’ promotional campaigns. With four albums under its roster, the new year is set to bring the release of three more albums and two performance videos. You’ll find more information below – regarding our 2016 releases.

Lefteris Moumtzis “ Now Happiness ”

New solo album release

Cypriot singer-songwriter Lefteris Moumtzis, known for his work with J . Kriste , Master of Disguise, Stelafi and Trio Tekke, is releasing his first solo album. The album is called “ Now Happiness ” and it was recorded in Cyprus, at studio eleven 63 , produced by Moumtzis himself and engineered by Andreas Trachonitis. It was mastered by Yiannis Christodoulatos at Sweetspot Studio, Athens. It’s an atmospheric album that consists of ten songs. With this recording he is attempting a more acoustic, minimal approach, giving more attention and care to the songs themselves and the stories they are telling. It is a soothing record that flows effortlessly from beginning to end, leaving the listener with a calming and positive feeling. Stylistically, the songs borrow elements from folk, jazz, ambient and classical music. Lefteris sings and plays guitar, piano and synth, while Dimitris Hadjizisis gives his own touches on guitar on a few tracks. Additional musicians include Stefanos Meletiou on drums, Mikaela Tsangari on backing vocals, Christos Hadjichristou on synth and Vasilis Bacharides on bag drum.

He has recently wrapped up a small tour in Greece, in December, where the album was presented live in Athens, Salonica, Volos and Grevena, as well as in Cyprus in Lefkosia, Lemesos and Pafos. The album’s title song ( Now Happiness ) is the first single from this album, for which an accompanying music video was released online on the 8th of December, 2015.

Live shows:

5 February / Vintage, Pafos

6 February / Dentro Theatre, Lefkosia

7 February / Sousami, Limassol

Info and contact:

www . moumtzis . com – www . louvana . com . cy

www.facebook.com/lefterismoumtzis - info@louvana.com.cy

Βelua “As Good A Time As Any ”

Debut album release

Louvana Records proudly announces the release of Belua ’s debut album. Belua are Zara Der Arakelian (vocals), Mikaela Tsangari (guitars / vocals), Aphrodite Nicolaou (bass) and Marianna Moumdji (drums). The official release date is January 28th 2016 , and on the same day the band will give a live concert/album presentation at Enallax , where the album will be given for free with the entrance ticket.

Belua formed a year and a half ago, and after a few live gigs, including performances at Fengaros Festival 2014 and 2015, they went into the studio in the Autumn of 2015. The resulting album called «As Good A Time As Any» contains ten original songs, written by Mikaela Tsangari and Zara Der Arakelian. The album moves around the style of pop-rock, but bearing strong influences from the blues, psychedelic and folk music, which blends with the band’s trademark harmonies between Der Arakelian and Tsangari. Their compositions range from complex pieces in οdd time-signatures to simple ballads and acapellas, always maintaining a simplicity in the way the songs are arranged, which does not further the sound from the band’s live performances.

The album was recorded and produced by Mikaela Tsangari at eleven63 studio, while the album’s graphics were designed by, fellow band member Zara Der Arakelian. Further production credit is due to Der Arakelian, Moumdji and Nicolaou, as well as Mario Michael and Orestis Savva, and the mixing was done by Andreas Trachonitis. The mastering was done by Yiannis Christodoulatos at Sweetspot studio, Athens. The song Change is already available on Youtube, while the videoclip for the second single, Mother , will be released soon.

Live concerts:

28 January / Enallax, Nicosia

Upcoming shows will be announced soon on the band’s website and facebook page

Info - Contact

www.beluamusic.com - www.louvana.com.cy

www.facebook.com/beluaband - info@louvana.com.cy

Both albums will be on sale on Louvana’s website, on iTunes, Amazon, CdBaby etc, as well as selected record stores.

The Amalgamation Choir “Live At The Library”

Mini – live concert released on video

In the series Live At The Library , four songs performed live by the choir have been recorded and captured on video at the Cyprus Library, a beautiful space with acoustics that compliment the group’s harmonies. The videos, directed by Michalis Kalopedis (Zedem Media) and produced by Andreas Trachonitis, are going to be released on the first day of March 2016 on the Louvana Records website, as well as Louvana’s YouTube and Vimeo channels. The audio tracks will also be available as digital downloads on iΤunes, Amazon and other online digital stores.

www.facebook.com/amalgamationchoir

www.louvanarecords.com

Lefkosia Loop Festival 2016

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT

January 5&6 | Egomio Cultural Center

Louvana Records is organising Lefkosia Loop Festival, which this year is hosting ten acts, its largest line-up to date, to celebrate the festival's fifth birthday. The artists hail from Cyprus, Greece, England and Poland. The festival will once again take place at its favorite location, Egomio Cultural Center, in Egomi.

This is a one of its kind festival, which focuses on the technique of Live Looping, which means creating and recording musical phrases on stage, and developing them using more phrases, different instruments and improvisation.

More info: 70007610

Presale: Online, Prozak Kafenio (22104244), Crepaland Engomi (22261000), Egomio Cultural Center (22781104) (begins December 5th - limited number of tickets)

ARTISTS DESCRIPTION:

Nikos Sidirokastritis / Jannis Anastasakis (GR)

An experimental, improvisatory project,, compiled by on the greatest jazz drummers in Greece, Nikos Sidirokastritis, and the beloved pedal creator-guitarist, Jannis Anastasakis. The first one’s characteristic drum playing combines with the second’s unique approach to the guitar to create an amalgam of ambient, jazz and psychedelia, which balances between sound and noise, often crossing the limits of what is generally accepted.

Babis Papadopoulos (GR)

Guitarist Babis Papadopoulos, known from his early days with the band Trypes, but also through his subsequent personal and collaborative career, has left his own stigma on the greek musical reality. His “Electric Solo” live act present a setlist filled with his own organic compositions, songs taken from his entire musical journey, as well as acute elements of improvisation. His tools are his guitar and a computer, where he uses effects and loops to travel from lyricism to modernism and to a world of sonic sensation, creating intense images, feelings and moods. All the elements that have made him so recognizable and unique, as well as beloved by his fans through the past year, are magnified in full force and development.

oaes (GR/UK)

A new project based on the convergent paths of improvised and semi-deterministic sound in the shape of flute and electronics. Evi Nakou on flute and Jim Hoult on electronics drive digital syntheses with real-time audio and data from an acoustic instrument. They measure how sound begins, ends and morphs in time while using the timbre itself to suggest how the signal processing itself could morph, with each performance being a snapshot f the duo's evolution.

Radek Rudnicki (POL)

Radek presents an improvised and generative live-set, linking programmed structure and networks of loops made on the modular synthesizer. His loops are generated live with synthesizers and sampled into drum machines, to create dense textures, glitches and bass-heavy abstract beats.

Zeyn Mroueh (CY)

Based in London, UK, Zeyn Mroueh creates an amalgamation of psychedelic melodies and sweeping cinematic drones primarily using his guitar. Citing his main influences as Montreal’s massive Post-Rock movement of the mid-ninties, there are elements to his music reminiscent of the abstract and eerie tension so prevalent within the era’s most notable artists.

Yegor Cergei (CY)

On his first live appearance in Cyprus, the country he grew up in, he’ll present a series of instrumentals and accapellas produced from his MC collaborators. His material is mixed and processed in real time, chopping and transforming words and beats as he goes along.

Pandelis Diamantides (CY)

An immersive post-digital sonic world enhanced by the physicality of real-time manipulation of sound-synthesis parameters. Sound is manipulated and deconstructed through a complex network of algorithms and various digital signal processing units. Microseq's novel (sonic) world pursues musical discourse in terms of developmental sound design, where diﬀerent styles and forms are being introduced, decomposed and warped.

Blue Loquat (CY)

Blue Loquat is a live electronic duo whose music relies on thedelicate balancing act between various, often opposing elements.Experimenting with form through the juxtaposition of various genresand musical aesthetics, the duo takes the crowd on a rollercoasterride of emotional states. While the performance explores therelationship between live music and the dance floor, the duo useselectric guitars, bass guitar, analogue synthesizers and vocals tocreate a unique live performance, in essence, merging the atmosphere of a live concert with the club experience.

Elena Agathokleous / Dimitris Spyrou (CY)

To Skasimon sti Loupa:

Αn acoustic narration with texts from the «Murderess»by Alexandros Papadiamantis and the «Ascesis: The Saviors of God» by Nikos Kazantzakis, in a landscape of sound repetitions. With Elena Agathokleous and Dimitres Spyrou. Production: Center of Performing Arts MITOS.

TROMPKTN (CY)

TROMPKTN is Andreas' Trachonitis solo project. It borrowed its name from SKROMPKTN. It borrows loop stations and pedals. It lends ambience and noise, sometimes in rhythm and sometimes in abstract. Its greatest ambition is to be recorded, so that the music can be heard at least one more time.

Lefkosia Loop Festival 2016 - Video Song

Artists participating in the 5th edition of Lefkosia Loop Festival were asked by the organizers to send a short video of themselves performing a musical phrase, with a few simple instructions. None of the participants knew what the others had sent. Louvana Diskoi then fused together all of the videos creating an original composition, enjoy the "Λευκωσία Loop Festival 2016 - Video Song”!

Audio produced at studio eleven63, Video edited by Constantinos Christou. Special thanks to Andreas Christophides.

Louvana Presents: 'Autumn Tuesday Live Sessions'

Thu, 15 Oct 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Louvana is adding a musical soundtrack to our Autumn Tuesdays by taking over Enallax and turning it into a powerful stage for some of the most interesting original acts the local music scene has to offer.

Autumn Tuesdays are dressed up in Louvana Diskoi’s characteristic musical aesthetic, and are earning their rightful spot in the capital’s nightlife agenda. Invited are musicians and bands with original music and an active presence in the local creative scene, to grace the stage of Enallax, in Nicosia, in a series of live sessions.

This invitation is exactly what Louvana has been aiming for all these years: to create a platform where local acts with a high aesthetic can express themselves, since even though these acts have been creating away from the public eye, they end up being the driving force behind artistic creation in Cyprus. Their recent performances at Fengaros Festival only confirm that a strong music community exists and insists on originality, despite the lack of performing venues and despite the limitations faced as a recording artist. These are some of the bands that make up some of the best music this island has to offer, and through their own individual takes on musical styles (from rock to electronic), they are here to silence the notion that Cyprus has a slacking or limited music scene. On the contrary, their presence proves that new platforms for musical expression are now in demand, as new and fresh musicians are struggling to share their own personal stories with the Cypriot crowd, going against what is nowadays offered in the now stereotypical popular culture.

Among others, we’ll see performances by the bands J. Kriste, Master of Disguise, The Low Spark, Delirium Elephants, Belua , as well as Moa Bones (GR) and the psychedelic / rock band The Cave Children - one of the best upcoming artists in Greece at the moment - whose live concert will be the closing of this series. Signed by Louvana Diskoi, who guarantees a high quality sound and aesthetic approach in all of its events, these Autumn Tuesdays are planning on establishing themselves as a reference point in Cyprus’ autumn agenda. Every Tuesday, Enallax will host two bands for six weeks, offering the alternative music-loving crowd a substantial choice for entertainment.

The live concerts will begin on Tuesday the 20th of October 2015 , and will continue for every Tuesday until November 24th . The ticket price is set at €8 per concert, except for the closing live on Tuesday the 24th which will be priced at €10. There is also the option of buying an all pass ticket for all events for the price of €35 .

Opening time: 21:00

www.louvana.com.cy / www.facebook.com/louvana

Contact: info@louvana.com.cy

Info: 70007610 / Reservations: 22 430121

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CONCERT SCHEDULE

20 Ο CTOBER

J.Kriste, Master of Disguise / Δημήτρης Σωτηρίου

[ PSYCH ROCK / FOLK ]

27 Ο CTOBER

The Low Spark / Moa Bones (GR)

[ ALT. ROCK / FOLK BLUES ]

3 NOVEMBER

Chris & Terry Drum Ensemble / Pan

[ ELECTRONIC / EXPERIMENTAL ]

10 NOVEMBER

J.Kriste, Master of Disguise / J.Forbes

[ PSYCH ROCK / FOLK ROCK ]

17 NOVEMBER

The Low Spark / Delirium Elephants

[ ALT. ROCK ]

24 NOVEMBER

The Cave Children (GR) / Belua

[ PSYCH / POP ROCK ]

Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος στο Open Stage του Πολιτιστικού

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Δύο χρονιές πλούσιας και πολύπλευρης πολιτιστικής δημιουργίας του Μουσικού Χωριού Φέγγαρος στην Κύπρο έχουν ολοκληρωθεί με επιτυχία.

Έφτασε η ώρα, αυτή η όμορφη μουσική εμπειρία να μεταφερθεί και στην πρωτεύουσα.

Η Λουβάνα Δίσκοι παρουσιάζει το «Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος στο Open Stage» του Πολιτιστικού της Τράπεζας Κύπρου.

Το καλοκαίρι που μας πέρασε, η Τράπεζα Κύπρου στήριξε το Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος και το Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος, αναγνωρίζοντας την ανάγκη στήριξης των νέων ανθρώπων του τόπου, για δημιουργία και καινοτομία στο χώρο της τέχνης και της μουσικής.

Πρόκειται για ένα οκταήμερο γεμάτο μουσική και δημιουργικότητα που περιλαμβάνει εργαστήρια μουσικής, θεάτρου, πολλές συναυλίες και μουσικά jams.

Λίγο από τον αέρα αυτό θα προσπαθήσουν να φέρουν οι διοργανωτές του στο κέντρο της Λευκωσίας, στο Open Stage, την Παρασκευή 25 Σεπτεμβρίου, στις 20.00 ακριβώς.

Η είσοδος είναι ελεύθερη.

Αναλυτικό πρόγραμμα:

20:00 - Παρουσίαση του Μουσικού Χωριού Φέγγαρος (Λευτέρης Μουμτζής / Καλλιτεχνικός Διευθυντής)

20:15 - Προβολή Ντοκιμαντέρ "Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015"

20:30 - Λευτέρης Μουμτζής και Φώτης Σιώτας

21:00 - The Amalgamation Choir

Οι Sancho 003 στο Αρχοντικό της Αξιοθέας

Sat, 26 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Το γνωστό ντουέτο των των Sancho 003 από την Ελλάδα επισκέπτεται την Κύπρο για μια ζωντανή εμφάνιση. Οι Sancho 003 είναι ήδη αρκετά γνωστοί στο κυπριακό φιλόμουσο κοινό μέσα από τις εμφανίσεις που έχουν κάνει τα τελευταία χρόνια σε μουσικά δρώμενα και φεστιβάλ όπως το Λευκωσία Loop Festival και Basement Sessions .

Πρόκειται για το πειραματικό ηλεκτρο-ακουστικό γκρουπ δύο εξαίρετων καλλιτεχνών από την Ελλάδα: του Φώτη Σιώτα , ο οποίος συνεργάζεται τακτικά με τους Θανάση Παπακωνσταντίνου, Σωκράτη Μάλαμα, Αλκίνοο Ιωαννίδη και τους «Επισκέπτες», και του Κώστα Παντέλη (ιδρυτικό μέλος του συγκροτήματος «Πίσσα και Πούπουλα»), ο οποίος έχει συνεργαστεί με τους Θανάση Παπακωνσταντίνου, τον Γιάννη Αγγελάκα και το Φοίβο Δεληβοριά.

Η μουσική τους είναι ένα πάντρεμα βιόλας / βιολιού και κιθάρας μέσα από δύο λουπαδόρους που παράγουν ένα μοναδικό μουσικό αποτέλεσμα, το οποίο τους έχει καθιερώσει ως πρωτοπόρους στο είδος της σύνθεσης μέσω της τεχνικής του live looping. Το πρόγραμμα των κομματιών τους μαζί με το μαγικό σκηνικό της Αξιοθέας ενδέχεται να σας πάνε σε ένα πολύχρωμο μουσικό ταξίδι.

Φώτης Σιώτας: βιολί, βιόλα, πλήκτρα, φωνή
Κώστας Παντέλης: ηλεκτρική κιθάρα

Πληροφορίες:
Sancho 003
Αρχοντικό Οδού Αξιοθέας, Λευκωσία
26 Σεπτεμβρίου 2015
Ώρα: 20:30
Εισιτήρια : 10 και 5 ευρώ

Fengaros 2015

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Kato Drys 31.7 - 2.8 | Cyprus

Fengaros festival returns to Kato Drys in the Larnaca district, for another three-day run, filled with music, on the 31st of July until the 2nd of August. Celebrating its fifth birthday, Fengaros is today considered as one of the best and most highly-anticipated events of the summer. The bar has been set even higher this year, with the ultimate goal being the festival’s establishment as an important and major international event.

Within the frame of the organisation’s οngoing attempt to detach itself from the usual, this year’s line-up is enriched with renowned acts from the international scene, maintaining the high aesthetic and level of quality that the festival is known for.

PRESALΕ POINTS

Bands and solo artists from Cyprus, Greece, England, France and the USA will create an amalgam of music ranging from traditional to progressive, ethnic, blues, pop/rock, psychedelic, ambient, jazz and more. This musical melting pot includes an attractive collection of names such as: the renowned world music act Banda Magda (USA), the Epirus stoner-rockers Villagers of Ioannina City (Greece), the beloved to the cypriot audience Flying Ibex (UK), the Cretan music virtuoso quartet Xylouris/Spyridakis/Persides/Katsikiotis (Greece), the uplifting The Burger Project (Greece), the freak-folk Le Juki (UK), the upcoming psychedelic-pop band The Cave Children (Greece), acts for children such as Dimitris Baslam ’s (Greece), Alexia C. ’s solo act (France), and Martha Mavroidi ’s ethnic trio (Greece). From the local music scene, we’ll see names such as the veterans of cypriot rock To Marazi tis Fotoulas , the folk/progressive J. Kriste, Master of Disguise , and Tricoolore .

Three stages will be running at the same time: the Main Stage , the Village Stage and the ABR Stage (in collaboration with Alternative Brains Rule), hinting at the festival’s pulse and vibe during its three-day take-over.

The festival’s organic athmosphere is further emphasized by the village’s graphic scenery, as the aesthetic of the surroundings will become once again a source of inspiration for both the artists and the participants.

Here's this year's program.

Presale begins online on May 19th, and at all presale points on June 1 st.

Ticket Price:

Presale: €15 single-day / €25 all-days ( available from May 19th until July 30th )

At the door: €20 single-day/ €35 all-days

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Presale Points:

Online: Online Presale has ended.

Nicosia: Crepaland Eggomi (2226100), Crepaland Lakatamia (22380555) and Crepaland Aglantzia (22333535), kafenio Prozak (22104244) and Gatapou (22667741)

Limassol: Chouzouri kafenio (99451996), Sousami (99846645) and LMS Leons Music Store (25334437)

Larnaca: Tria Poullakia Kathontan (24255880)

Paphos: Vintage Art House (26101394)

Paralimni: Expresso Coffee Shop (23820860)

Kato Drys: Kafenio Kato Drys

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Accomodation: Free camping site with showers and toilets, agrotouristic lodges in Kato Drys and surrounding villages (Lefkara, Vavla, Vavatsinia, Skarinou, Choirokoitia etc)

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More Information:

t: 70007610 e: info@louvana.com.cy fb: www.facebook.com/fengaros

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Sponsors: Cultural Services (Ministry of Culture and Education), Bank of Cyprus, Lordos United Plastics Public Ltd, Cypriot Tourism Organization, Cyprus Youth Organization, Kato Drys Municipal Council, Carlsberg

Communication Sponsors: Parathyro – Politis, Cyprusnews.eu, MetaDeftero (GR)

Fengaros Music Village 2015

Sun, 26 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Kato Drys | July 26th – July 31st | Cyprus

Symbiotic Workshops | Concerts | Lectures

Louvana Records is once again teaming up with ArTree , the organising team behind the international music community “ Music Village ” based in Greece, to organise Fengaros Music Village for the second consecutive year. Artists from Cyprus, Greece and England will be leading music and theater workshops, proposing fresh and alternative methods of artistic learning.

The village of Kato Drys inspired the organisers and was once again chosen as the ideal setting to host the workshops, lectures and concerts of the Music Village. Workshops wil run on a daily basis, divided into two sessions, morning and afternoon. Following the ending of all workshops every day, there will be free concerts by the Music Village's instructors and local bands, as well as performances by the Fengaros Music Village students.

The organisation aims to offer:

- educational sessions in the form of interactive masterclasses , which will be instructed by artists / musicians of international caliber in the areas of modern and traditional music. The themed sections of each workshop intend to approach the art of music and theater more broadly, yet effectively, whilst putting particular emphasis on original areas of artistic development.

- both organised and spontaneous performances of musical / theatrical pieces by the students

- the productive exchange of ideas and experiences between artists, students and participants of varied musical backgrounds and nationalities

- the creation of a long-lasting hybrid, artistic community , characterised by solidarity, both in the fields of collective creativity and in the production / distribution of artistic work.

________________

The workshops:

Andys Skordis | Takedimi – Tadighinaton – Take

Takedimi-Tadighinaton-Take, is a workshop in both theory and practice, dedicated to the techniques and concepts of Karnatic music - South Indian Classical Music - and their application to modern music, entirely focused on rhythm. Traveling through the world of polyrhythms
and polypulses that Karnatic Music is enriched by, the workshop teaches musicians how to perform polyrhythms, how to play phrases in quintuplets and septuplets with complete accuracy and feeling, and most importantly, how to create a better sense of pulse.
To achieve these ends, the usage of the so-called ‘solkattu’ - South-Indian set of rhythmical syllables - plays a very important role in order to memorise and feel rhythmic patterns and phrases. The workshop applies to musicians of all genres, who want to greatly improve and explore their rhythmic abilities.

Emmanuel Vourakis | Blues Guitar and Blues Music

This workshop will attempt a deep comprehensive look into the Blues, as a form of music and genre, and the guitar as a crucial, if not the main protagonist of the instruments used in it. During its course, the workshop will include an in-depth historic recursion of the Blues, beginning from the late 19th century until today, the origins and the many different styles, its instrumentation, arranging and harmony and of course the variety of guitar styles and techniques used.
The workshop applies to anyone who is interested in the Blues, regardless of musical background.

Giorgos Xylouris / Zacharias Spyridakis | Cretan Music

Lutist Giorgos Xylouris (Psarogiorgis) and lyra player Zacharias Spyridakis present a workshop on Cretan music inviting the following instruments: lute, lyra, mandolin, tampoura (sazi), violin, guitar and percussion. A short introduction to the history of Cretan music
and songs will be given, using the lute and the lyra as reference instruments. The two will cover several different techniques, tunings and a wide repertoire. The workshop participants will be grouped into music ensembles, which will perform in concerts during the Music Village. The workshop invites musicians playing the instruments mentioned above.

Davide De Rose / Colin Somervell | Spontaneous Collaborative Music

This is a workshop devoted to group creativity that aims to share essential tools to help develop a stronger sense of musicianship. The workshop will be focusing on rhythmic strength, musical conduction and analysis. Over the course of the week students will work towards the absorption of many different styles and engage in lateral thinking, aiming to improvise and perform whilst hearing the group as one entity. The workshop will be delivered through group playing and will contain practical exercises that anyone can use.
All levels and instruments are welcome.

Kostas Makrygiannakis | Guitar Wired

What is the relationship between a song with guitar accompaniment written in the 19th century by Fernando Sor with the song “Under the Bridge” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers? How can we perform a masterpiece like “Strawberry Fields Forever” by the Beatles on the guitar, without the song losing its power? This workshop for acoustic / classical guitar aims to familiarise the musician-guitarist with the procedure of music making. Understanding the “geography” of the fret board, acoustic exercises, aesthetic approaches, one on one lessons and a lot of group playing will be used as tools to cover the subjects of sound production, guitar techniques, repertoire, lead-sheet preparation and rearrangements. Applicable to guitarists of all levels.

Vasiliki Anastasiou | The Power of your Voice

This vocal workshop will explore some of the strengths of the human voice in a journey of song learning from the music traditions of the Mediterranean. The songs will be taught in a group, developing the relationships and dynamics of the participants within it. The workshop will include experimentations with several non-conventional sounds that the voice can produce as a musical instrument, as well as theoretical analysis of sound production and advice on healthy and correct voicing. The workshop is applicable to anyone who wants to develop his or her vocal abilities through group work, regardless of occupation or musical background.

Andreas Panteli | Improvisation

We understand music (and the world) by recognising patterns. The more complicated they are, the more difficult it is for us to realise what we’re hearing. On the other hand, the more static they are, the more predictable they become and we might lose interest. The composer / improviser’s main challenge is to find that fine balance between chaos and predictability, and spark interest from their listener. If the intelligent game of developing variations on a pattern is played correctly, it leads to the telling of a coherent story, rich in content on the following areas which will be discussed: rhythmic variation, dynamics, sonic areas (low – high), melodic order, timbre and colour of sound. The workshop will be divided into two parts, the morning session where all the different techniques of developing and variating will be analysed, and the afternoon where the participants will jam together, aiming to utilise these different techniques with musicality. Applicable to performers of all levels/genres.

Harris Lambrakis | Constantinople's Makams

The Ottoman Empire may have fought wars from Algeria through to the Indian Ocean, and Poland through to Ethiopia, it may have had under its dominion most of the known languages and religions of the times, but when we talk about Ottoman Music we mostly refer to the music of Constantinople. The main subject of this workshop is the so called makams and in a broader sense the whole music of Constantinople. The idea is to approach this set of makams practically, through a wide repertoire - mainly from Ottoman music. The workshop will focus on listening exercises, practical exercises on the instruments, and the analysis of the makams. Wherever necessary, the repertoire will be extended beyond Ottoman music, based on old recordings of taksims, and gazels. The set of makams that this workshop will concentrate on are: Rast, Bayati, Sabah, Hicaz, Segah and Huzzam. Musicians of all levels, playing instruments relevant to this genre of music are welcome, as long as they have a basic knowledge of reading music.

Barnaby Keen / Jonathan Clayton | Songwriting and Music Production
In collaboration with Cyprus Music Information Centre

This workshop gives an opportunity to explore and learn about the art of songwriting and the creative processes behind it. Writing a song is a process of letting go, releasing an idea without crushing the life out of it with the weight of expectation. We will create a space for voicing our own thoughts and insights on songwriting whilst learning from each other. There will be time to reflect on some of the underlying motivations behind why we write songs, learn what we can do to remove creative barriers and ask the question: What is there to write about? We will also look into and learn some more traditional aspects of songwriting such as: the song structure, lyric writing, harmonic modulation and arrangement. The workshop will also offer its participants the chance to play some of their material to an audience. Time will be spent on practicing producing/recording demos. Some of the songs resented at the workshop will, at a later stage, be chosen to be recorded as proper productions in the studio, and to be released by Louvana Diskoi and the Cyprus Music Information Centre.
Anyone interested in the art of songwriting/music production is welcome.

Athena Kasiou | From The Text

Τheater director Athena Kasiou focuses on the techniques of reconstructing a text with the intention of locating the information that it provides regarding its surrounding world, its characters, its circumstances, its intentions, its main themes and facts, keeping in mind its potential evolution into a theatrical performance. Through exercises, specific scenes will be brought to life, shining a light on what makes a scene immediate and spontaneous. This workshop is applicable to actors, directors, writers, and individuals that have a relationship, or want to build a relationship with the theatrical world.

Elenitsa Georgiou | Around the world with music!

In this interactive workshop, children will have the opportunity to get in touch with cultures from different parts of the world through musical games, traditional children’s songs and bizarre fairytales. The children will also be taught how to distinguish a song from speech, to use voices they have hidden inside them, and breathe correctly while they perform vocal exercises. Appropriate for ages from 5 to 12. Two, 2-hour long workshops will be given on the 28th and 29th of July - 5.30 to 7.30pm.

Workshop Duration :

Around 30 hours each, morning and afternoon sessions.

Cost of Participation :

€170 - includes invitation to Fengaros Festival 2015 .

€200 - includes 5 lunch meals and invitation to Fengaros Festival 2015 .

* Cost for "Around the world with music" :

€10 per child per workshop (Siblings: €7.50 each)

Info/Registration/Accommodation:

Τ: (+357) 99735225 | E: info@louvana.com.cy

Accommodation :

Free camping (with showers and toilets).
Agrotouristic lodges available for renting.

Payment:

Bank Transfer
Online here (PayPal fees apply)
Cash/Cheque at our office Nicosia, Cyprus

More Information : (+357) 99735225 | FAQ | Facebook Page

info@louvana.com.cy

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The Instructors:

Andys Skordis

After graduating from Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2007, Andys Skordis moved to Amsterdam in 2008 to continue his post-graduate at the city’s Conservatorium. He studied composition under Richard Ayers, and Carnatic music with Rafael Reina. He’s a multi-awarded composer in the field of contemporary classical music, and in the past few years he has been continuing his research to specialize in South-Indian and Indonesian music, as well as free improvisation.

Emmanuel Vourakis

Emmanuel Vourakis is a graduate from Berklee College of Music, a member of the blues band “The Zilla Project” which performs all over Cyprus, and a former member of the band “The Blues Wire” from Greece. He has performed both live and in the studio with many artists both in Europe and the USA, throughout his 20-year-long career as a professional guitarist.

Giorgos Xylouris

Giorgos Xylouris is a rightful member of the legendary and musical Xylouris family, and is regarded as one of the most important lute players of Crete today. He also collaborates with musicians from different musical traditions, most notably with the American drummer Jim White. He has taken part in countless festivals and seminars of Cretan music around the world.

Zacharias Spyridakis

Zacharias has been involved with the Cretan Lyra since 1980, having studied closely with the great Cretan lyra-player and teacher of Cretan music, Kostas Mountakis, and having received his degree from the Greek Conservatory of Athens in 1989. He has performed all over the world (Europe, USA, Asia) and has collaborated with the top Greek and foreign composers such as Vangelis Papathanasiou (Vangelis), Yiannis Markopoulos, Steve Wood and Jordi Saval. In the last few years he has been a main collaborator at the Labyrinth Musical Workshop.

Dave De Rose

Dave De Rose is a half-Italian, half-English drummer, music producer and sound engineer, and holds his position as a vital member of the English and international music scene. He has played and collaborated with big names such as Mulatu Astatke, Moloko, Mark Ronson, Rokia Traore, Jamie Cullum, Corinne Bailey Rae and many others.

Colin Somervell

Colin, born in England and raised in Chile, has been active in the London music scene since 2005, playing with diverse musicians, ranging from World Music to Free Jazz and Singer/Songwriters to Progressive Rock. He is graduate of the Birmingham Conservatoire and Trinity College of Music (double bass). As a member of Trio Tekke, he has released two albums and toured Europe, and is now based in South-East London where he works as a freelance musician and tutor while learning violin repair/making at South Thames College.

Vasiliki Anastasiou

Vasiliki Anastasiou is the creator and vocalist of The Amalgamation Project, an ethnic-jazz project that brings jazz and traditional musicians on the same platform. Last year’s Music Village gave birth to the Amalgamation Choir which is now active around the year. She graduated from London College of Music from where she received the title Master in Music Performance (vocals) with distinction. She has performed all over the world with various bands and projects.

Kostas Makrygiannakis

Kostas Makrygiannakis is the current director at Thessaloniki’s national conservatory, and has studied music in both Thessaloniki and London (Trinity College of Music). He has collaborated with outstanding musicians such as the violinist Rosemary Campton, the tenor James Geer, and the singers Giannis Aggelakas, Foivos Delivorias, Manolis Famellos and Maria Thoidou. He is a founding member of the international artistic community “Music Village” in Greece.

Andreas Panteli

Andreas is a professional jazz pianist and composer, and holds degrees from both Codarts Rotterdam Conservatorium and the Royal Conservatory of Den Haag. He has taken part in several projects in Europe and deals with different styles of music ranging from traditional to modern jazz, soul and groove music. He’s a member in a various bands and ensemble, and at the same time teaches piano and improvisation.

Harris Lambrakis

Harris Lambrakis is one of the most significant ney-players and teachers. He has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists such as Savina Yannatou, Bijan Chemirani, Domna Samiou, Michalis Siganides, Haid Yazdijian, Ross Daly (among others) and has been a member of numerous ensembles such as Primavera en Salonico and OnEira to name a few. He has appeared in more than 150 international releases as a performer/composer, playing traditional jazz, world, contemporary and improvisatory music. He formed the Harris Lambrakis Quartet in 2006, who have so far released two albums ( Thea 2010, Meteora 2012).

Barnaby Keen

Barnaby Keen is a London-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, and published songwriter for BMG Chrysalis, who owns his own studio in Camberwell. He is a member of various groups such as Flying Ibex, who have performed festivals such as Glastonbury, Latitude, SGP Bestival, and the Moroccan gnawa-fusion band called Electric Jalaba among others. Barnaby has worked as a session musician at Abbey Road studios, and Paul Epworth's Church Studios as well as having writing credits with Hudson Taylor, Kate Tempest, Kimberly Anne, Emilia Martensson and Rag N Bone man.

Jonathan Clayton

Jon is a multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer, with studies at Bretton Hall. He has a lot of experience both as a touring musician and as a session musician, playing bass, drums, cello and piano, and has worked around the world as stage manager. In the studio, he has worked with a number of producers and engineers such as Rob Ellis and Steve Albini, recording many different styles of music from jazz to punk and beyond. He is the owner of OneCat Studio in London.

Athena Kasiou

A graduate of Emerson College in Boston with further studies in London, Moscow and Bali, and a founding member of the theatrical team «Open Arts», Athena has so far directed the works of A Midsummer Nights Dream by Shakespeare and The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov, as well as having collaborated with painter Carl Krull in «In Two Minds» (THOK). She runs her own venue called SPACE where she recently presented the sold-out play called True West by Sam Shepard, among others.

Ε lenitsa Georgiou

Following her studies in music in Thessaloniki and Exeter, Elenitsa undertook intensive courses in Miming and Body Theatre, Music Education for Children and Story Narration/Writing. She has organised, and taken part in cultural/educational performances for adults and children, as well as in traditional music concerts as a singer and percussionist. She has been a member of the International Society of Music Education, and is a licensed Kindermusic educator. She has worked as a music educator in kindergardens and elementary schools in Greece, Cyprus and England.

Sponsors: Cultural Services of Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture, Cyprus Music Information Centre , Municipality of Kato Drys

Communication Sponsors: Parathyro , CyprusNews.eu

Supporters: studio eleven63

Συνέντευξη με τον Davide De Rose και τον Colin Somervell | Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015

Mon, 22 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Η Αναστασία Προκόπη Τάκη ρωτά...

Bearing in mind the spirit of discipline that one needs to demonstrate within a group or ensemble, in which way can spontaneity be beneficial in a group workshop like the one you are offering in this year's Music Village? Also, can spontaneity be disorienting in the group context of the workshop?

This workshop will show it's benefits after it has come to pass. Spontaneity will be beneficial in the future as a result of disciplines learned, practiced and applied during the workshop. Once solid foundations are analysed and understood we can give ourselves the freedom to be spontaneous. The musicians are being asked to undergo training that will help them to be spontaneous in future. Being spontaneous in a collaborative creation of music requires the ability to hear the sound made by the entire group as one, and not to be lost in one's own part and, most importantly, not to be lost in one's desire to play With this workshop we are looking to develop a 6th sense for orientation and reaction.

In what degree do you think does group playing affect a musician's awareness? Do you consider it a draw back if a musician chooses not to interact or play with other musicians?

Group playing is an essential part of a musician's development. Interaction can happen in many ways. A great contribution to a collaborative spontaneous music performance might often be to play a repetitive static pattern ad infinitum or even to have the foresight not to play at all.

Can the group learning process work effectively for all musicians?

As long as the musicians's are willing to work towards a greater good for the sake of the music then the learning process will be effective.

Is the sense of musicality something innate or something that you acquire later on? Can someone be taught musicality?

Musicality can be innate and can be taught. Either way it can be expanded on. It has a lot to do with maturing as a musician and understanding the greater importance that music has over the individual's desire to be part of it.

You are mentioning musical conduction. How is that defined and how does it affect the creative process?

Musical conduction is used in the workshop as a way to channel and shape the music as it's happening. It is a tool that can be used to focus and direct the creative process, without interfering with what each musician chooses to bring to the group.

Dave, which is your fondest memory from your partaking in last year's Music Village and which are your expectations from this year's workshop?

It's pretty hard to pick just one fond memory from last year because I was overwhelmed with the amount of wonderful people I met and got to know. There was this one young student of mine who was initially a little disgruntled with what I was teaching. But the 3rd day he realised the importance of the concepts I was bringing to his attention and completely changed his attitude. I'll never forget that!
This year I expect much of the same intense exchange of skills, development, wisdom, fun and laughter between everyone organisers, students, tutors, helpers. I literally can't wait!

Ο Davide de Rose και ο Colin Somervell θα διδάξουν το εργαστήρι με τίτλο " Spontaneous Collaborative Music" .

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015 εδώ

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Διάρκεια Εργαστηρίων:

Περίπου 30 ώρες, πρωϊνές και απογευματινές συναντήσεις.

Κόστος Συμμετοχής:

€170 - περιλαμβάνει πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

€200 - περιλαμβάνει 5 μεσημεριανά γεύματα και πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

Διαμονή:

Δωρεάν ελεύθερος κατασκηνωτικός χώρος (με ντους και τουαλέτες)
Αγροτουριστικά καταλύματα προς ενοικίαση

Πληρωμή:

Τραπεζικό Έμβασμα
Διαδυκτιακά εδώ (ισχύει επιπλέον χρέωση για έξοδα Paypal)
Μετρητά/Επιταγή στο γραφείο της Λουβάνα Δίσκοι, Λευκωσία

Περισσότερες Πληροφορίες/Εγγραφές: (+357) 99735225 | Συχνές Ερωτήσεις | FB Page

info@louvana.com.cy

Συνέντευξη με τον Ζαχαρία Σπυριδάκη και τον Γιώργο Ξυλούρη | Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015

Thu, 18 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Η Αναστασία Προκόπη Τάκη ρωτά...

Κρητική και Κυπριακή μουσική. Μουσικές της Μεσογείου, νησιώτικες μουσικές. Ηχοχρώματα τόπων με παρόμοιες, αν όχι αντίστοιχες, ιστορικές αναφορές. Πόσο “κοντά” θεωρείτε ότι βρίσκονται τα δύο αυτά ιδιώματα;

Αρκετά έως πολύ κοντά θα έλεγα, αν αναλογισθεί κανείς κατ’ αρχήν την κουλτούρα των ανθρώπων των δύο νησιών, Κρήτης και Κύπρου, τον γεωγραφικό τόπο, τις κλιματολογικές συνθήκες, το γλωσσικό ιδίωμα, τις επιρροές από τους κάθε λογής κατακτητές που πέρασαν και άφησαν τα πολιτισμικά τους «σημάδια», αλλά τελικά την εξέλιξη του ελληνισμού στην λεκάνη της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου και την αλληλεπίδρασή της με τους άλλους πολιτισμούς της ευρύτερης περιοχής. Έτσι θα έλεγα ότι έχουμε δύο «Μεγαλόνησους» που θα ήταν αφύσικο λόγω μιας σχεδόν κοινής πορείας να μην έχουν ομοιότητες είτε στη Μουσική, είτε στο Λόγο, παρόλο που εκ πρώτης όψεως διατηρούν την ξεχωριστή ταυτότητά τους και μαγεύουν με τις ιδιόμορφες διαφορές τους. Στην Κρήτη η «ζυγιά» των παραδοσιακών οργάνων όπως την ονομάζουμε, είναι η Λύρα και το Λαούτο, ή το Βιολί με το Λαούτο, η οποία παραμένει ακόμα ενεργή στις δυτικές και ανατολικές επαρχίες της Κρήτης. Έπειτα υπάρχει το πνευστό «Θιαμπόλι» (φλογέρα με ράμφος) και το νταουλάκι της ανατολικής Κρήτης, τα οποία έχουν μια θαυμαστή αντιστοιχία με το κυπριακό «πιθκιαύλι» και την «ταμπουτζιά». Τις χαρακτηριστικές ομοιότητες των δύο μουσικών ιδιωμάτων συμπληρώνουν οι «σκοποί», μια σειρά ποικιλόμορφων μελωδιών, αυτό που εδώ στην Κύπρο αποκαλείτε «φωνές».

Στην κυπριακή παράδοση το λαούτο συνοδεύεται από βιολί, ενώ στην Κρήτη από τη λύρα. Εντοπίζετε διαφορές μεταξύ κυπριακού και κρητικού λαούτου, είτε ως προς το γενικότερο πλαίσιο που συνοδεύει κάθε όργανο, είτε σχετικές με την τεχνική παιξίματος ή την κατασκευή τους;

Παρόλο που έχουμε κι εμείς στην Κρήτη ζυγιά Βιολί με Λαούτο, εντοπίζονται κάποιες ελάχιστες διαφοροποιήσεις στον τρόπο κουρδίσματος, καθώς και στις τεχνικές του Λαούτου που συνηθίζονται στα δύο νησιά. Παλαιότερα βέβαια πιστεύω πως ο τρόπος παιξίματος ήταν κατά βάση κοινός, τόσο ως προς τον συνοδευτικό του ρόλο στη «ζυγιά», όσο και ως προς τη μελωδική γραμμή που ακολουθούσε σε πολλές περιπτώσεις μέσα στο ίδιο κομμάτι. - Το περσινό εργαστήρι ασχολήθηκε αποκλειστικά με το λαούτο. Φέτος εμπλουτίζεται με περισσότερα όργανα: τη λύρα, το μαντολίνο, τον ταμπουρά, το βιολί, την κιθάρα.

Με ποιό σκεπτικό εντάξατε επιπλέον όργανα στο εργαστήρι; Τα όργανα αυτά λειτουργούν περισσότερο συμπληρωματικά του βασικού δυαδικού σχήματος λαούτου-λύρας; Δικαίως τα τελευταία θεωρούνται σημείο αναφοράς της κρητικής μουσικής;

Όργανα σαν την Κιθάρα είναι καθαρά συνοδευτικά στην μουσική μας, αλλά όλα τα υπόλοιπα έχουν και σολιστικό ρόλο. Το σκεπτικό είναι απλό: το εργαστήρι έχει ως στόχο, ανεξάρτητα από το παραδοσιακό όργανο που παίζει ο κάθε συμμετέχοντας, να φέρει τον μουσικό σε επαφή με το ξεχωριστό αυτό χρώμα του κρητικού μουσικού ιδιώματος, και όχι μόνο να διδαχτεί μια μελωδία ή μια τεχνική σχετική με τα όργανα αναφοράς (Λύρα και Λαούτο). Έχουμε ως αφετηρία μας την τεχνική και το ρεπερτόριο, που είναι ασφαλώς απαραίτητα, και φτάνουμε κατόπιν σε βαθύτερα σημεία που έχουν να κάνουν με την κατανόηση του τρόπου έκφρασης που διαμορφώνει αυτό τον ξεχωριστό ιδιωματικό χαρακτήρα. Δεν υπάρχουν επομένως «αποκλεισμοί» οργάνων και όλοι μπορούν να παρακολουθήσουν και να ανακαλύψουν με τον τρόπο τους τα «μυστικά» της κρητικής παραδοσιακής μουσικής. Έχει επικρατήσει να θεωρούμε τη Λύρα και το Λαούτο όργανα αναφοράς του εν λόγω μουσικού είδους, γεγονός που θεωρώ κάπως άδικο αν αναλογισθεί κανείς τον πλούτο των μελωδιών που ακόμη παίζονται στην Κρήτη από ζυγιές Βιολιού και Λαούτου.

Έχετε πραγματοποιήσει αντίστοιχο εργαστήρι σε χώρες εκτός Ελλάδος; Θεωρείτε πως υπάρχει ή έχετε εντοπίσει οποιαδήποτε δυσκολία ή ιδιαιτερότητα αντίληψης εκ μέρους κάποιου συμμετέχοντα με νοοτροπία μουσική μακριά από τη δική μας την ελληνική, τη μεσογειακή να κατανοήσει -και κατ’ επέκταση να αγαπήσει- το ηχόχρωμα της Κρήτης;

Έχουμε πραγματοποιήσει πολλά εργαστήρια στο εξωτερικό με θαυμαστή προσέλευση και επιτυχία. Βασικός άξονάς τους ήταν η κατανόηση της Κρητικής μουσικής στην ολότητά της, λόγω του ότι πολλοί μουσικοί χρησιμοποιούσαν τα όργανα της τοπικής τους παράδοσης για να συμμετάσχουν στα εργαστήρια. Θεωρώ πως κάθε άνθρωπος που έχει σαν βάση την αγάπη του για την μουσική του τόπου του και των μουσικών οργάνων που την πρεσβεύουν, είτε παίζει Κέλτικο παραδοσιακό Βιολί, είτε αράβικο Ούτι, νιώθει απεριόριστη χαρά ερχόμενος σε επαφή με ξένες γι’ αυτόν μουσικές παραδόσεις. Οι μουσικοί σε τέτοιου είδους εργαστήρια γίνονται μέλη μιας ευρύτερης ομάδας που μοιράζεται κοινές χαρές και κοινές πανάρχαιες αξίες.

Ο Ζαχαρίας Σπυριδάκης και ο Γιώργος Ξυλούρης θα διδάξουν το εργαστήρι με τίτλο " Κρητική Μουσική ".

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015 εδώ

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Διάρκεια Εργαστηρίων:

Περίπου 30 ώρες, πρωϊνές και απογευματινές συναντήσεις.

Κόστος Συμμετοχής:

€170 - περιλαμβάνει πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

€200 - περιλαμβάνει 5 μεσημεριανά γεύματα και πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

Διαμονή:

Δωρεάν ελεύθερος κατασκηνωτικός χώρος (με ντους και τουαλέτες)
Αγροτουριστικά καταλύματα προς ενοικίαση

Πληρωμή:

Τραπεζικό Έμβασμα
Διαδυκτιακά εδώ (ισχύει επιπλέον χρέωση για έξοδα Paypal)
Μετρητά/Επιταγή στο γραφείο της Λουβάνα Δίσκοι, Λευκωσία

Περισσότερες Πληροφορίες/Εγγραφές: (+357) 99735225 | Συχνές Ερωτήσεις | FB Page

info@louvana.com.cy

Συνέντευξη με τον Κώστα Μακρυγιαννάκη | Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015

Thu, 04 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Η Αναστασία Προκόπη Τάκη ρωτά...

Η κιθάρα αποτελεί για σένα επέκταση των χεριών ή της ψυχής σου;

Γιατί τα ξεχωρίζεις!;! Είναι το όργανο με το οποίο κάνω μουσική! Και τα δύο λοιπόν!

Η εκ του μηδενός δημιουργία λειτουργεί διπολικά με την έννοια της διασκευής; Θα μπορούσαμε ενδεχομένως - αναφερόμενοι στην πρωτότυπη δημιουργία - να μιλήσουμε για κάτι πιο πηγαίο, πιο αβίαστο, εν αντιθέσει με μια σωστή διασκευή η οποία πιθανόν να προϋποθέτει μια κάποια τεχνογνωσία ή πιο ευρεία μουσική παιδεία;

Η διασκευή ή ακόμα και η "πιστή" μεταγραφή, αν θέλεις, προϋποθέτει τεχνικές γνώσεις και υπό αυτήν την έννοια δε γίνεται αβίαστα. Από την άλλη, ούτε η πρωτότυπη δημιουργία συμβαίνει αβίαστα. Αντιθέτως προϋποθέτει με τη σειρά της πολλές φορές ώρες σκέψης και σκληρής δουλειάς. Ο συνθέτης, ο ενορχηστρωτής, ο κάθε είδους δημιουργός είναι ένα ολόκληρο σύστημα που διέπεται από βιώματα και θέσεις που διαμορφώνουν στο έπακρο τον τρόπο που λειτουργεί σε κάθε περίπτωση. Υπάρχουν καλλιτέχνες που με την ίδια ευκολία ή δυσκολία συνθέτουν ή διασκευάζουν.

Το Μουσικό Χωριό για δεύτερη χρονιά στην Κύπρο. Ως ιδρυτικό μέλος της διεθνούς αυτής καλλιτεχνικής κοινότητας, θεωρείς πως υπάρχουν οι προϋποθέσεις για την καθιέρωσή του κι εδώ στο νησί;

Φυσικά! Η Κύπρος είναι ένας πανέμορφος τόπος και κομβικό σημείο πολιτισμικά στην ευρύτερη περιοχή με πληθώρα δικών της χαρακτηριστικών και επιρροών ταυτόχρονα. Οι διοργανωτές επίσης είναι καλλιτέχνες με ευρεία παιδεία και ουσιαστικό όραμα, εργατικοί και ανοικτοί στα πράγματα. Έχουν συλλάβει πλήρως το ύφος και την νοοτροπία που χαρακτηρίζει το Μουσικό Χωριό στην Ελλάδα και το προσαρμόζουν στην Κύπρο ανάλογα με τα δικά της χαρακτηριστικά. Επίσης στο νησί υπάρχουν πάρα πολλοί καλοί μουσικοί και φιλότεχνοι που μπορούν να αγκαλιάσουν τη διοργάνωση αυτή. Εύχομαι από την καρδιά μου να το αγκαλιάσει ο κόσμος και οι φορείς γιατί έχει να προσφέρει πάρα πολλά και να διαμορφώσει σε μεγάλο βαθμό τον πολιτιστικό χάρτη του νησιού.

Ποια εικόνα κρατάς πιο έντονα σαν ανάμνηση από την περσινή σου συμμετοχή στο Μουσικό Χωριό και ποιες οι προσδοκίες από τη φετινή σου πρόταση;

Θα σου αναφέρω λέξεις: καταπληκτικές συναυλίες, φιλοξενία, υπέροχα αυτοσχέδια session, χαμόγελα! Προσδοκώ όπως και πέρυσι να μου δοθεί η ευκαιρία να δείξω τον τρόπο με τον οποίον βλέπω την κιθάρα μέσα στην μουσική, να συνομιλήσω ουσιαστικά για αυτή, να ευχαριστηθώ όσο και πέρυσι το ρεσιτάλ μου και να γνωρίσω περισσότερους μουσικούς με αγάπη για αυτό που κάνουν. Το ότι θα περάσω τέλεια το θεωρώ δεδομένο!

Πόσο ωφέλιμη ή εποικοδομητική έκρινες -ακόμη και για σένα τον ίδιο ως εισηγητή του εργαστηρίου- τη γόνιμη αυτή σχέση αλληλεπίδρασης με τους συμμετέχοντες; Ποιος ο προσωπικός σου απολογισμός;

Η διδασκαλία για ορισμένο χρονικό διάστημα σε ένα εργαστήριο ή σεμινάριο ενός φεστιβάλ διαφέρει από τη διδασκαλία σε ένα ωδείο ή κολέγιο κυρίως στο εξής: Στο σεμινάριο ο χρόνος είναι περιορισμένος και η διδασκαλία εντατική. Όσοι συμμετέχουν λαμβάνουν πολλή πληροφορία την οποία επεξεργάζονται σταδιακά και για πολύ χρονικό διάστημα. Επομένως η αλληλεπίδραση λειτουργεί άμεσα κι έντονα, έχοντας, όμως, μεγαλύτερη περίοδο εκτόνωσης. Αντιθέτως η διδασκαλία σε εβδομαδιαία π.χ. βάση περιλαμβάνει λιγότερη πληροφόρηση και λιγότερη ίσως συμμετοχικότητα κάθε φορά. Η σχέση αλληλεπίδρασης με τους συμμετέχοντες λοιπόν είναι πολύ ουσιαστική.

O Κώστας Μακρυγιαννάκης θα διδάξει το εργαστήρι κλασικής και ακουστικής κιθάρας με τίτλο GuitarWired .

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015 εδώ

----------------------

Διάρκεια Εργαστηρίων:

Περίπου 30 ώρες, πρωϊνές και απογευματινές συναντήσεις.

Κόστος Συμμετοχής:

€170 - περιλαμβάνει πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

€200 - περιλαμβάνει 5 μεσημεριανά γεύματα και πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

Διαμονή:

Δωρεάν ελεύθερος κατασκηνωτικός χώρος (με ντους και τουαλέτες)
Αγροτουριστικά καταλύματα προς ενοικίαση

Πληρωμή:

Τραπεζικό Έμβασμα
Διαδυκτιακά εδώ (ισχύει επιπλέον χρέωση για έξοδα Paypal)
Μετρητά/Επιταγή στο γραφείο της Λουβάνα Δίσκοι, Λευκωσία

Περισσότερες Πληροφορίες/Εγγραφές: (+357) 99735225 | Συχνές Ερωτήσεις | FB Page

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Συνέντευξη με τον Μανώλη Βουράκη | Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015

Thu, 28 May 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Η Αναστασία Προκόπη Τάκη ρωτά...

Μια ετυμολογική εκδοχή για τον ορισμό της Blues μουσικής αναφέρεται στη φράση blue devils, θέλοντας ενδεχομένως να π εριγράψει το αίσθημα μελαγχολίας και θλίψης π ου αυτή α π ο π νέει . Εσύ π ώς αντιλαμβάνεσαι αυτό το χαρακτηρισμό ;

Συμφωνώ. Εάν, όμως, αναλογιστούμε την εποχή και τις καταστάσεις που βιώναν οι αφρο-αμερικάνοι, τις συνθήκες μέσα από τις οποίες γεννήθηκε το μουσικό αυτό είδος, τότε σίγουρα μπορούμε να εντοπίσουμε και οργή, πόνο, πόθο, απογοήτευση, πίστη, χαρά, ελπίδα. Το σίγουρο πάντως είναι πως η Blues είναι μουσική του συναισθήματος και λειτουργεί σαν όχημα εκτόνωσης και έκφρασης με τον πιο άμεσο κι έντονο δυνατό τρόπο.

Θα έλεγα ότι περισσότερο εντοπίζω έναν αισθησιασμό στην Blues παρά αυτό που υπονοεί ο ορισμός της. Έναν αισθησιασμό που αγγίζει ενίοτε τα όρια του ερωτισμού. Αυτό πώς το σχολιάζεις;

Σίγουρα υπάρχει ερωτισμός στην Blues και πολύ συχνά οι στίχοι, πέρα από το ρυθμό και τον ήχο της μουσικής, αναφέρονται, είτε έμμεσα είτε άμεσα στον έρωτα, τον πόθο, την ερωτική απογοήτευση ή τα βάσανα των σχέσεων.

Πώς προέκυψε η δική σου ενασχόληση με αυτό το μουσικό ιδίωμα;

Προσωπικά ήρθα σε επαφή με αυτή την μουσική σε νεαρή σχετικά ηλικία, αλλά καθοριστικό ρόλο έπαιξε σίγουρα και το γεγονός πως η Θεσσαλονίκη, η πόλη απ' όπου κατάγομαι, είχε και διατηρεί μέχρι σήμερα μια πολύ δυνατή κουλτούρα αλλά και αγάπη για την Blues. Ήταν πολλά λοιπόν τα ερεθίσματα γύρω μου και βεβαίως η πρώτη μπάντα στην οποία συμμετείχα, εν ονόματι Hoodoos, ήταν αυστηρά προσηλωμένη στο ηλεκτρικό Blues. Από εκεί και πέρα έμεινα πάντα πολύ στενά συνδεδεμένος με αυτό το είδος σε όλη την πορεία μου σαν μουσικός.

Πόσο εύλογη είναι η πλήρης ταύτιση της blues μουσικής με την ηλεκτρική κιθάρα;

Σίγουρα η κιθάρα, ακουστική και ηλεκτρική, είναι ένα από τα πρωταγωνιστικά όργανα της Blues, αν όχι το βασικότερο. Η ακουστική κιθάρα μαζί με τη φυσαρμόνικα ήταν τα όργανα που ένας εργάτης μπορούσε να έχει τον καιρό εκείνο. Επίσης ήταν τα μόνα όργανα που εύκολα μπορούσαν να μεταφέρουν μαζί τους στη δουλειά ή και στο δρόμο. Έτσι το ιδίωμα αυτό διαμορφώθηκε με άξονα την κιθάρα, καθιστώντας την με τον καιρό αναπόσπαστο μέρος της Blues κουλτούρας. Αργότερα, όταν ο ηλεκτρισμός ήρθε να κάνει τα πάντα πιο έντονα κι επιθετικά, η κιθάρα ήταν και πάλι το πρώτο όργανο στο προσκήνιο, ιδιαίτερα λόγω της τεχνικής του bending, που απέδιδε με τον καλύτερο τρόπο την τεχνοτροπία του blues και gospel τραγουδίσματος.

Η πιο όμορφη ανάμνηση και εικόνα είναι ο ενθουσιασμός των αυθόρμητων μουσικών συνευρέσεων καθ' όλη τη διάρκεια των πέντε ημερών μεταξύ εισηγητών, μαθητών και παρευρισκομένων. Οι προσδοκίες μου για φέτος είναι αφενός να μαζευτούνε άνθρωποι με κοινή αγάπη και ενδιαφέρον για κάτι τόσο κοντά στην καρδιά μου, όπως είναι τα Βlues και στην συνέχεια οι ίδιοι αυτοί άνθρωποι να γίνουν μέρος του μεγαλύτερου συνόλου που λέγεται Μουσικό Χωριό και να αφομοιώσουν τη μαγεία της μοναδικής αυτής εμπειρίας όσο βαθύτερα μπορούν.

Ο Μανώλης Βουράκης θα διδάξει το εργαστήρι με τίτλο Μπλουζ Κιθάρα και Μπλουζ Μουσική .

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015 εδώ

---------------------

Διάρκεια Εργαστηρίων:

Περίπου 30 ώρες, πρωϊνές και απογευματινές συναντήσεις.

Κόστος Συμμετοχής:

€170 - περιλαμβάνει πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

€200 - περιλαμβάνει 5 μεσημεριανά γεύματα και πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

Διαμονή:

Δωρεάν ελεύθερος κατασκηνωτικός χώρος (με ντους και τουαλέτες)
Αγροτουριστικά καταλύματα προς ενοικίαση

Πληρωμή:

Τραπεζικό Έμβασμα
Διαδυκτιακά εδώ (ισχύει επιπλέον χρέωση για έξοδα Paypal)
Μετρητά/Επιταγή στο γραφείο της Λουβάνα Δίσκοι, Λευκωσία

Περισσότερες Πληροφορίες/Εγγραφές: (+357) 99735225 | Συχνές Ερωτήσεις | FB Page

info@louvana.com.cy

Συνέντευξη με την Αθηνά Κάσιου | Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015

Thu, 21 May 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Η Αναστασία Προκόπη Τάκη ρωτά...

Μία σκηνοθέτης ανάμεσα σε μουσικούς. Πέραν της κοινής αφοσίωσης στην Τέχνη, τι είναι αυτό που θεωρείς ότι αποτελεί τον κοινό τόπο ανάμεσα στα δύο καλλιτεχνικά φάσματα;

Η αναζήτηση της εξέλιξης, να μάθεις από τους άλλους γύρω. Πηγή έμπνευσης στο ψάξιμο μιας δημιουργικής γλώσσας.

Πώς προέκυψε η ένταξή σου στο Μουσικό Χωριό;

Μέσα από τις καλές σχέσεις με τους διοργανωτές και νομίζω τους κοινούς στόχους στο τι μπορεί να δημιουργηθεί στην Κύπρο. Νιώθω πολύ τυχερή που είμαι στο Μουσικό Χωριό.

Το εργαστήρι προτείνει μιαν εκ νέου ανάγνωση του εκάστοτε κειμένου με σκοπό την αποδόμησή του. Θεωρείς ότι κάθε κείμενο εσωκλείει κάποια πίσω-από-τις-λέξεις νοήματα; Υπάρχουν μέθοδοι και στρατηγικές εντοπισμού τους ή εξαρτάται από τον τρόπο με τον οποίο ο καθένας βιώνει το κείμενο;

Υπάρχουν διαφορετικές αναγνώσεις κάποιου κειμένου. Μια παράσταση μεταφέρει μια ανάγνωση και μετά εξαρτάται από το πώς ο κάθε ένας, σε σχέση με τις δικές του συνθήκες, βιώνει αυτό που εισπράττει.

Υπάρχουν όμως κάποιες δεδομένες πληροφορίες, κάποιες φόρμες και δομές που είναι δοσμένες από ένα συγγραφέα. Το workshop αυτό σαν πρώτο στάδιο έχει σαν στόχο να ξεκλειδώσει το κείμενο με λεπτομέρεια και σεβασμό σε αυτά που ζητά ο συγγραφέας. Μέσω μιας μεθοδολογίας πρακτικών εργαλείων βρίσκουμε τον χάρτη ενός κείμενου. Μετά αυτό εξελίσσεται στον τρόπο με τον οποίο μπορείς να επικοινωνήσεις καλύτερα το κείμενο ώστε να αφορά το τώρα.

Πόσο θεμιτή είναι η απομόνωση ενός έργου από την εποχή του; Ή αντίστοιχα, πόσο στεγνώνει όταν επιχειρήσουμε να το αναγνώσουμε έξω από το γενικότερο αναφορικό του πλαίσιο;

Ένα έργο πρέπει να παραμένει ζωντανό, και να είναι αναγκαίο. Φυσικά είναι σημαντικό το πότε γράφτηκε ένα έργο και τι αντίκτυπο είχε στην εποχή του, όμως στόχος είναι το έργο να έχει αντίκτυπο στην σύγχρονη εποχή.

Δεύτερη συμμετοχή σου στο Μουσικό Χωριό. Ποια εικόνα κρατάς πιο έντονα σαν ανάμνηση από πέρυσι και ποιες οι προσδοκίες από το φετινό εργαστήρι;

Αναλύσαμε και παρουσιάσαμε την πρώτη σκηνή το έργου Far Away της Carol σε ένα σπίτι που είχε να ανοιχτεί εδώ και πολύ καιρό. Το κοινό ήταν έξω στην αυλή κάτω από τα αστέρια. Στήσαμε μικρόφωνα με την βοήθεια των μουσικών μέσα στο σπίτι και το κοινό έξω κρυφάκουγε την δράση μέσα στο σπίτι. Οπτικά ήταν μόνο τα φώτα που αναβόσβηναν ρεαλιστικά με τη δράση. Δώσαμε σημασία στον ήχο και πώς αυτό το εργαλείο μπόρεσε να βοηθήσει στο να επικοινωνήσουμε καλύτερα το έργο. Αυτό προέκυψε μόνο και μόνο γιατί ήμασταν στο συγκεκριμένο χωριό, με τη συγκεκριμένη ομάδα και τα συγκεκριμένα άτομα να μας περιβάλλουν. Προσδοκία μου γι' αυτό το χρόνο είναι να μπορέσουμε να είμαστε ανοιχτοί, να επηρεαστούμε από τα ερεθίσματα γύρω μας και να βρούμε έναν κώδικα που να τα ενώνει.

Η Αθηνά Κάσιου θα διδάξει το εργαστήρι με τίτλο Μέσα από το Κείμενο .

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015 εδώ

---------------------

Διάρκεια Εργαστηρίων:

Περίπου 30 ώρες, πρωϊνές και απογευματινές συναντήσεις.

Κόστος Συμμετοχής:

€170 - περιλαμβάνει πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

€200 - περιλαμβάνει 5 μεσημεριανά γεύματα και πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

Διαμονή:

Δωρεάν ελεύθερος κατασκηνωτικός χώρος (με ντους και τουαλέτες)
Αγροτουριστικά καταλύματα προς ενοικίαση

Πληρωμή:

Τραπεζικό Έμβασμα
Διαδυκτιακά εδώ (ισχύει επιπλέον χρέωση για έξοδα Paypal)
Μετρητά/Επιταγή στο γραφείο της Λουβάνα Δίσκοι, Λευκωσία

Περισσότερες Πληροφορίες/Εγγραφές: (+357) 99735225 | Συχνές Ερωτήσεις | FB Page

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Συνέντευξη με τον Χάρη Λαμπράκη | Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015

Fri, 08 May 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Η Αναστασία Προκόπη Τάκη ρωτά...

Αν υποθέσουμε πως ο ελλαδικός χώρος βρίσκεται τόσο γεωγραφικά όσο και "νοοτροπικά" στο μεταίχμιο μεταξύ Δύσης και Ανατολής, εσύ, πρώτα ως άνθρωπος κι έπειτα ως μουσικός, πού θεωρείς ή νιώθεις ότι ανήκεις;

Η διατύπωση της ερώτησής σας σηκώνει πολύ κουβέντα, όσο και αν φαίνεται ξεκάθαρη. Η Κύπρος βρίσκεται ανατολικότερα της Κωνσταντινούπολης και του Καϊρου, ο Λίβανος δυτικότερα της Μόσχας και το Μαρόκκο δυτικότερα όλης σχεδόν της Ευρώπης. Για να μην μακρυγορούμε, αν συσχετίσουμε τη Δύση με μουσικές όπως η κλασσική, η τζαζ, η ροκ κτλ. και την Ανατολή με την παραδοσιακή, τη λαϊκή μουσική και το μακάμ πιστεύω πως οι δυτικοί με νομίζουν για ανατολίτη και οι ανατολικοί για δυτικό. Εγώ ειλικρινά δεν μπορώ να απαντήσω.

Η ενασχόλησή σου με τους ήχους της Ανατολής πώς προέκυψε; Εμπίπτει καθόλου σε αυτή τη διαχρονική γοητεία ή τη νοσταλγική διάθεση που αποπνέει η οριενταλιστική παράδοση  ιδιαίτερα στους δυτικούς με τον εξωτισμό και τα παράδοξά της;

Αυτό το λίγο που ασχολήθηκα μέχρι σήμερα με την μουσική της Ανατολής, το έκανα μόνο και μόνο εξαιτίας των δασκάλων μου, που δώσανε πρόσωπο σε αυτή τη μουσική και στους φίλους μου, που παίζουμε μαζί όλα αυτά τα χρόνια.

Ποια στοιχεία της λεγόμενης Μουσικής της Πόλης, της Οθωμανικής Μουσικής θα έλεγες ότι την διαχωρίζουν από το ευρύτερο σύνολο των μουσικών της καθ' ημάς Ανατολής; Πόσο καθοριστική υπήρξε η παράδοση της Κωνσταντινούπολης, καθώς και του Βυζαντίου, για τη διαμόρφωση αυτού που σήμερα ορίζουμε και γνωρίζουμε ως "ανατολίτικος ήχος";

Όταν μιλάει κανείς για τη μουσική της Πόλης – της Κωνσταντινούπολης – προφανώς και αναφέρεται στην έντεχνη, στη λόγια μουσική που έχει ώς κέντρο το μακάμ και αναπτύχθηκε στη διάρκεια της Οθωμανικής αυτοκρατορίας (14ος20ος αιώνας). Κι αυτό γιατί το είδος αυτό (που βρήκε στέγη κυρίως στην αυλή του σουλτάνου και στους χανέδες των σούφικων ταγμάτων) ξεχωρίζει από όλα τα υπόλοιπα είδη της λαϊκής μουσικής για τον εκλεπτυσμένο του χαρακτήρα, τις ανεπτυγμένες φόρμες, την δεξιοτεχνία που απαιτεί από τον εκτελεστή και τη μίξη στοιχείων από διαφορετικές παραδόσεις και πολιτισμούς. Και ως τέτοιο θεωρήθηκε σημαντικό από την ελίτ της εποχής και διασώθηκε μέχρι σήμερα, συχνά υποστηριζόμενο από αυτήν την ανώτερη κοινωνική τάξη.

Έχοντας ταξιδέψει και παρουσιάσει σε Ολλανδία, Γερμανία, Ελβετία το μουσικό αυτό είδος, εντοπίζεις κάποιες σημαντικές διαφορές στον τρόπο με τον οποίο το δυτικό κοινό εκλαμβάνει αυτό το ηχόχρωμα, σε σχέση πάντοτε με το αντίστοιχο κοινό σε γεωγραφικές περιοχές της Ανατολής;

Το κοινό σήμερα είναι πολύ ενημερωμένο, συχνά περισσότερο και από τον μουσικό. Δεν θα πρέπει όμως να τρέφουμε αυταπάτες. Τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες η κατάσταση έχει αλλάξει και στην Ανατολή. Ο Ελβετός και ο Τούρκος μπορεί να ακούνε με πάθος την ίδια ποπ μουσική ή να αναζητούνε και οι δύο την βαθύτερη γνώση του μακάμ της Ανατολής με την ίδια ζέση. Σίγουρα πάντως κάποιο ρόλο παίζει και ο τόπος. Η ελιά και το αμπέλι δεν βγαίνουν τα ίδια παντού.

Πρώτη σου συμμετοχή στο Μουσικό Χωριό εδώ στο νησί. Πώς προέκυψε αυτή η σύμπραξη; Ποιες οι προσδοκίες σου;

Έρχομαι στο Μουσικό Χωριό μετά από πρόσκληση του φίλου Λευτέρη Μουμτζή. Ελπίζω να συναντηθούμε, να παίξουμε, να ακούσουμε, να έχουμε διάθεση και ησυχία.

Ο Χάρης Λαμπράκης θα διδάξει το εργαστήρι με τίτλο "Τα μακάμ της Κωνσταντινούπολης" .

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015 εδώ

----------------------

Διάρκεια Εργαστηρίων:

Περίπου 30 ώρες, πρωϊνές και απογευματινές συναντήσεις.

Κόστος Συμμετοχής:

€170 - περιλαμβάνει πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

€200 - περιλαμβάνει 5 μεσημεριανά γεύματα και πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

Διαμονή:

Δωρεάν ελεύθερος κατασκηνωτικός χώρος (με ντους και τουαλέτες)
Αγροτουριστικά καταλύματα προς ενοικίαση

Πληρωμή:

Τραπεζικό Έμβασμα
Διαδυκτιακά εδώ (ισχύει επιπλέον χρέωση για έξοδα Paypal)
Μετρητά/Επιταγή στο γραφείο της Λουβάνα Δίσκοι, Λευκωσία

Περισσότερες Πληροφορίες/Εγγραφές: (+357) 99735225 | Συχνές Ερωτήσεις | FB Page

info@louvana.com.cy

Συνέντευξη με την Ελενίτσα Γεωργίου | Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Η Αναστασία Προκόπη Τάκη ρωτά...

Πρώτη σου συμμετοχή στο Μουσικό Χωριό. Πώς προέκυψε αυτή η σύμπραξη; Ποιές οι προσδοκίες σου;

Πρώτη μου συμμετοχή λοιπόν και ανυπομονώ! Η ιδέα υπήρχε μέσα μου από καιρό, από τότε που συμμετείχα ως φοιτήτρια στο μουσικοπαιδαγωγικό πρόγραμμα του Μουσικού Χωριού στον Άγιο Λαυρέντιο στο Πήλιο. Ήταν μια εμπειρία μοναδική, με μαθήματα βιωματικά που γίνονταν έξω στη φύση. Περίμενα πώς και πώς για κάτι αντίστοιχο και στην Κύπρο. Οπότε η είδηση της έναρξης του Μουσικού Χωριού Φέγγαρος με χαροποίησε ιδιαίτερα. Η δουλειά που έγινε στην περσινή διοργάνωση ήταν εξαιρετική. Ήθελα να συμμετέχω. Ξεκίνησα την ιδεοθύελλα! Οι προσδοκίες μου απλές: τα παιδιά, καθώς και οι γονείς, να μαθαίνουν διασκεδάζοντας. Τα υπόλοιπα θα τα αναλάβει η φύση! Το αποτέλεσμα θα το δείτε τον Ιούλιο.

Το δικό σου εργαστήρι απευθύνεται αυστηρώς σε ηλικίες κάτω των 12. Ποιό χαρακτηριστικό τους θεωρείς ότι διαφοροποιεί τις ηλικίες αυτές από όλες τις υπόλοιπες;

Η λέξη "αυστηρώς" κρύβει μέσα της μια άρνηση! Θα έλεγα καλύτερα ότι το εργαστήρι είναι κατάλληλο για ηλικίες 5 με 12 ετών. Στα πλαίσια του μαθήματος συνδυάζω το τραγούδι και τα διάφορα μουσικά όργανα με τρόπο τέτοιο ώστε να δημιουργούν συνθήκες παιχνιδιού και διασκέδασης. Επέλεξα αυτό το ηλικιακό εύρος γιατί ακριβώς συνδυάζει τον ενθουσιασμό και την πηγαία φαντασία ενός 5χρονου, με τις πιο ανεπτυγμένες δεξιότητες και τον συνδυαστικό τρόπο σκέψης των μεγαλύτερων παιδιών. Αυτές οι δύο ηλικιακές ομάδες θα λειτουργήσουν συνδυαστικά, με μια σχέση αμφίδρομη και παραγωγική.

Τι είναι αυτό που περισσότερο σε γοητεύει στην ενασχόληση σου με τα παιδιά; Θεωρείς ότι μπορούν πράγματι να μας διδάξουν;

Τα παιδιά αποτελούν τον μεγαλύτερο μου δάσκαλο! Παρόλο που έχω πάντοτε υπόψη τους στόχους μου σε σχέση με όσα θέλω να μάθουν τα παιδιά, η εξέλιξη και η ροή του μαθήματος καθορίζεται από τα παιδιά. Αυτό το παιδο-κεντρικό είδος μαθήματος με τρέφει. Παρατηρώντας τα παιδιά μαθαίνω πολλά. Αυτό εξάλλου αποτέλεσε και τον κεντρικό θεματικό άξονα στο μεταπτυχιακό μου: ο τρόπος με τον οποίον τα παιδιά διδάσκουν τους συνομήλικούς τους στην ώρα του παιχνιδιού τους. Τα ευρήματα είναι θησαυρός για κάθε εκπαιδευτικό. Η στάση του σώματος κατά την εκμάθηση νέων κανόνων, οι τεχνικές που χρησιμοποιούν, η απτική επαφή μέσα στα πλαίσια της ομάδας, η χρήση μη δόκιμων λέξεων και το γεγονός ότι έλκονται κυρίως από το "άγνωστο" παρά από το "γνωστό" που είναι πιο οικείο. Αυτά δεν υπάρχουν στα βιβλία, παρά μόνο στο παιχνίδι των παιδιών.

Υποθέτω ότι βασίζεσαι περισσότερο στον τρόπο οικειοποίησης της γνώσης και όχι στην ίδια την καθαυτό γνώση. Οι διαδραστικοί κι εμπειρικοί μεθόδοι εκμάθησης που προτείνεις στο εργαστήρι συγκρούονται με τους παραδοσιακούς. Αυτό πως το σχολιάζεις;

Εννοείται πως ο στόχος μου ως εκπαιδευτικός είναι η καθαυτό γνώση. Η γνώση, όμως, και η οικειοποίησή της προκύπτει από μια σειρά βιωματικών στιγμών. Η μουσική, για παράδειγμα, δεν υφίσταται μόνο για τη διασκέδασή μας, αλλά διδάσκεται με σκοπό την ολοκλήρωση της προσωπικότητας του ατόμου, ξεκινώντας ήδη από την αρχαία Ελλάδα. Μέσω της μουσικής, όπως και των υπολοίπων Τεχνών, η γνώση μπορεί να προκύψει μέσω διαδραστικών μεθόδων, μέσω της κίνησης, της ενεργής ακρόασης, του παιχνιδιού. Όλοι οι μεγάλοι παιδαγωγοί -μεταξύ άλλων ο Μ.Montessori, ο C.Orff, ο E.J.Dalcroze- συγκρούστηκαν με τους "παραδοσιακούς" τρόπους εκμάθησης, την αυστηρή, δηλαδή, καθήλωση του μαθητή πίσω από ένα θρανίο και τη μετατροπή του σε παθητικό δέκτη πληροφοριών. Ο καλύτερος τρόπος για να μαθαίνει κανείς, με τη συμμετοχή ολόκληρου του σώματος, εκφράζεται εν συντομία μέσα από τα λόγια του Καρλ Ορφ (συνθέτης και μουσικοπαιδαγωγός του 20ου αι.): "Τell me, I forget. Show me, I remember. Involve me, I understand''.

Σε ανησυχεί καθόλου το γεγονός ότι θα έχεις απέναντι σου τους συμμετέχοντες με την αυστηρότερη και πιο αντικειμενική κρίση;

Κάθε δουλειά μου με μικρά παιδιά αποτελεί μια πρόκληση. Έχω πάντα μαζί μου εναλλακτικά σενάρια σε περιπτώσεις που οι συνθήκες το απαιτούν. Εξάλλου χωρίς μαθητές με αυστηρή κρίση δε γινόμαστε καλύτεροι. Είτε το δείχνουν με ένα βλέμμα, είτε το εκφράζουν σωματικά ή λεκτικά, είναι καθήκον μου να βρω τον τρόπο που θα τους κερδίσει. Είναι χαρά μου να έχω στην παρέα μου παιδιά που είναι γεμάτα ενέργεια, θέληση για μάθηση και σκανταλιές!

Κατάλληλο για παιδιά ηλικίας 5 - 12 ετών. Δύο δίωρα εργαστήρια 28 και 29 Ιουλίου, 5.30 – 7.30μ.μ.

Κόστος συμμετοχής στο εργαστήρι της Ελενίτσας 'Τραγουδοπαιχνιδίσματα - ο γύρος του κόσμου με μουσική!':

€10 ευρώ το κάθε παιδί για κάθε μέρα (€7.50 έκαστως για αδερφάκια)

---------------------

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015 εδώ

Διάρκεια Εργαστηρίων:

Περίπου 30 ώρες, πρωϊνές και απογευματινές συναντήσεις.

Κόστος Συμμετοχής:

€170 - περιλαμβάνει πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

€200 - περιλαμβάνει 5 μεσημεριανά γεύματα και πρόσκληση στο Φεστιβάλ Φέγγαρος 2015 .

Διαμονή:

Δωρεάν ελεύθερος κατασκηνωτικός χώρος (με ντους και τουαλέτες)
Αγροτουριστικά καταλύματα προς ενοικίαση

Πληρωμή:

Τραπεζικό Έμβασμα
Διαδυκτιακά εδώ (ισχύει επιπλέον χρέωση για έξοδα Paypal)
Μετρητά/Επιταγή στο γραφείο της Λουβάνα Δίσκοι, Λευκωσία

Περισσότερες Πληροφορίες/Εγγραφές: (+357) 99735225 | Συχνές Ερωτήσεις | FB Page

info@louvana.com.cy

Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2014 - a short documentary

Wed, 01 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Τον Ιούλη του 2014, η Λουβάνα Δίσκοι σε συνεργασία με την ArTree, τη διοργανώτρια ομάδα της διεθνούς μουσικής κοινότητας "Μουσικό Χωριό" με έδρα την Ελλάδα, διοργάνωσε το πρώτο Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος στο χωριό του Κάτω Δρυ, στην επαρχία Λάρνακας.

Με εννέα εργαστήρια για μουσική και θέατρο, η διοργάνωση ήταν επιτυχής στο να δημιουργήσει ένα πανέμορφο κλίμα μέσα στο χωριό και να δώσει μια νέα σημασία και μορφή στην καλλιτεχνική εκπαίδευση.

Θα θέλαμε να ευχαριστήσουμε το Μιχάλη Καλοπαίδη για το γύρισμα και την σκηνοθεσία αυτού του ντοκιμαντέρ, την Zedem Media , τις Πολιτιστικές Υπηρεσείες του Υπουργείου Παιδείας και Πολιτισμού, το Κέντρο Μουσικής Πληροφόρησης Κύπρου, αλλά και το Κοινοτικό Συμβούλιο και τους κατοίκους του Κάτω Δρυ για την πολύτιμη και συνεχή βοήθεια και στήριξη.

Περισσότερο όμως θα θέλαμε να ευχαριστήσουμε όλους τους εισηγητές, εθελοντές και σπουδαστές μας, αφού χωρίς αυτούς αυτή η βδομάδα δεν θα ήταν η ίδια.

Ορίστε μια μικρή γεύση της προηγούμενης χρονιάς, θα τα πούμε ξανά τον Ιούλη του 2015. Όλες οι πληροφορίες για το Μουσικό Χωριό Φέγγαρος 2015 εδώ .

Λουβάνα

Lefkosia Loop Festival 2015

Sat, 10 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT

For the fourth consecutive year, Louvana Records is organising Lefkosia Loop Festival , which this year is hosting nine music groups and one contemporary dance act. The artists come from Cyprus, Greece and Italy. For the first time the festival is collaborating with Klub d , where more perrformances are going to take place, while the main part of the festival is going to take place for the first time at Egomio Cultural Center , in Egomi.

Note that with the 2-day festival ticket, entry at the Klubd event will be free.

Info:

10-11 January 2015
Egomio Cultural Center (Neas Egomis 8) / Klubd (Ammochostou 36)
Doors: 19:30
More info: 7000 7610

Tickets: €17 two days (free entrance Klubd - January 10th) / €12 one day

Sponsors: Ministry of Education and Culture, studio eleven63, Prozak Kafenio, Crepaland
Supporters: Klubd, Egomio Cultural Center , Frederick Institute of Technology (Audio Visual Communication)
Communication Sponsors: Parathryo, Street Art Radio

Presale: Prozak Kafenio, Crepaland Engomi, Crepaland Aglantzia, Crepaland Lakatamia (begins Monday, December 22nd)

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ARTISTS DESCRIPTION:

Sender Flos (ITA)

Sender & Flos the collaboration between Stefano Moretti (aka Sender) and Flos the duo comprising of Stefano Castagna and Luca Formentini .

The result is a very emotionally rich, immersive, yet dynamic sound made possible by their diverse approach to music composition.

While Sender is using analog synths and drum machines, Flos are working on self made sound sources, conventional instruments and different ways of processing sounds.

A collaboration album of Sender & Flos is expected to be released at the beginning of 2015.

Sancho 003 ( GR )

It’s the, now very well known and loved from the Cypriot music fans, duet of Fotis Siotas (violin, viola, synth, voice) and Kostas Pantelis (guitars). They compose and perform music based on two instruments and two loop stations synced manually, producing a very unique musical result, which has established them as pioneers in the style of synthesis using the live looping technique.

Video

erma [ballast] (GR)

Choreography, Performance: Athanasia Kanellopoulou
Concept, music/sound composition, performance: Thimios Atzakas

Video, Set Design, light design: Alexandros Seitaridis

The piece deals with the fragmentation of the "self" and the cracks that have opened in the physical and spiritual unity of consciousness.

'Erma' means the ballast mass of hardware, rocks and other materials, to provide draft hulls of boats, offsetting the uneven parts of the vessel hull and ensuring the stability and robust navigation. The two characters of this show navigate in their own sea, through continuous emergence and diving to their personal ballast, acting and reacting to their memory.

The spiritual concerns, the urge, the longing for freedom, the desire for fulfillment, the unsatisfied soul, are transformed into sound and lead constantly in agony for a refund on the indissoluble unity.

All this, with vehicle the human body, in conjunction with the live musical performance through a kaleidoscopic sound installation.

Τrailer

Noizedelic Folk (GR)
solo live looping session by Stamatis Fousekis

"Noizedelic folk" is a human-technological solo project that depends on groove, melodic lines, psychedelia and digital noise. A multicellular organism with double bass, guitar and laptop as its vital organs.

Video

Sometake ( CY )

The music of Some Take is influenced by the electronic, post rock and cinematic genres. Using synthesizers, samplers, loop station and drum kit, they try to create sonic scapes using and electronic and organic sounds. The band members are Markos Ioannou (drums), Yiorgos Kleanthous (keys) and Yiorgos Constantinou (sampling).

Spen - D ( GR )

Giannis Karathanos is a fourth year music student at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has performed and recorded with various bands and artists in the city, a process which lead him to the creation of project "Spen-D". At Lefkosia Loop Festival he will be presenting original compositions based on guitar loops and effect pedals. In "Spen-D", his loops mainly result from the superimposition of rhythmic and melodic patterns, whose nature as independent elements transforms when they are combined with one another.

Stylistically, his music is a mixture of the different musical influences he has had over the years.

Παναγιώτης Μηνά [pan] (CY)
::|blastic pullets|:: an album in progress

Pan has been experimenting with non-musical techniques such as chanting phrases of the zeitgeist and lying to the audience since 1995. With his avant-punk band 'spoko' he used a megaphone to recite the indications of antidepressants on live television while an out of tune / out of sync guitar riff was uttering. At a warehouse ('konteiner') he was improvise-typing and projecting it on a wall, as the heavily distorted drone sounds from 5 speakers were playing to an audience with ear plugs.

He recently produced a diy hip hop music video which he presented in Belgrade and composed music for the choreography piece "orfeas" performed at 'park in progress Nicosia'.

Pan uses an array of physical and electronic instruments such as guitars, sequencers and synthesizers to assemble samples, frequencies and singing, into 'songs'.

www.paaaan.com

The Noise of Making (CY)
by Giorgos Sisamos
with Sahand & Navid Gholipour and special guest Alkis Agathocleous

A performance based on the audio-visually interesting act of constructing, using no visuals (as projections or video) and no conventional instruments, only the organic sounds produced by the actions happening on stage.

The group is looping and sampling the sounds of the two “workers” constructing a real functional object, as if they were in their workshop. With their tools as instruments they unveil the magnificent sounds hidden behind the materials and tools they use (metal, plastic or wood) covering a wide pallet of the sonar spectrum. Drill machines, sand papers, hammers, cutters and grinders, circular saw blades, stable guns, orchestrated through looping along with the birth of an object.

::Klubd hosts::

-Δωρεάν είσοδος με το εισιτήριο του φεστιβάλ-

Plain History

Plain History is a unique music project which explores sound with imagination, using analogue synthesizers, drum machine, bass and effects and loop stations. The core of the group consists of Chris & Terry and MouseFace , with Demetris Yiasemides as a frequent collaborator on woodwinds. They have appeared in many festivals like Fengaros, Lefkosia Loop Festival, Xarkis, Animafest gaining amazing reviews. Currently they are recording their first single to be released early in 2015.

For the performance at Klubd they will focus on the more dance – techno side of their music

Janis Plasmatik

Janis is one of the main DJs at the only electronic dance music club in Lefkosia, Klubd, as well as its artistic director. He has played alongside big names of the house/techno scene like Sammy Dee, Sonja Moonear, Dandy Jack, Praslea and more recently Petre Inspirescu and Rhadoo, to name a few. His musical influences as well as his selections derive from the minimal side of underground house and deep techno.

------------

Programme/ Line up :

Saturday 10 January:

19:30 doors
20:00 erma [ ballast ] Athanasia Kanellopoulou, Thimios Atzakas (GR)
21:00 Panayiotis Mina [pan] (CY)
21:45 Noizedelic Folk (GR)
22:30 Sender-Flos (ITA)

:::Klubd hosts :::

00:00 Plain History (CY)
01:00 Janis Plasmatik (CY)

Sunday 11 January:

19:30 doors
20:15 The Noise of Making (CY)
20:45 Spen-D (GR)
21:30 Sometake (CY)
22:30 Sancho 003 (GR)

Contemporary Series II

Thu, 13 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Louvana's Contemporary Series II presents the brand new piece of the award winning Cypriot composer Andys Skordis

Louvana's Contemporary Series II presents the brand new piece of the award winning Cypriot composer Andys Skordis: "Ou...Patsia...Ra" an opera in Cypriot.

As a part of the "2nd Contemporary Series", Louvana Diskoi presents the first worldwide performance of the brand new piece by Cypriot composer Andys Skordis, "Ou...Patsia...Ra".

The piece is an opera in the Cypriot dialect, where a sculptress falls in love with on of her sculptures, which is, something that acquires form according to her own art and inspiration. " "Ou...Patsia...Ra", which means "ritual" in the Balinese dialect, places us inside the metal journey of the sculptress, in a world where her sculptures is alive.

The piece does not intend to tie the listeners down on a chair, but to include them in this "ritual". Visuals and electronic elements will enhance the music that Andys Skordis composed and will be conducting, thus transferring the enchantment of classical music in our day to day lives. This is not just a concert but an interesting audiovisual experience, intense and perhaps unfamiliar.

Personnel:
Andys Skordis: Composer / Maestro / Electronics
Elli Aloneftou: Soprano
Sophie Fertokaki: Soprano
Demetris Yiasemides: Flute / Trombone
Charis Constantinou: Clarinet
Nicolas Melis: Keyboard
Doros Zisimos: Cello
Nicolas Tryphonos Contrabass
Andreas Trachonitis: Percussion
Stefanos Meletiou: Percussion
Andreas Petrou: Visuals
Aggeliki Koutsodimitropoulou: Visuals
Mikaela Tsangari: Sound Engineer / Sound Design
Andys Skordis: Text (libretto)
Sofronis Sofroniou: Text Editing

Shows: 13, 14, 15 and 16 of November 2014, Engomio, Nicosia
Starting time: 20:30
Tickets: 15 euros

Sponsors: Ministry of Culture and Education, Youth Board Cyprus, Ethnikon Odeon Cyprus, Interton Music Management, eleven63 Studio, Crepaland, Engomio Cultural Centre

Media Spnsor: Parathyro
Ticket Presale: Prozak Kafeneio, Crepaland Engomi, Crepaland Aglantzia και Crepaland Lakatamia.

Πληροφορίες στο 70007610

Composer's Bio:

Andys Skordis was born in Nicosia in 1983. He's been involved with music from a very young age, playing electric guitar and composing music in the style of rock for his bands "Offtone Thieves" and "SpiritS".

During his military service, he was a member of the military band playing euphonium and guitar. After his service ended he followed jazz guitar lessons at the University of Bridgeport, where he earned a scholarship. In 2004 he began his studies at Berklee College of Music. He graduated in 2007 with a Magna Cum Laude in Composition, and Music for Film.

In 2008 he moved to Amsterdam, where he enrolled at the Amsterdam Conservatorium for post-graduate studies in composition with Richard Ayers and studies in Carnatic music (South-Indian music) with Rafael Reina. In November 2011 he got his Masters in composition with Richard Ayres and Wim Hendrickx, and in June 2012 he will be completing his 4-year studies in Carnatic Music.

His music has been performed in Europe and the United States by various orchestral ensembles like Nieuw Ensemble, Orkest de Ereprijs, Mousique Nouvelles, Kalistos Chamber Orchestra, Triple Helix, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra and others.

Andys is sponsored by WWIK (Dutch Government), the Leventis Foundation and the Nicholas Economou Foundation. His compositions have earned various awards, for instance the second place in the composition competition for the 50th Birthday of the Cypriot Republic, the selected composition at the "Young Composers Meeting 2011 - Apeldoorn", Best Music Film - CIFF 2007 and others.

Besides composing, Andys plays percussion with the band "PAYAZEN!" that regularly tours Europe and Asia, and is a member of the Javanese Gamelan Ensemble "Jumat Siang".

Fengaros Festival 2014

Fri, 01 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMT

August 1-2-3 | Kato Drys

Fengaros Music Festival returns for a fourth year in a row, establishing itself as one of the most important events of the cypriot summer agenda.

This year's organisation is bigger than ever, and is moving to a new venue in the village of Kato Drys in the Larnaca district, which will host more than 25 acts in its traditional streets, village squares and school from the 1st until the 3rd of August 2014 . The participation of notable local and international acts will compile a rich and diverse line up, which, combined, with the natural beauty of the space, creates a unique cultural proposal, signed by Louvana Diskoi.

Most noticable in this year's line up are the acts of Fivos Delivorias, Xylouris White and Chimerinoi Kolimvites , as well as the rebetico group Pliri Ndaksi who will travel from Thessaloniki with the young rockers Manneken Pis . Flights from Sweden will bring us Two Camels and the River and the folky Ylva Ceder , while there is a huge roster of local bands, such as The Low Spark , The Zilla Project , Pavlina Konstantopoulou and Pavlos Michaelides , Fuzz Bus with Vasiliki Anastasiou, Delirium Elephants and the beloved project Paramythies , among others.

What makes this year's festival even more special is the organisation of Fengaros Music Village on the week leading up to Fengaros Music Festival . Nine workshops for music and theatre will start on the 27th of July and end on the 1st of August, turning the village into a festive music school, setting the grounds for the 3-day celebration that will be Fengaros Music Festival .

Ticket price is €25 for the entire festival and €15 for single day tickets.

For more information: 70007610

Presale will begin on the 10th of June in these spots:

Nicosia: Crepaland 22 261 000, Prozak Kafeneio 22 104244, Gatapou 22667741, Draw Collective 22 661040

Limassol: Kafeneio Chouzouri 99451996 , LMS Leons Music Store 25336079 , Sousami 99846645

Larnaca: Tria Poulakia Kathontan 24255880

Paphos: Vintage Art House 26101394

Paralimni: "San... stou Psirri" Tavern 23828777

Sponsors: Ministry of Culture and Education, Cyprus Youth Organisation, Kato Drys Municipal Council, Kato Drys Youth Center

Communication Sponsor: City Free Press

Fengaros Music Village 2014

Sun, 27 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMT

27.7.2014 - 1.8.2014| Kato Drys, Cyprus

Louvana Records is organising the first Fengaros Music Village in Cyprus, in collaboration with Music Village in Greece, which takes place in Pilion* every summer for the past eight years. With nine different workshops for music and theatre, and with instructors from Cyprus, Greece and England, this event will attempt to give a different approach to artistic learning.
The workshops will take place in the beautiful setting of Kato Drys village. They will run on a daily basis, divided into two sessions, morning and afternoon. Following the ending of all workshops every day, there will be free concerts by the Village's instructors and local bands, as well as performances by the Fengaros Music Village students.

The organisation's goals are:

- To offer educational units in the form of symbiotic masterclasses, which will be instructed by artists/musicians of international calibre in the area of contemporary or historical performance and creation. The themed sections of each workshop will function integrally and will intend to approach musical art broadly, yet effectively, whilst putting particular emphasis on original and unconventional areas that have not yet been integrated into the Cypriot educational system.

- The pre-scheduled and spontaneous performances of musical ideas and the productive exchange of ideas and projects among artists of diverse nationalities.

* The Music Village is one of the largest musical communities in Europe. It was founded in 2006 by musicians Thymios Atzakas, Kostas Makrygiannakis and Giorgos-Emmanuel Lazarides. It has been taking place every August for the past eight years in the village of Ayios Lavrentios, in Pilion, Greece.

Participation Fee: €170

GIORGOS XYLOURIS – Introduction to Cretan music

The well-known lute player-performer Giorgos Xylouris (Psarogiorgis) will present a workshop of traditional Cretan music, where he will teach melodies, tunes, improvisation, dances (syrtos, maleviziotis, pentozalis, kontylies), as well as contemporary trends of this incredibly agile instrument. This workshop is intended for players and lovers of Cretan music, who wish to experience a new approach to this musical tradition, taught first-hand by one of its most respected and active members.

Biography

Anogeia, a historic village in the mountains Psiloritis, in the region of Rethymno where the villagers (most of which farmers) have a great sense of humor and love music between friends. This is the sort of environment that Yiorgos Xylouris grew up in, an offspring of the great music family of Xylouris. From an early age he started playing the lute, which he learned in the traditional way, meaning listening to the old musicians of Crete.

His father Antonis Xylouris (Psarantonis) was a key figure in the shaping up of his musical personality, next to which he was a student for many years. At the same time Yiorgos Xylouris researched the musical specificities of the other areas of Crete and as many say he is one of the few folk musicians of the island who does them justice with his lute as well as his vocal performances. Rhythmic precision, comprehensible development of melody and emotional expression are the main characteristics of his playing. He plays out of feeling and not out of obligation.

When he was 25 years old he left for Australia to play at a musical festival and he stayed for 8 years. He came in touch with musicians of different traditions and styles of music, he created the groups “Antipodes”, «Χylouris ensemble» and he records his first inspirations. Since then he has been a part of various music productions and he has inspired the new folk musicians of Crete with his style. He has travelled all over the world, as a guest of every Greek community, and he has participated in a great deal of festivals and traditional music seminars. In Greece he is collaborating with great musicians, traditional and not like Ross Daly, Achilleas Persides, Stelios Petrakis and others. He is one of the few who Cretan who is still passing down the knowledge aurally. Yiorgos Xylours is considered today one of the most important lute players of Crete, but also a musician who is capable of collaborating creatively with musicians from other music genres.

DAVE DE ROSE – Drumming and Beyond

Dave De Rose (Mark Ronson, Moloko, Jamie Cullum, Mulatu Astatke) shares his extensive experiences as a professional drummer and his thirty year musical evolution within a five day workshop aimed primarily at drummers from beginner to pro levels, but also suitable for any instrumentalist looking to strengthen and broaden their rhythmic sense, production techniques, musical approaches and inside knowledge of the music business.

Dave explains and demonstrates his approach to music development involving the participants in hands-on practical sessions, as well as in-mind, meditative group exercises. Breaking down the methods of assimilation that have led him to personalise and solidify his own style and unique musical identity within a broad spectrum of styles including: African rhythms, Funk, Soul, Dance, Rock, Jazz and Hip-Hop/Loop drumming.

In addition to this Dave shares his experiences of working with internationally renowned artists both live and in the studio, life on tour, on and off stage, the music business and the human relations side of life for the jobbing musician, in order to equip the participants with healthy responses to the infinite variety of scenarios the industry can present.

Biography :

Drummer, producer, recording and mixing engineer, born and raised in a music house in Rome, Italy, Dave's aural senses were delighted by some of the most infectious music on the planet from Scarlatti, to Miles Davies, to Stevie Wonder and anything in between. After establishing an early relationship with the piano and lots of singing, he turned to drumming. Binding him in to a love that has carried him through 20 years of passionate music development, and has blessed him with the chance to work on an international scale with many wonderful artists such as Bastille, Mark Ronson & The Business Intl, Moloko, Mulatu Astatke, Jamie Cullum, Corinne Bailey Rae, Rokia Traore, Roisin Murphy, Beth Orton, Scroobius Pip, Shri, Andreya Triana, Mor Karbasi, Reel People, Kaidi Tatham, Silhouette Brown, Mark De Clive Lowe, Soundspecies, Carl Orr, Reggie Washington & Rufus Reid. While also writing, producing, performing, recording, mixing and engineering five of his own records, as well being a core member of two special London brewed projects: Electric Jalaba & Flying Ibex.

ANDYS SKORDIS - Takedimi -Tadighinaton - Take

Takedimi-Tadighinaton-Take, is a workshop in both theory and practice, dedicated to the techniques and concepts of Carnatic music (South Indian Classical Music) and their application to current musical styles such as Contemporary Classical, Jazz, Traditional, Progressive Rock and many more genres. These workshops will be entirely focused on rhythm. Travelling through the world of polyrhythms and polypulses that Carnatic Music is enriched by, we will study on how we can precisely execute them, approach them and most importantly conceive them.

These workshops are interesting and extremely helpful for a vast range of artists. From highly skilled musicians, to amateur musicians, dancers, or anyone else who likes rhythm and likes to put some movement in their life!

Biography :

Andys Skordis, was born in Lefkosia, Cyprus in 1983. He liked music from a child, but didn’t really enjoy learning it till the moment he started playing electric guitar and composing songs for his bands “Off Tone Thieves” and “Spirits”. He had to serve the army when he was 18, but was lucky enough to join the military band in Cyprus, playing euphonium.

At the age of twenty he left Cyprus and went to the USA to study jazz guitar, but soon he switched to composition and film scoring, studying with great teachers as Vuk Kulenovic and Tibor Pusztai at Berklee College of Music, and graduated in 2007.

He the began his journey back home with a long stop in Amsterdam, where he was fortunate enough to have more great teachers like Richard Ayres and Wim Hendrickx, with whom he studied composition gaining his master’s degree in 2011. There he also studied Carnatic music with Rafael Reina for four years.

So far he has been the recipient of various scholarships including WWIK artist’s subsidy from Kunstenaars & Co (NL), FondsPodiumKunsten (NL), A.G. Leventis Foundation Music Scolarship (FR/CY), Darmasiswa (IN), and Nikolas Economou Foundation Music Scolarship (CY). He has also been awarded the BUMA Toonzetters Prize 2012 (one of the highest composition prizes in The Netherlands) the 1st and 2nd place in competitions for Symphony orchestra held by the Cyprus Ministry of Culture and Education in 2012 and 2010, as well as being nominated for the Gaudeamus Prize 2012 and De Ereprijs 2011.

He composes music for acoustic instruments, but is also a member and a founder of the free improvisation collective “Brain Masturbation”. He plays Javanese and Balinese Gamelan music. At the moment he is living in Bali – Indonesia, where he is studying Balinese Gamelan at ISI Denpasar.

ATHΕNA KASIOU - Starting from the text (Open Arts)

Through the use of practical methods and our imagination we will approach the theatrical scripts that intimidate us the most, and dare to tackle them in a modern manner. We will focus on the information that a text gives us about its world, its characters, its circumstances, its intentions, its main themes and facts e.t.c. and through exercises we will bring specific scenes into life. This way, a lot of emphasis will be put on what makes a scene immediate and spontaneous.

This workshop is intended for actors, directors, writers, and at the same time individuals that have a relationship, or want to have a relationship with the theatrical world. If you wish to attend, please write a paragraph explaining why you would like to take part in this workshop, as well as a script/play/narrative that you would be interested to explore and work on with the workshop’s coordinator.

Biography :

Athena is the founding member the Open Arts theatre group. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emerson College in Boston (BA), and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Middlesex in London, she studied at the Gitis Academy in Moscow and the Indonesian Art Institute in Bali. She also took part in Lincoln Center Theatre’s Director’s Lab in New York and in workshops in Film Direction coordinated by Katie Mitchell and Ian Rickson. Her first collaboration with THOK was with the organisation’s first site-specific production, «Diabolad» by Michael Bulgakov, later collaborating with painter Carl Krull in «In Two Minds» (THOK). She also co-directed the play «O Karagkiozis Ektos» which toured in Cyprus, Greece, Prague and at OPEN ARTS’ Arcola Theatre. With the OPEN ARTS team she presented the play «A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream» in an open field in Strovolos. In 2012 she presented Anton Chekhov’s «The Cherry Orchard», in an abandoned amusement park in Egkomi, and ended the Summer of 2013 with the presentation of Samuel Becket’s «Rough for Theatre I» at Fengaros Music Festival in Lofou.

ANDREAS PANTELI - Improvisational freedom

The workshop is designed for improvisers of all levels, instruments and styles of music. The problems all improvisers face are common. For this reason we are not limited to one specific style of music, but instead we concentrate on the creative process that allows the improviser to express himself with greater consistency, ease and freedom. Topics that the workshop will deal with: the psychological state that allows for improvisation, correct and incorrect habits of practicing, basic and advanced harmony, melodic consistency and development, rhythm, expression and emotion. We play, discuss basic concepts, locate the problem and clear it up, in way that we guide the improviser on to the next level.

Biography :

Andreas is a professional jazz pianist and composer, graduate of Codarts Rotterdam Conservatorium and the Royal Conservatory of Den Haag. He has taken part in numerous projects around Europe with styles ranging from traditional jazz to modern day jazz, soul and groove music. He is currently based in Cyprus, where he performs with several ensembles, and teaches piano and improvisation.

EMMANUEL VOURAKIS – The electric guitarist’s “package”

This music lab aims at covering all basic components that form a successful career of an electric guitar player. Topics covered will include the electric guitar as an instrument, the sound components that form the sound chain (parts, effects, cables, amps), the guitarist’s role within different musical enviroments and ensembles, what sets apart an artist from a session player as well as the differences between live and studio performance, guitar playing in general with different techniques required for different styles, and in conclusion, within the 5 days of its duration, Emmanuel, through the experience gained from his 25 year long career span, will draw the description of the “package” required to form a today’s professional guitarist’s complete profile.

Biography :

Emmanuel has been fronting the “Zilla Project” for the past 5 years as his main musical outlet. A Berklee College οf Music Alumnus. Also a former member of BluesWire – one of the most established blues bands in Europe – based in Greece. He is the winner of the only “B.B. King Blues guitar competition”, held in Greece in March 1998. Also awarded with the title Blues Guitarist of the year at Berklee College of Music for the year 2004-5. He has been numerous national TV appearances and shows, in Greece, USA, Cyprus and Europe, a slew of recordings and concerts for many diverse artists in many styles of music with a career that spans over 20 years.

VASILIKI ANASTASIOU - The power of your voice. Songs of our neighborhood and improvisations.

Α vocal workshop that will explore the abilities of the human voice through an educational journey, with songs from neighboring countries and beyond. The lessons will be taught in a group circle, exploring and developing a wide repertoire through interactive learning. This workshop is intended for anyone who wishes to improve and develop his/her vocal abilities through group-work, regardless of their profession or musical background.

Biography :

Vasiliki Anastasiou is the creator and vocalist of The Amalgamation Project, an ethnic-jazz project that brings jazz and traditional musicians on the same platform. She graduated from London College of Music from where she received the title Master in Music Performance (vocals) with distinction. She has performed all over the world with various bands and projects.

Her performances include among others Hong Kong (for the premiere of the film Axis of Light), Qatara Art centre in Doha for an Educational concert, 6th and 7th International River Film Festival in Padova/Italy. In United Kingdom at the Europe House, Shepherds Bush Empire, 2012 May Ball, Peterhouse Theatre in Cambridge, Hollywell Music Room in Oxford, at the British Museum also at the 30th ISME World Conference on Music Education that took place at Megaro Mousikis (Thessaloniki, Greece)

KOSTAS MAKRYGIANNAKIS - GUITAR WIRED..! Workshop for the classical and acoustic guitar

- What is the relationship between a song with guitar accompaniment written in the 19th century by Fernando Sor with “Under the bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers?

- How can we perform a masterpiece like Strawberry fields forever by the Beatles, without the song losing its power?

The workshop aims to familiarise the musician-guitarist with the procedure of music making. The understanding of the ‘geography’ of the fret board, acoustic exercises, aesthetic approaches, exchanging opinions, one on one lessons and a lot of group playing will be used as tools. Especially, the following will be studied and discussed:

Basic and specific sound production techniques for the guitar.
Repertoire
Part – lead sheet making
Techniques and aesthetic: a love story
Covers and re-arrangements: The original creation and re-arrangement on the guitar from the 19th century till today.

For all levels!

Biography :

Kostas studied music (Thessaloniki-Greece, Synchronon Conservatoire , London-UK, Trinity College of Music ) and economics (Thessaloniki, AUTH ). He also attended several masterclasses and workshops with acclaimed musicians such as Leo Brouwer , David Russel, Manuel BarruecoandCarlo Domeniconiamong others. He has been distinguished in international competitions as prize-winner or finalist.

Since 1997 he has widely performed in venues and festivals in Greece, UK, Germany, Denmark, Romania, Cyprus and Czech Republic. His broad area of interests includes chamber music, new music for guitar, historically based performance as well as improvisation, pop music, conceptual music and composition. He has premiered a number of new works for solo guitar as well as for chamber ensembles, promoting contemporary music in Greece and abroad. He has broadcasted for Greek State Radio and Television, BBC, EBU and has been engaged in several album recordings. His performances have received great reviews from the international press such as Classical Guitar Magazine (UK), Neue Presse (Germany) and from Greek newspapers and magazines.

Kostas is the artistic director of Guitar Plus Festival in Thessaloniki, the only Greek festival entirely focused on chamber guitar music from Renaissance to the present day. He is also member of the organisation team of Music Village Festival, ( www.music-village.gr ) together with Thimios Atzakas and George –Emmanuel Lazaridis, one of the most important cultural societies in Greece, which brings together artists from all over the world in the context of performing, education and cultural cross-breeding.

PAVLOS MICHAELIDES - Violin workshop

The subject of this workshop revolves around those elements that contribute to the approach of the traditional violin and its rich repertoire. It’s an introduction to the violin’s art and techniques, its handling, style and aesthetics within the repertoire that is going to be taught during the seminar.

More specifically, there will be analysis of melodic phrases, stylistic and aesthetic development, technical approaches and ways of practicing. All these will be based on a modal repertoire that is initiated from the musical traditions of Minor Asia, the Aegean and Cyprus. There will be a chapter covering specific approaches and notation to score reading.

The seminar targets beginner to advanced level students, where depending on attendance levels, students may be divided into sections. Note that, although the content will primarily focus on violin players, the seminar will be open to anyone interested.

Audio material and scores will be given to participants upon registration.

Biography :

Pavlos Michaelides was born in Nicosia. During his studies he was a member and rotating concertmaster of the Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestra of the University of Arizona, a member of the Bay Area Classical Harmonies (California) and the chamber music orchestra "Uindy BIOS" (Athens). His studies include the violin approach to the eastern tropical music techniques with the violin virtuoso and distinguished professor Yiannis Zevgolis, along with seminars and music workshops with Kyriakos Petras , George Psaltis , Pericles Papapetropoulos and Naseem Dakwar (Arabic style). He holds the LRSM diploma (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music, Violin Performance - Prof. Υ. Zevgolis) and BA degree in Music Performance (Prof. V. Halapsis). During his studies he also acquired the degrees of BSc in MIS and MBA, Finance.

His collaborations consist of classical, folk, rock and world music ensembles with which he travelled and performed in important cultural venues in several countries such as Cyprus, Israel, Greece, Italy, France, England, Canada, USA and Mexico. With the band "Iristhoenparodo" they represented Greece in the 8th European Jazz Festival (Athens 2008) and he has cooperated in composing and orchestrating its last album ‘istrilasia’ (El Capitan 2010).

He is one of the key members and recording artist for the Cypriot singer and composer Lefteris Moumtzis and his band «J. Kriste, Master of Disguise».

Kato Drys, Larnaca District

27 of July - 1st of August

Info / Registration / Accommodation:
info@louvana.com.cy - (+357) 99735225 (Mon. - Frid. 9am - 6pm)

J. Kriste, Master of Disguise - Live at the Library

Sun, 19 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

J. Kriste, Master of Disguise is a five-member psychedelic/progressive rock group from the island of Cyprus, created by musician and multi-instrumentalist Lefteris Moumdjis . They have so far released three albums, “ This Is The Alternative ” (2008), “ Girls, Ghosts and Gods ” (2009) and “ The Age of Now ” released in December 2012 by the indie-record label Louvana Records . The band’s latest line up consists of: Lefteris Moumdjis on vocals and guitars, Pavlos Michaelides on violin, Mario Michael on bass, Andreas Trachonitis on drums and Mikaela Tsangari on keys, guitar, percussion and backing vocals.

Their most recent undertaking was the release of J. Kriste, Master of Disguise – Live at the Library , which is the recording/shooting of a live concert that took place in the Cypriot National Library in November 2013. The videos are directed by Zedem Media ’s Michalis Kalopedis in cooperation with Athena Kasiou, who managed the artistic direction, and the recording/mixing of the concert was done at studio eleven63 by Andreas Trachonitis. A video, out of a total of five, will be uploaded on YouTube by Louvana Records every two days starting on Sunday the 19th of January, ending with the release of the entire concert on Louvana’s vimeo channel. Two of the videos have already been released, please follow the links below:

Lefkosia Loop Festival 2014

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

For the third consecutive year, on the first days of January, a unique festival will take place in Lefkosia. This year’s two day affair is getting richer with the addition of dance performances and video collaborations of visual artists and looping musicians.

WhereHaus 612 in Palouriotissa, is the venue that is hosting this year’s Loop Festival on the 3rd and 4th of January 2014. This year the festival is a co-production of Louvana Records with the Cyprus Music Information Center, under the umbrella of the European programme, Minstrel Project .

Info:

Λευκωσία Loop Festival | January 3&4 2014
LefkosiaLoopFestival.com | Info: 7000 7610
WhereHaus 612, Michali Kousoulides 5, 1041 Pallouriotissa

Tickets: €15 Both Days/€10 Single Day | Presale (Starting December 12th)

Lefkosia : Crepaland 22261000 | Gatapou 22667741 | Πρόζακ. Καφενείο - 22104244
Limassol : Kafenio Xouzouri 99451996
Larnaka : Tria Poulakia Kathontan 24255880
Paphos : Vintage Art House 26101394
Paralimni: Taverna "San Stou.. Psirri" 23828777

Sponsors: Ministry of Education and Culture , MINSTREL Project
Supporters: Youth Board Of Cyprus, Zedem Media, eleven63,UCY Cultural Centre
Communication Sponsors: UCY Voice, cyprusnews.eu

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We proudly announce the artists that are playing at this year's festival:

MC Xander (UK)
London's MC Xander is a pioneer of human beatbox, making uplifting dub infused post-hip-hop music using only his voice and a loop pedal. Xander’s music however transcends the bounds of the beatbox artform, out of techniques and tricks into a sound with emotional and musical depth. With lyrics that explore themes such as spirituality, society and existentialism in the 21st century, like something of a beatbox street-preacher, Xander takes us from big vocal vibrations to poetic reflections on life. With viral hits attracting almost four million views, and his new album Songs of Agnosis out in the new year, it looks like 2014 will see Xander winning even more people over.

NT Wave (Croatia)
Croatian guitar player and producer Valent Samardžija a.k.a. for his project NT Wave uses his instrument in unconventional ways to produce sound. With unusually connected pedals and devices set in his shoes, the performer makes music that overflows from open wide stereo ambientals to the narrow defined dance grooves with mantric elements. The sound results are not predictable, so with a help of good audience, as NT says, the concert sometimes turns into techno party.

Biruta Ozoliņa & DJ Monsta (Latvia)
The collaboration between Biruta Ozoliņa (voice, kokle) and DJ Monsta (Uldis Cīrulis) (scratch, sampler, etc.) began in 2010. Their atmospheric music is rooted in the Latvian folklore, and their experience allows the folk-songs to be interpreted in a new way and to gain new colours. 2013 saw the release of their debut album “I Sowed the Sun” (Sauli sēju). It includes meditative and peaceful melodies form Kurzeme and Latgale regions. “Folk songs are like a free and beautiful bird which some people wish to put in a cage,” Biruta explains. “We are not trying to trim its wings. Instead, we look for a language which we all have in common and understand.” They are joined by Toms Poišs (double-bass), and Mikus Čavarts (drums), live and on the record.

“On lacrimae” (GR)
Kostas Makrygiannakis – electric guitar, loops
Theofilos Soteriades - alto & baritone sax

The two musicians started working on this music in 2011. The project on lacrimae is based on the famous melody by John Dowland, that was written in 1596, entitled “lacrimae pavane”, as well as the piece “a circle of tears” by the Canadian composer and guitarist Ray Sealey, composed in 1979. The first piece was so successful that its composer used it in many different variations, in order to please the listeners and the needs of the musicians playing it: so we find in the forms of instrumental ensemble, solo instrument, and love song. On the second piece, Sealy takes the listener to a journey through seven short songs about the tears of joy, anger, love, war, creation, death and life. On lacrimae “grovels” between introversion and noise and flirts suggestively with kitsch, pop and improvisation. It will be released as a record in December 2013 on Dissonance records.

Awakened (GR)
Awakened is Dimitris Chatzizisis, a third year music student at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has been active in the city’s music scene in the last couple of years and recently he has started the project Awakened. At the festival he will be presenting original compositions for violin, guitar and voice using a loop station and various effects. His music is a melting pot of different musical styles and a simultaneous approach of the acoustic sound in an electronic context.

Vasiliki Anastasiou (CY)
Born in Cyprus, Vasiliki Anastasiou studied contemporary singing and worked in London for more than seven years. She visited many countries including Italy, France, Turkey, Greece, Brasil, Hong Kong, Qatar, gathering short singing stories... her struggle, to finally glue together the different styles she loves, created The Amalgamation Project, a platform that mixes short singing stories in different languages with traditional and jazz sounds. Expect a vocal version of the project especially tailored for this Loop Festival.

Maria-Christina and the 7 pedals (UK)
Maria-Christina is an artist based in London. She won first prize in the National Harp Competition in Wales, and has recorded in the legendary BBC Maida Vale Sessions.The music of Maria-Christina & the 7 Pedals generally moves away from structure and form and the conventional way of playing the harp, pushing it to the fields of bass and guitar technique. The harp plugs in, connects to a looper, a wah-wah and a few other pedals, and plays Maria-Christina’s compositions. Everything is achieved using bows and inventive techniques, which strive to alter the romantic image the harp carries and give it a more modern feel. Presenting the modern potential of this other-wise classical instrument is also the subject of her undergoing thesis at London’s Trinity Laban University.

Kalakatsounas (CY)
Kalakatsounas has been involved with all kinds of different bands playing guitar, from an early age. He was always into alternate tunings and improvisation and during his time in the army and later on as a student at The Athens School of Fine Arts (where he still studies) his experimentations began to evolve into songs. His influences range from traditional to electronic music, and everything in between including small sounds , cracks e.t.c. The lyrics are mainly in Cypriot and some in English. The pieces are built by looping guitars, using various effects and using the guitar as percussion.

Jannis Plsamatik (CY) [DJ set]
Jannis used to be simply a listener. With the aid of the internet and his travels he discovered music that he strongly felt like sharing with other people. He started DJing in various bars in Lefkosia, until he got his break to play at the town’s one and only club, Klubd. Today, he is a resident deejay of the club, as well as the artistic director. He tries not to limit himself in his sets. Deep organic house and fussy house are some of the things you could expect to hear from him, or not.

Microseq (CY) [DJ set]
andelis Diamantides has been active at the intersection of electronic “art” music (academic/non-academic), “new” music and “pop” electronic music; reinvented media of electronic music production and redefined aesthetics as to approach a broader audience to communicate an artistic message talking the language of “pop” culture while using cutting-edge techniques for music composition and performance. This tendency is a manifestation of a post-digital (music) culture. His debut album "Green" was released by Bigo & Twigetti label in September 2011 and re-released, some months later, by Linn Records. The success of this album is now following a series of interesting collaborations with the visual artist Emmanuel Flores Elias, animator Arturo Castro and choreographer Lia Haraki.

Tune in(CY)
A solo performance by Lia Haraki with music and sound design by Pandelis Diamantides

The solo ‘Tune In’ is a study on how motion can bring emotion and how by witnessing this process one can reach a new state of being. The tool used in this 30’ movement journey is repetition that aims at stimulating a kinesthetic response. The solo was presented in 12 European festivals and was one of the works which represented Cyprus at the Venice Biennale for visual Arts 2013.

Foot Music (CY, UK)
Foot Music if the collaboration between dancer Zoe Georgallis and clarinettist William Scott. They started working together in 2009 as members of the London Soundpaintng Orchestra. Through the Soundpainting Orchestra, they began exploring the collaboration between improvised sound and movement. After their graduation from Trinity Laban, Zoe and William began working as a duet in order to further explore the principles of collaboration. These experiments led to the foundation of the team “On The Roof” with other musicians and dancers. With “On the Roof” they created new work which was presented in London and in Lapsody Festival in Finland.

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Louvana Records announces new collaboration with CYMIC.

Louvana Records and the Cyprus Music Information Centre (CYMIC) announce the beginning of their collaboration, as part of the three-year program MINSTREL .

MINSTREL , is a program in which CYMIC is taking part along with 11 other organizations from 11 other countries, and is set on implementing a number of proceedings with the ultimate goal of the transnational promotion of European music. Keeping in mind the amount of support the European musical community needs, MINSTREL plans to generate further collaborations between important promoters and organisations active on a European level in the field of music.

The first sample of collaborative work between Louvana Records and Cymic will be the Lefkosia Loop Festival 2014 on the 3rd and 4 th of January , which is now included in MINSTREL ’s actions. Music ensembles from four other countries that take part in this program ( Greece, Belgium, Croatia, Latvia ) will appear along the Cypriot participants in this third version of the festival, as well as artists and bands from the United Kingdom .

To promote the Lefkosia Loop Festival 2014 , and other MINSTREL , Cymic and Louvana Records activities, the two organizations took part in the world music festival WOMEX 2013 , which took place from the 22nd till the 27th of October in Cardiff, Wales and shared a common booth with the Institute for Research on Music and Acoustics ( IEMA ) and the International Association of Music Information ( IAMIC ).

Links:

Louvana Records – www.louvana.com.cy
CYMIC - www.cymic.org.cy
MINSTREL - www.minstrel.eu
IEMA – www.iema.gr
IAMIC – www.iamic.net

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ΟPEN CALL FOR THE PRESENTATION OF A VIDEO/MUSIC COMPOSITION - LEFKOSIA LOOP FESTIVAL 2014

Louvana Records is open to suggestions from visual artists and musicians to present a collaborative project, incorporating the subject of live looping as its thematic base. The project must be in the form of a video with accompanying music , up to 10 minutes long, and will be projected at Lefkosia Loop Festival 2014 as a parallel event, giving its creators the opportunity to present their work to a wider public.

Participation Terms:

a) The finished work must result from the collaboration between one or more video artists and one or more musicians.

b) The video as well as its accompanying music must be based on the use of the live looping technique.

c) The video as well as its accompanying music must be presented to the public for the first time .

d) The finished video must be sent as a . wav or .avi or .mpeg4 or .wmv format using www.wetransfer.com to info@louvana.com.cy until the 15th of December 2013 , at 8.00 pm along with short bios from the project participants.

e) This open call is directed towards any residents of Cyprus regardless of nationality, profession and age.

f) The video must not exceed 10 minutes in duration.

g) The video’s subject can be of any topic .

Further notes:

- The best videos will be chosen. The entire process will be under the inspection of Louvana Records’ artistic director and production manager.

- The chosen videos will be presented by Louvana Records as a parallel event in a specially designed space during Lefkosia Loop Festival on the 3rd and 4th of January 2014.

Any questions and further information at info@louvana.com.cy

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The dates for the upcoming Lefkosia Loop Festival are 3rd and 4th of January 2014. More details will follow soon.

www.facebook.com/LefkosiaLoopFestival

Programme:

Friday:

19:30 Doors
20:00 Kalakatsounas (CY)
21:00 On Lacrimae (GR)
21:45 Tune In (CY)
22:15 Biruta Ozoliņa & DJ Monsta (LV)
23:15 NT Wave (HR)
00:00 Janis Plasmatik feat. AA Lumens (CY)

Saturday:

19:30 Doors
20:00 Vasiliki Anastasiou (CY)
21:00 Maria-Christina and the 7 pedals (UK)
21:45 Foot Music (CY/UK)
22:15 Awakened (GR)
23:15 MC Xander (UK)
00:00 Microseq (CY)

Fengaros Festival 2013

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMT

In its third consecutive year, Fengaros Festival will be taking place, once again, at the beautiful village of Lofou in the district of Limassol. This year, the festival is enriched with theatre, stand-up comedy, a busking stage and many more, lasting over a three-day period and spreading all around the village on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of August. Music events and other happenings will be taking place in taverns, rooftops, squares and houses, all leading up to the headlining act of Thanasis Papakonstantinou , with Matoula Zamani and his 7-piece band. Some of the other featured acts are: The Zilla Project, Nebadrud (with Zacharias Spyridakis), Isaac’s Cello, The Ladderman, Michalis & Petros Kouloumis and Paris Erotokritou . The ticket price is €15 for all three days of the festival, and presale will start on July 12th in all major cities.

Info:
Fengaros Music Festival 2013
2-3-4 August 2013, Lofou, Limassol
Ticket Price: 15 euros (all three days)
Info Line: 70007610

facebook.com/fengaros

Presale (starting July 12th)

Lefkosia
Crepaland 22261000
Gatapou 22667741
Guitar Repair Collective 22101832

Lemesos
Kafenio Xouzouriι 99451996
LMS Leons Music Store 25336079

Larnaka
Tria Poulakia Kathontan 24255880

Pafos
Vintage Art House 26101394

Paralimni
Taverna "San Stou.. Psirri" 23828777

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Thanasis Papakonstantinou

Thanasis Papakonstantinou is one of the most significant and influential artists in Greece. In the past 20 years he has released a large number of important albums, following them up with memorable live shows such as the ones with the group "Laikedelika". He returns to Cyprus after two years to perform at Fengaros with the exceptional Matoula Zamani and a 7-piece band, to play a long show based on his entire discography with a renewed perspective, to freshen up the mood created by the depressing current events.

Thanasis Papakonstantinou: Lute, bouzouki, vocals
Matoula Zamani: Vocals
Fotis Siotas: Violin, viola, keys, vocals
Demetris Mystakides: Guitar, lute
Kostas Pantelis: Electric Guitar
Sotiris Ntouvas: Percussion
Chrysostomos Mpoukalis: bass
Andreas Polizogopoulos: Trumpet, flugelhorn
Kostis Zouliatis: Keys

The Zilla Project

The Zilla Project will be adding to Fengaros’ musical diversity, kicking off the first day of the festival with its own version of the blues. " Big Mo " a.k.a. Emmanuel Vourakis on vocals and electric guitars, Nikolas "Honeyman" Melis on the keys, Omiros Andreou "Bagman" on bass and Stefanos "PP" Meletiou on the drums are considered as the best blues band in Cyprus. They deliver electrified versions of well-known blues classics as well as their original compositions in an energetic and super charged 2-hour set.

Michalis & Petros Kouloumis

Michalis Kouloumis (violin), Petros Kouloumis (lute, voice) and Euripides Dikaios (percussion), will appear on the first day of the festival. In the past few years they have been established as one of the best traditional Cypriot music groups. Their uplifting performances always combine spontaneity and tasteful, crafty musicianship.

The Ladderman

The Ladderman will appear on the main stage on the second day of the festival. They play stoner / alt. rock and they have already gained a following, especially in Larnaka, which is where they are from. They were founded in 2011 and they consist of Andreas Matheou (guitar / vocals), Rolandis Lazides (guitar), Iacovos Stylianides (drums) and Stephanos Nicolaou (bass). The main ingredient of their music is the need for authentic creativity, based on their taste and not on a formula of general acceptance. At Fengaros they will perform music from their first demos, and new unreleased material.

Nebadrud

The band with the enigmatic name “ Nebadrud ” will appear on the second night of this year’s festival on the main stage. The band consists of Alkis Agathokleous (ney), Giannis Koutis (oud, voice), Rodos Panayiotou (drums) and Nicolas Tryphonos (doublebass) with special guest from Crete Zacharias Spyridakis (cretan lyra, voice). The result is a fusion of world music soundscapes, which blend together rhythmically, melodically and harmonically. The band’s music ranges from classical Arabic to modern Western. The vocals lead the instruments or are led by them along the roads of tradition, while improvisation occupies a distinct place both in the quartet’s compositions and in pieces by other composers.

Isaac ’ s Cello

This is the band that was to be Louvana Records' first release with "Here's Your Ears" in 2011. After a mandatory year off for studies and army service, they return older and wiser to climb the Fengaros stage and play a dynamic set. The young trio is made up of Zeyn Mroueh (Vocals, Guitars), Jacob Papageorgiou (guitars) and Liam Iacovou (drums), and their music travels from psychedelic to progressive rock enhanced by extended improvisations.

Μerak

Thia incredibly melodic ensemble is made up of Elena Xyda (vocals, lute), Veronica Aloneftou (vocals, sandouri), Maria Constanti (vocals, oud) and Stavroulla Constanti (vocals, ney). Their repertoire is based on music from Smyrna, Instanbul, Thrace, Εpirus and various islands.

Plain History

Christos Chadjichristou a.k.a. Chris & Terry will represent Plain History, the improvisatory music collective, playing an ambient set on the Rooftop during the very early hours of Saturday. Using analogue synthesizers and a lop station, he will create dreamy soundscapes to prepare everyone for the next day of the festival.

"Rough for Theatre 1"
by Samuel Becket

Street corner. Ruins. A day without sunlight, a grey dusk where earth seems to be stuck... a blind man is scratching his violin, a cripple moves close... he wants to be friends... to be united and live together until death does them part.

Actors: Prokopis Agathokleous, Demetris Antoniou
Directed by: Athena Kassiou
Set/Costume design: Lydia Mandridou
- translated by the group -

Μάριος Ιωάννου in: The «Εφτάψυχος» show

The Eftapsychos Show is gruesome thriller that watches the exciting adventure of a trickster performer, who invites seven souls from the universe to camp for a while within him and express their isuues through his body. A Japanese guy, a superman, a pink kitten, a supressed military official and more comprise the seven souls that are played by Marios Ioannou. With him, Marianna Michael will be providing the musical part of the show.

MSM Experience

Right after Thanasis Papakonstantinou, in a dark vault - visuals, soundscapes and music - for a moonlit night in Lofou .

P.x.

The team of P.x. will pop-up in Lofou, hosting the Busker's tent with street musicians, while exhibiting the work of artists it has accomodated for in the past. The Busker's tent will be playing throughout the festival.

Documentary Screening: “ Music Village ”
A movie inspired by Music Village, which takes place every year in Ayios Lavrentios, in Pilio, Greece.
www.musicvillage-documentary.com

Bike-Ride

An bike-ride in and around the village of Lofou, as well as neighbouring villages, organised by BikinCyprus Adventures. The ride will last for about two hours and is offered to semi-experienced bikers. There will be a limited number of bicycles available for people who want to join, by the organisers.
http://www.bikincyprusadventures.com/

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Programme

Friday:

17:00 P.x. Buskers and Arts Tent / Plateia
19:00 Merak / Taverna Kamares
21:00 Michalis & Petros Kouloumis / Spiti
23:00 The Zilla Project / Taverna Kamares
1:30 Plain History / Τaratsa

Saturday

11:00 P.x Buskers and Arts Tent / Plateia
17:30 “Rough for theatre 1” / Αvli
18:30 Isaac’s Cello / Dimotiko Scholio
19:30 The Ladderman / Dimotiko Scholio
20:30 Nebadrud / Dimotiko Scholio
21:15 DJ / Dimotiko Scholio
22:00 Thanasis Papakonstantinou / Dimotiko Scholio
2:00 MSM Experience / Spiti

Κυριακή:

11:00 P.x. Buskers and Arts Tent / Plateia
13:30 Marios Ioannou in: The «Εφτάψυχος» show / Taverna Kamares
16:00 Documentary Screening / Taverna Kamares
17:30 Bike Ride - Starting Point: Plateia

Camping
There will be a campsite available near the church of Profitis Ilias at the entrance of Lofou village. Drinking water and toilets will be available.

Sponsors: Ministry Of Education and Culture, Lofou Village

Supporters: Sindesmos Apodimon Lofou, Kamares Tavern, eleven63 Music And Sound Design, Zedem Media, P.x

Media Sponsors: City Free Press, UCY Voice, Kanali 6, CyprusNews.eu

Programme

Friday:

17:00 P.x. Buskers and Arts Tent / Plateia
19:00 Merak / Taverna Kamares
21:00 Michalis & Petros Kouloumis / Spiti
23:00 The Zilla Project / Taverna Kamares
1:30 Plain History / Τaratsa

Saturday

Κυριακή:

11:00 P.x. Buskers and Arts Tent / Plateia
13:30 Marios Ioannou in: The «Ευτάψυχος» show / Taverna Kamares
16:00 Documentary Screening / Taverna Kamares
17:30 Bike Ride - Starting Point: Plateia

J. Kriste, Master of Disguise Spring Tour

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

J.Kriste, Master of Disguise, shortly before visiting Greece for concerts, announced a spring tour of Cyprus.

The band will perform songs from their new album 'The Age of Now', selections from the previous album 'Girls, Ghosts and Gods' and some covers.

The band:
Lefteris Moumtzis - vocals - guitar - keys
Pavlos Michaelides - violin
Dimitris Kakavoulis - keys - percussion
Dimitris Giasemidis - flute - trombone
Marios Michael - bass
Andreas Trachonitis - drums - percussion
Mikaela Tsaggari - vocals - percussion

Louvana Record Store Day

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Η κυπριακή δισκογραφική εταιρεία Λουβάνα Δίσκοι αποφασίζει με τον τρόπο της να συμμετάσχει στο Record Store Day . Συγκεκριμένα για το φετινό γεγονός η Λουβάνα δίνει όλες τις δικές της παραγωγές ( J . Kriste , Master of Disguise , Stelafi , Isaac ’ s Cello ) μόνο για την ημερομηνία 20 Απριλίου με 50% έκπτωση από την ιστοσελίδα της. Επίσης η Λουβάνα Δίσκοι δίνει δώρο τη συγκεκριμένη μέρα, σε ψηφιακή μορφή, το single “ The City That Rules Our Minds ” από τον πρόσφατο δίσκο “ The Age Of Now ” το οποίο θα περιλαμβάνει δύο remixes του κομματιού από τους άγγλους Soundspecies. Οι ενδιαφερόμενοι μπορούν απλά να μπουν στην ιστοσελίδα www . louvana . com . cy και να βρουν τις προσφορές.

Παράλληλα σε συνεργασία με το χώρο Π.χ. στην παλιά Λευκωσία διοργανώνεται ένα γεγονός αυτό το Σάββατο 20 Απριλίου . Το γεγονός που θα αρχίσει στις 5μ.μ. το απόγευμα, θα περιλαμβάνει πωλήσεις δίσκων σε χαμηλές τιμές, από τη Λουβάνα Δίσκοι, ειδικά για αυτή τη μέρα και άλλες προσφορές. Επίσης, θα γίνουν σύντομες ζωντανές εμφανίσεις κατά τη διάρκεια της μέρας από καλλιτέχνες με τους οποίους σχετίζεται η εταιρεία.

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Το Record Store Day είναι μια μέρα που γιορτάζεται παγκοσμίως κάθε χρόνο το τρίτο Σάββατο του Απρίλη. Ο σκοπός της, όπως ήταν η αρχική ιδέα του αμερικανού υπάλληλου σε δισκάδικο Chris Brown, είναι να γιορτάσει την τέχνη της μουσικής. Η μέρα αυτή φέρνει μαζί λάτρεις της μουσικής, καλλιτέχνες και χιλιάδες δισκάδικα σε όλο τον κόσμο.

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Info:

1) www.louvana.com.cy

2) Record Store Day

Πολυχώρος Π.χ.

Είσοδος Ελεύθερη

16:30

Τηλ: 7000 7610

Lefkosia Loop Festival 2013

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Indie record label Louvana Records is organising the “2nd Lefkosia Loop Festival” in Nicosia. The festival will take place at the Melina Merkouri Hall (Famagusta Gate) on the 5th and 6th of January. I’ts main goal is to present a varied range of high-quality musical performances based on the live looping technique. To achieve this, Louvana has invited exceptional musicians from Greece, England and Cyprus, carefully selected for their knowledge and mastery of this technique, both on a technical and aesthetic level.   In particular, the artists and bands performing at the festival come from varying musical backgrounds and have a different approach regarding the use of their instruments, which adds to the diversity demanded in these live performances.

From Greece we’ll have Giorgos Kaloudis, a cellist who will perform pieces from his two personal albums, and the brilliant double-bassist/composer Michalis Siganides, in the debut performance of his “doc-fic-o”, a solo act which he will present using tape, double-bass, guitars and vocals. The festival is also hosting, for the second time, the now-known Sancho 003 (Fotis Siotas and Kostas Pantelis), ready to show their beautiful second album called “Muzga”.

Another one of our headliners is Mo Kolours all the way from London, a half Mauritian, half English, half percussionist, half beatmaker who dropped his first EP, “Drum Talking”, in May 2011. His music is a melting pot where English electronica and hip-hop fuse with African percussion, rhythms and vocal stylings.

The festival wouldn’t be complete without the Cypriot acts such as Plain History, Acapella Solo Loop and M.Edo, all three of which are brand new artists, joined by Giannis Koutis who is a veteran on the Cypriot music scene and will be presenting his “Stand Alone Project”.

To enrich the visual aspect of the festival we’ll have a video by Untitled Dualism as well as Raissa Angeli with her live action painting show accompanying some of the acts in real time, and finally Arampas, who will be presenting an audio-visual project called “Robot”.

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Live Looping

The looping technique gives the artist the ability to build, in real time, a complex, multi-layered musical piece. This is achieved by creating melodic and rhythmic phrases (with natural or electronic instruments), that, once structured, can be repeated as recorded samples over which the artist continues to add new lines. More than often, the final result, as well as its parts, can stand as a completed musical piece. The artist can therefore present, through looping to his/her audience, exactly how a song can be build on the spot, and what its major components are, while the listener gets a sense of being a part of the creative process.

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5th and 6th of January 2013

Melina Merkouri Hall, Famagusta Gate

Production Manager: Andreas Trachonitis

Artistic Director: Lefteris Moumtzis

Production Assistant: Mikaela Tsangari

Production: Louvana Records

Info Line: 7000 7610

www.louvana.com.cy

www.facebook.com/LefkosiaLoopFestival

Ticket Prices: €15 for One day, €20 for Both days.

Presale:

Gatapou: 22667741 (Old Nicosia)

Crepaland: 22261000 (Egkomi)

Eleven63 Studio: 22101163 (Palouriotissa)

Schedule:

Day 1

19:30 Opening

20:00 Acapella Solo Loop

21:00 Giannis Koutis

22:00 Giorgos Kaloudis

23:00 Mo Kolours

Day 2

19:30 Opening

20:00 M.Edo

21:00 Plain History

22:00 Michalis Siganidis

23:00 Sancho 003

MICHALIS SIGANIDIS (GR)

Unquestionably one of the most important Greek artists. He is a composer and double-bassist, and a man with a very unique view of the world of music. Siganidis delivers a wide-open, yet coherent mix of jazz, blues, funk, traditional Greek sounds, free improvisation, electronics, poetry, a sharp social outlook and loads of humor. He is also a member of the groups: “Heimerinoi Kolymvites” and “Primavera en Salonico”. He will present for the first time, the solo set called doc-fic-o, using tape and loops along with double bass and guitar.

SANCHO 003 (GR)

It’s the duet of Fotis Siotas (violin, viola, synth, voice) and Kostas Pantelis (guitars). They compose and perform music based on two instruments and two loop stations synced manually. Their work has been characterised as cinematic. We call it brilliant! They will mainly perform pieces from their latest album “Muzga” as well as new material.

YIORGOS KALOUDIS (GR)

He is one of the most important Greek cello players. Through his compositions, personal technique and different timbres of the instrument, he produces a post-modern and ambient, alternative environment, which combines classical, jazz and funk elements, as well as elements from the Greek traditional music. He is also a frequent collaborator of Alkinoos Ioannidis-

MO KOLOURS (UK)

Mo Kolours is a half Mauritian, half English, half percussionist, half beatmaker who’s dropped his first EP Drum Talking in May 2011. His music is a melting pot where English electronica and hip-hop fuse with African percussion, rhythms and vocal stylings. It’s a potent mix that ranges from psychedelic dub to dubstep flavours, always keeping Sega music firmly at its heart.

ACAPELLA SOLO LOOP (CY)

It’s the solo project of Demetris Spyrou, also a member of the band Ιntibah and the theatre group Ypoga. His music is based on a personal research, in progress, on the revolution of the human voice as an autonomous musical instrument, and the use of every-day objects to create musical accompaniment.

GIANNIS KOUTIS (CY)

Koutis, as part of his “stand alone project”, creates and loops electric and acoustic sounds with oud, percussion and voice, using a vast palette of sound effects. His sounds range from classical Arabic to modern western music, with the element of improvisation playing a key role in his performances.

PLAIN HISTORY (CY)

Plain History is a collective of musicians who improvise using analogue synths, bass, flute and loop stations. At the festival they will present the project “Feykos”, which has been prepared for this performance, and includes tape narration and live looping.

M.EDO (CY)

Emiddio Vasquez Hadjilyra music is motivated by the fundamental principles behind audio manipulation in sound design and how they can be attained with a guitar and a few pedals, creating displaced rhythms, folded melodies and accompanying harmonics.

Parallel Action:

ARAMPAS (CY)

Arampas (Giorgos Ioannou and Sofronis Sofroniou), will present their latest audiovisual project titled “Robot”. Their project, which is based on an idea by artist Raissa Angeli, is based on the perplexity of the human mind and some of the different perspectives one can have when "listening" to it. Giorgos Ioannou is also the visual designer of the festival.

Raissa Angeli (CY)

Raissa Angeli is a Cypriot artist who has been trained in sculpture and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. She will provide a visual aid for some of the festival's acts, in the form of a live-action painting show. Her performance will be based on improvisation and will have strong ties to the live looping technique, as she will strive, in real time, to take elements from each looping artist she accompanies and use them to build a final piece of art.-

Ficus Microcarpa: the void of the distance 01

Τhe video presented at the festival is a part of the collaborative project Untitled Dualism by Lito Kattou and Leontios Toumbouris. The video projects an almost static image of two elements, an empty flower pot and the trunk of a Ficus Microcarpa, a tree, which is frequently found in the centre of Nicosia.

J.Kriste, Master of Disguise - Album Presentation "The Age of Now"

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT

11 October 2012, Rialto Theatre, Lemesos
12 October 2012, Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Lefkosia

As part of this year's Kypria International Festival, Louvana Records proudly presents the new album by J. Kriste, Master of Disguise , "The Age of Now". This band is the personal project of musician and composer Lefteris Moumtzis, whom the Cypriot public met through the 2009 release of his second album 'Girls, Ghosts and Gods' and the live performances that followed it. His previous recordings were met with great success in Greece as well, gaining amazing reviews from the press as well as the public.

In this new album, as well as the previous one, Lefteris, having lived in the USA and Europe for several years, continues his musical exploration of the places he has experienced literally as well as sonically. Inevitably, his musical compositions and arrangements lead to a world where borders and the notion of musical genres become shady and irrelevant. The imaginative use and combination of electronic, analogue, traditional and classical musical instruments, combined with unique vocal performances offers the listener a dreamy sonic experience.

In December 2012, J. Kriste, Master of Disguise is releasing his new work "The Age of Now". It's an album that's deeply connected with the present moment and making the best of it. In this troubled times where nothing is certain, Moumtzis is busy searching for the things that truly matter and inspire us and through this search he builds his own musical world, made out of love for the human being and its nature. Through this new material he tries to make sense of the internal workings people use to battle against the complexity of the current global society. More specifically, the songs on these album ponder on effects that our tendency towards globalisation results in. One face of this coin is the total alienation of people and societies from the basic cores of their existence, as in their home, their environment and the things they grew up loving while its opposing side shows an opportunity to mingle and co-exist/react with people from other societies. "The Age of Now" will be presented as part of the Kypria International Festival 2012 in two concerts in Limassol and Nicosia by an 11-piece band, made up of excellent, talented musicians from Cyprus and Greece.

The band is made up of:

Vocals-Guitar: Lefteris Moumtzis
Keys-Percussion: Demetris Kakavoulis
Violin: Pavlos Michailides
Viola: Fotis Siotas
Cello: Sophia Efkleidou
Bass: Mario Michael
Percussion-Drums: Andreas Trachonitis
Flute: Stelios Romaliades ( Luup )
Kanun: Eleftheria Daoultzi
Backing Vocals: Zara der Arakelian, Mikaela Tsangari

Dance Performace: Natalie Heller
Visuals: Giorgos Ioannou
Set Design: Froso Mavrou

The public attending the shows will have an exclusive opportunity to pre-order the album. Upon ordering the album, the buyer will gain access to three additional tracks in digital forms: one off the the album and two unreleased, along with artwork and photos. Subsequently the buyer will receive the album by mail upon its release in early December.

Facebook

Τicket Sale Points:

Lefkosia:
Pallas Theatre
Tel.: 22410181

Lemesos:
Rialto Theatre
Tel.: 77777745
On-line at www.rialto.com.cy

Performance Archives

Louvana Artists

Lefteris Moumtzis Lefteris Moumtzis, founder and frontman of J.Kriste, Master of Disguise releases solo album.

Sotires Sotires - Debut album release

J.Kriste, Master of Disguise

Stelafi The collaboration between actress Stela Fyrogeni and Lefteris Moumtzis and Andreas Trachonitis

Isaac's Cello Astonishing young psych/prog band.

All Artists

Fengaros Music Festival 2012

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

As of this year, Fengaros Music Festival has established itself as a regular fixture of the summer calendar. The festival takes its name from an instrumental piece by Thanasis Papaconstantinou , who headlined the festival last year, backed by his ten-piece band. Other artists included J. Kriste, Master of Disguise and Mode Plagal . This year, Louvana Record s puts together another excellent mix of acts from Cyprus, Greece and the United Kingdom, to once again deliver a unique program. The beautiful school courtyard in the scenic village of Lofou, Limassol, is remains the chosen venue hosting Fengaros’ stage.

The headliner in this year’s line up is Giannis Aggelakas and his group Giannis Aggelakas 3 (not to be confused with Aggelakas-Veliotis Likoi Live, the group that performed in Cyprus back in February). The unique artist will be presenting brand new material from his album due for release this year. For those who are unfamiliar with his work, Aggelakas was the voice of the historic greek rock band «Trypes». In the past decade he’s had several solo releases and collaborations (‘Apo ‘Do Kai Panw’, ‘Oi Anases ton Likon’). He has also produced other artists (such as Psarantonis), as well as composed scores for films (Psihi Vathia).

The festival will be opening with the Cypriot group, Odyssey . This exceptional trio, (which performs folk/rock music from the 60’s and 70’s giving emphasis on vocal harmonies), will be returning to the stage for the first time after 37 years! Pavlina Konstantopoulou, on vocals and guitar, backed by her brand-new band, will be performing her own acoustic/ethnic/folk compositions. The very popular band Trio Tekke will also be taking this year’s stage, after touring in England and right before performing in Italy, performing songs from their two albums (‘Ta reggetika’ and ‘Samas’), as well as a few surprises. Last but not least, we have the ever-familiar Soundspecies, traveling all the way from England with a six-piece band called Electric Jalaba . This band features guimbri-master Simo Lagnawi (Morroco), to take us into the night with their fresh afro/funk/trance tunes.

This year’s production will also feature musical happenings in other parts of the village. Catering and camping are given extra attention this year, to ensure optimal service. For those eager to start having fun early on, Louvana’s pre-festival party will be taking place on the 3rd of August (the night before the festival) at the Lofou tavern “Oi Kamares”.

Info:
4th of August 2012
Lofou Elementary School
Doors: 16:00
t: 7000 7610 - www . louvana . com . cy – www . facebook . com / fengaros

LINE UP: Giannis Aggelakas ( GR ) – Trio Tekke ( CY , UK ) - Electric Jalaba ( UK )
Pavlina Constantopoulou ( CY ) - Odyssey ( CY )

Louvana Presents 'Basement Sessions'

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A Spring Series, May Thurdays 2012

Info :
Satiriko Theatre Basement (Vladimiros Kafkarides St. 11-15, Aglantzia)
Ticket prices: €12 ( 3 May ) - €15 ( 10 May ) - €10 ( 17 May )
Info and pre-sale: 7000 7610
Doors 9 μ . μ .

LOUVANA PROUDLY PRESENTS:
‘BASEMENT SESSIONS’

Louvana welcomes May with a special series of musical events in collaboration with Satiriko Theatro in Aglantzia. Louvana will be using the basement of this exceptional venue for the appropriately named "Basement Sessions". Six ensembles will perform in pairs for the first three Thursdays of May, giving each evening a different musical character, always keeping to the standards of Louvana's high artistic quality.

Programme :

Thursday 3 May

Sancho 003 (GR) +support: Chris & Terry

After a mind-blowing performance at Lefkosia Loop Festival where they sold out their album in a matter of minutes, they return to present their second album, which will be released at the end of April by the Greek records label, Inner Ear. It is, of course, the band of violinist Fotis Siotas and guitarist Kostas Pantelis from Greece , both members of Thanasis Papakonstantinou's band. Here the do something completely different. Sancho 003 have made live looping an art of the highest level, achieving their own unique sound, full of dreamy soundscapes, intense outbreaks and ethereal melodies.

Support for the evening come from Chris & Terry from Limassol, an improvisational act, which uses analogue synths and drum machines.

The musical idioms that would best describe this first night of the series is ambient, cinematic, electronic and psychedelic.

Webpage :
www . facebook . com / sancho 003

Thursday 10 May

Stelafi +support: Pavlina Constantopoulou

They released their first album "O Siderokoftis" with Louvana Diskoi last fall, receiving amazing reviews and rightfully being called one of the best production works to ever come out of Cyprus. Sticking to their 8-piece band, Stelafi (singer/actress Stella Fyrogeni, singer/guitarist Lefteris Moumtzis and percussionist Andreas Trachonitis), backed by Pavlos Michaelides (violin), Mario Michael (bass), Dimitris Kakavoulis (keys), Mike Michael (trumpet, horn) and Demetris Yiasemides (trombone, flute) are here to prove that Siderokoftis is more than capable to take off, even from a basement.
Pavlina Konstantopoulou we know very well from her participation in various groups such as: The Kafeney Quartet, The Handmade, from the nights dedicated to the music of Hadjidakis with Pavlos Michaelides, as well as her collaboration with Elias Vamvakousis on the album "Eimai Zen kai me Tarazeis". In the "Basement Sessions" she makes a fresh start as she will be opening the evening with more personal material, using her incredible voice and guitar skills, supported by Manos Mathioudakis on bass and Yiannos Kyriakides on drums.

Webpage :
www . facebook . com / stelafi

Thursday 17 May

Rite of Passage +support: Isaac’s Cello
- Rite of Passage came to existence out of mutual need. They are influenced by the circumstances and realities of their environment, the mechanisation of life, the lowering of the quality of all types of nourishment-both physical and intellectual- mass endorsed apathy to everything only to name a few, and the way in which this is also purported through mass, produced-mass consumed music
  Hence the mutual need of the members to escape these widespread mentalities, predominant in music-making at present and search for new ground on new founding principles, while provoking all listening to abolish these norms within them, through an intense sound, analogue effects and rhythmic complexity.
This will be the first appearance of the trio for 2012, within which they are getting ready to release their first album.

It’s been a year since the youthful band Isaac’s Cello have released their debut with Louvana Diskoi. They have joined forces with Rite of Passage, another two times and since then, they have appeared at Schoolwave Festival in Cyprus and Greece. They also return after a long absence from the live since to complete this unique evening of psych – prog – rock.

Webpage:
www.myspace.com/riteofpassageband

All the shows will feature live visuals by Giorgos Ioannou (Static Noise)

1ST CONTEMPORARY SERIES

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Louvana Diskoi presents Andys Skordis' composition

Louvana Diskoi presents Andys Skordis' composition : ‘The deeper you go...the deeper you go...the deeper you go... deeper you go...you go...you?’

26 and 27 of April 2012, Kasteliotissa, Nicosia

Time: 8:00p.m and 9:30p.m

Kasteliotissa, Nicosia

Tickets: €12 and €8 ( students )

Info/Presale: 7000 7610, www.louvana.com.cy

This composition by the award-winning composer of contemporary classical music was presented for the first time in Amsterdam during the Composer's Festival, receiving great reviews. It was written in 2011 and it is a modern innovative piece whose performance will certainly raise the bar as far as classical music in Cyprus is concerned. It will be presented in four concerts at Kastelliotissa by a 24-member orchestra made out of five trombones, five cellos, five clarinets, five singers, two timpani, a piano and a harpsichord. The composition is nominated for the Matthijs Vermeulen Prijs and the Buma Toonzetters Prijs, the two biggest composition awards in Holland.

Description :

The composition is divided in two parts. The first part lasts about twenty minutes and it is quiet, slow and static. The lack of movement in the music creates a mysterious atmosphere and the audience is emerged in complete darkness for its duration.

The second twenty-minute part, clashes with the first in that it is very powerful, fast-paced and energetic.

The voices sing and recite a poem written in Greek during the entire performance. Every instrumental group pretty much performs the same music with simple and subtle changes in each part, giving a very confusing impression of what their role is in the piece. In other words, every instrument group acts like a mirror, every mirror depicting the same image with minor changes.

Composer's Bio:

Andys Skordis’ was born in Nicosia in 1983. He's been involved with music from a very young age, playing electric guitar and composing music in the style of rock for his bands "Offtone Thieves" and "SpiritS".

Besides composing, Andys plays percussion with the band "PAYAZEN!" that regularly tours Europe and Asia, and is a member of the Javanese Gamelan Ensemble "Jumat Siang".

Sponsors: Cyprus Ministry Of Education And Culture, Interton music management

Supporters: Ethnikon Odion Kyprou, CyprusNews.eu, ll Forno, Eleven63 Music & Design

Lefkosia Loop Festival 2012

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Indie record label Louvana Records is organising the first Lefkosia Loop Festival in Cyprus. The festival will take place at Melina Merkouri Hall on the 3rd and 4th of January 2012. Its main goal is to present a varied range of high-quality musical performances based on the live looping technique. To achieve this, Louvana has invited exceptional musicians from Greece, England and Cyprus, carefully selected for their knowledge and mastery of this technique, both on a technical and aesthetic level.

In particular, the artists and bands performing at the festival come from varying musical backgrounds and have a different approach regarding the use of their instruments, which adds to the diversity demanded in these live performances. Alkinoos Ioannides’ performance will be in two parts. The first revolves around the music he has composed based on the last two chapters of "I Fonissa", a novel by Alexandros Papadiamantis (which will also be narrated by actress Stela Fyrogeni ), while the second will include renditions from his personal work. Guitarist Babis Papadopoulos , using a loop station, will be presenting instrumental compositions, as well as his own twisted interpretations of known songs. Sancho 003 (Kostas Pantelis - electric guitar, Fotis Siotas - violin/viola/keys/vocals) base their music exclusively on looping and synchronising two loop stations (that are in no way connected to each other) live. They will be performing pieces from their 2009 album "We Buy Gold", as well as unreleased material from their new album which is due out in spring 2012. Lüüp , after releasing two albums, they'll be performing live for the first time as a trio, with Stelios Romaliades (flute), Sofia Efklidou (cello, vocals) and Lefteris Moumtzis (vocals, guitar). Their music follows an ambient, psych-folk, neo-classical path. Electronic Meditation (Jannis Anastasakis) works with different techniques of reproduction of digital and analogue sounds through a unique collection of mainly homemade effects pedals. Last but not least, Soundspecies and Bunty are two major English acts that masterfully handle a wide range of genres, from afro-rhythms to ambient and all the way through to electronic jazz and more.

Live Looping

The looping technique gives the artist the ability to build, in real time, a complex, multilayered musical piece. This is achieved by creating melodic and rhythmic phrases (with natural or electronic instruments), that, once structured, can be repeated as recorded samples over which the artist continues to add new lines. More than often, the final result, as well as its parts, can stand as a completed musical piece. The artist can therefore present, through looping to his/her audience, exactly how a song can be build on the spot, and what its major components are, while the listener gets a sense of being a part of the creative process.

Festival program:
January 3rd:
7:30 opening
8:15 Elektronik Meditation
9:15 Lüüp
10:30 Alkinoos Ioannides
11:45 Soundspecies

January 4th
7:30 opening
8:15 Raven’s Arm
9:00 Babis Papadopoulos
10:30 Sancho 003
11:45 Bunty

The artists that are taking part in the festival one by one:

Alkinoos Ioannides (CY)
Various musical instruments scattered on stage: acoustic, electric, electronic, strings, winds, and percussion. Everything connected to a central loop station, on which he records and reproduces the musical phrases he plays on each instrument, adding one after the other,
thus creating soundscapes over which the melodies and lyrics move. The performance is split in two parts: On the first part he will present the music he composed based on the last two chapters of "I Fonissa", a novel by Alexandros Papadiamantis. This project was first presented with Maria Farantouri at the Filippon Ancient Theatre last summer, for the 100th year anniversary of the novelist's death. This time, however, the text will be narrated by singer/actress Stela Fyrogeni. On this part, he will be joined by Pavlos Michaelides and Fotis Siotas playing violin and viola respectively. The second part will be entirely based on live looping, as Alkinoos will be playing and singing songs from his released personal work using a loop station.
www.alkinoos.gr

Sancho 003 (GR)
Sancho 003 is the duet of Fotis Siotas (violin, viola, synth) and Kostas Pantelis (guitars). They compose and perform music based on two instruments and loops. Currently, they’ve just finished their second album ''Los Dos Aguas'', due for release in the spring of 2012, from Belgian label Conspiracy Records. They will present music, sounds and improvisations, which were “born” mainly from their collaboration with the dance group Sinequanon, over the past two years. They will also perform pieces from their first album ''We Buy Gold''.
www.facebook.com/sancho003

Babis Papadopoulos (GR)
Babis Papadopoulos, guitarist from the band Trypes and a long-time collaborator of Thanasis Papakonstantinou, Socratis Malamas, and Floros Florides amongst others, has already left his mark on the Greek music scene. He began his solo career with 2008's 'Scenes from a Journey' and 2010's 'From Draco's Cave', which he presented live in many Greek cities and abroad. In his 'Electric Solo' shows, Babis presents a set containing his own instrumental compositions, as well as tweaked famous songs. His main instrument of choice is the guitar, acoustic and electric, which holds the lead role during the live performance, but at times gives way to any other sound that occurs when the instruments co-exists with loop stations and effects. The sonic result is a blend of musical images colored with rock, ambient, and jazz-electronic elements, as well as improvisation; in other words all those elements that make his sound so characteristic, identifiable and loved.
www.facebook.com/papadopoulosbabis

Soundspecies (UK)
Soundspecies is the alias of producer/musician/DJ brothers Henry and Oliver Keen, based in London. Over the past five years they have performed amongst others at Glastonbury, The Big Chill, Bestival, Sonar (Barcelona), Sunsplash (Turkey) and at Red Bull Music Academy. They released their debut album in April 2009 on independent label BurntProgress - featuring collaborations with various celebrated artists from the UK and worldwide. They count Radio 1 DJs Gilles Peterson, Mary Anne Hobbs among their supporters. The name covers all the genre-hopping output the brothers deem befitting of the Soundspecies vibe. Generally this means rhythm-heavy, soulful, atmospheric music. Anything from a live 6-piece Moroccan Gnawa Funk Fusion band to twisted Hip Hop and deep Dub/Techno beats. At the festival they will be presenting their two-man live, partimprovised electronic Afro-Techno experience. Expect to dance!
www.soundspecies.co.uk

Bunty (UK)
Bunty is a Brighton - based musician and visual artist. She is part of Beatabet collective. Live, Bunty uses her renegade multi- instrumentalism, voice, effects pedals and a mash of real and made-up languages. She whispers, bellows, beatboxes, claps, stamps and produces frenzied harmonies to create her music from scratch. Each show is different with a large portion of her sets relying on improvisation and off-the-cuff inspiration. Bunty flits deftly from beautifully serene choral soundscapes and psyche folk to stomping funkadelia and Arabian disco.
Bunty also vocalises for: UK dub 9 piece, Resonators, Renegade Eclecto Collective, Beatabet and experimental folk/soul trio Le Juki. She co-curates multi- disciplinary arts events with BEATABET!
www.myspace.com/buntylooping

Lüüp (GR, CY)
Lüüp is a musical collective with flutist Stelios Romaliadis at its axis. They have released two albums, "Distress Signal Code" (Musea - France) and "Meadow Rituals" (Experimedia - USA). Other collaborative members include David Jackson (Van Der Graaf Generator), Lisa Isaksson (Lisa O Piu), Andria Degens (Current 93, Pantaleimon) and Lefteris Moumtzis (J. Kriste, Master of Disguise) and more. According to the Italian OndaRock (ondarock.it) their music is "Innovating, discovering what has always been present without being noticed. It brings to light the subconscious of European folklore music. It does so, in an original, charming and sophisticated way." At the Lefkosia Loop Festival, Lüüp will be performing material from these two albums for the first time, with the following musicians:
Stelios Romaliades: flute, Sofia Efklidou: cello and Lefteris Moumtzis: guitar, vocals
http://luup.experimedia.net/

Elektronik Meditation (GR)
Elektronik Meditation is an experimental solo project by Jannis Anastasakis Marinos. JAM is also playing guitar for the Intravenus band and he is the builder and designer of the Jam Pedals. Through live use of mostly analog effects pedals and instant-made loops, JAM is coming up with unique and fresh sounds that take the music from ambient to psychedelic and off limits to new territory! All sounds and music are produced live with no drum-machines and nothing pre-recorded.
www.elektronikmeditation.com

Raven's Arm (CY)
This is a solo music project by Cyprus based musician Christopher Malapitan. He creates melodic compositions with his acoustic guitar, vocals, cajon drum and loop pedal. At the festival Christopher will present a collection of songs from his upcoming debut album, for the first time.
Facebook: Raven's Arm

Parallel action:

Arampas (CY)
Arampas (Giorgos Ioannou and Sofronis Sofroniou), will present their recent work «Rashomon Revisited», a sound and optical collage that force inner memories to cause the vapor of here and now.

Production manager: Andreas Trachonitis
Artistic Director: Lefteris Moumtzis
Production: Louvana Diskoi
Production assistant: Mikaella Tsangari
Presentation: Antonis Boskoitis

Info & bookings: 7000 7610
www.louvana.com.cy
www.facebook.com/louvana
www.facebook.com/LefkosiaLoopFestival

Sponsors: ‘Kala Kathoumena’ Coffee shop, Ministry of Culture
Supporters: Eleven63 Studio, Jam Pedals, Zedem Media
Communication sponsors: Astra, CyprusNews.Eu

Ticket prices:
20 euros for 1 day
30 euros both days

Pre-sale points:
Gatapou: 22667741
CrepaLand: 22261000
Eleven63 Studio: 22101163

Stelafi December Shows

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The group Stelafi have released the album ‘O Siderokoftis’ in the beginning of October, on Louvana Records, a unique music production for Cyprus and not only. Successful live performances followed, at Axiothea, Rialto theatre and Antonakis’ Music Hall. Now, two months later, they return with the same 8-piece band and a more alternative stage set up, in the space of Open Arts Theatre in Strovolos. With the captivating front-woman Stela Fyrogeni, they will present songs from Siderokoftis – composed mainly by Lefteris Moumtzis - improvisations, as well as other, unusual selections from the Greek and international repertoire.

The band consists of: Stela Fyrogeni: vocals, Lefteris Moumtzis: voice, guitar,percussion, Andreas Trachonitis: percussion, fx, Dimitris Kakavoulis: keys, percussion, Pavlos Michaelides: violin, Mario Michael: bass, Mike Michael: trumpet, flugenhorn, Dimitris Yiasemides: trombone, flute. Yiorgos Ioannou (lights, projections), Mikaella Tsangari (sound design)

Info:
STELAFI – O Siderokoftis
Open Arts Theatre
Off Strovolou Av. – Kronou dead-end (behind Pepsi)
9 and 10 December
Doors 9p.m. until 9:30p.m.
Ticket price: 15 euros with glass of wine
Presale – Bookings: 7000 7610
www.louvanarecords.com

Stelafi

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

'Siderokoftis' Release

For the past two years, musicians Lefteris Moumtzis and Andreas Trachonitis, and actress/singer Stela Fyrogeni have been juggling their thoughts on what its like to live, to dream, to sing and play music in modern day Cyprus. The band, with the participation of a few more of their musician friends created 'O Siderokoftis' , an album containing 10 short 'stories' based on dreams, fairytales, desires, closed doors, open arms, chopped trees, love (the kind you give and take, and the lack of it), theatre as a form of reality, and life as a form of theatre.

Their style is rather experimental, the songs are written in Greek and English and the orchestration moves from slender to rich and back to being simple. The compositions are filled with mystery, sometimes aspiring to Tom Waits' circus-rock, Yiannis Aggelakas' traditional funk and Greek composer Hadjidakis' harmonious ballads. Enjoy the ride!

Production/Arrangement: Lefteris Moumtzis, Andreas Trachonitis

Recording/Mixing : Andreas Trachonitis, Eleven63 Studio - Nicosia, Cyprus.

Mastering : Michael Hartung, Propeller Mastering – Oslo, Norway

for LOUVANA RECORDS

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/stelafi

Info and Online Store: www.louvanarecords.com

‘Fengaros’ Music Festival 2011

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Lofou, Lemesos / Saturday, 17 September 2011

Independent production teams Louvana from Lefkosia and Ypogeia Skini from Lemesos are organising a very special festival this September. The festival, which was organised for mid-July and was postponed due to the July 11th incident, it's going to take place at the old mountain village of Lofou, in the Lemesos district.

Artists / Program

There will be 3 live groups performing at the festival, 2 from Greece and 1 from

Cyprus.

Thanasis Papakonstantinou, 9:30p.m.

Thanasis has written and produced some of the best music, Greek discography has to offer in the last 20 years. He is a magnificent songwriter and lyricist whose songs have been performed by such important singers as Socratis Malamas, Melina Kana, Giannis Aggelakas and the late Nikos Papazoglou. His latest album ‘O Elahistos Eaftos’ (Inner Ear 2011), which is promoting on this tour is doing brilliantlys. He visited Cyprus back in March (another promotion of Louvana), played four sold out shows, had a great time and now he is back with a much larger (10 piece) group for more. Their live appearances are always unforgettable. Liveliness, dancing and improvisation are some of the things you should expect.

Mode Plagal, 7:30p.m.

Many still are reminiscing the amazing time they had at Mode Plagal’s last show in Cyprus in 2008. They also have released a new album last year called Stin Koilia tou Kitous (Lyra 2010). In the past, they have been named one of the best ethnic groups in Europe. But they are not just that. Mode Plagal have created their own music idiom. An idiom with references to traditional music and lyrics, byzantine modes, funk rhythms and endless other musical elements that don’t belong to a certain style. We’ve seen them several times in Cyprus especially around the turning of the century. These days they are all busy performing with various other projects like Malamas, Himerini Kolymvites, Martha Frintzila, Chainides e.t.c. At Lofou they will be united and they will fill the space with their unique groovy sounds.

J.Kriste, Master of Disguise Saturday 6:30p.m.

Lefteris Moumtzis’ band has played live extensively last season, mainly in Lefkosia in places like Antonaki’s Music Hall and The Weaving Mill, gaining a substantial fan base. Their critically acclaimed album ‘Girls, Ghosts and Gods’ (Puzzlemusik 2009) is a current favorite for local fans of this scene. It has been chosen as one of the best of the year by Greek magazines and webzines in 2009. Folk – rock – psychedelic compositions that take you places, with various alternations are some of the ingredients of the band’s sound. They will perform songs from the album and new numbers from their forthcoming album, expected for release towards the end of the year.

The program will be enriched by the sounds of DJ Tony Cusack who is going to spin selections from his large vinyl selection.

Information

The event starts at 4pm. There will be food and drink sold at the festival site. Also there will be a record stall with CDs from the artists that are performing and more.

Accommodation

In Lofou as well as in nearby villages there’s a limited number of rooms for rent. There will also be a limited space for camping at the church of Profitis Ilias at the entrance of the village. More info at facebook.com/louvana.

Ticket prices
25 euros pre-sale, 30 euros at the door

Ticket Presales
Lefkosia
Kala Kathoumena 22664654
Crepa Land (Makedonitissa) 22261000
Eleven63 Studio 22101163

Lemesos
Brent Cross, Makariou 25747814
Kitchen – Cafe ‘Yiaggini’ 97839617

Larnaca
Why and Why 24654637

Pafos
Vintage Art House 96838366

Isaac's Cello's "Here's Your Ears" Debut Album Launch

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Saturday, April 16th, 2011 at TRITOS

Louvana Records proudly presents Isaac's Cello's "Here's Your Ears" Debut Album Launch. Live performance of the album followed by after party with Louvana DJ's.

Music: Psychedelic/Progressive Rock

Band Members:
Jacob Papageorgiou - Guitars/Bass/ Backing Vocals
Zeyn Mroueh - Guitars/Bass/Vocals
Liam Iacovou - Drums/Percussion
Dimi Kolovopoulos - Saxophone

Η Λουβάνα παρουσιάζει το ΘΑΝΑΣΗ ΠΑΠΑΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

H ιδιαίτερα δραστήρια ομάδα και δισκογραφική εταιρεία, Λουβάνα, φέρνει κοντά σας αυτό το μήνα, το Θανάση Παπακωνσταντίνου. Μετά την επιτυχημένη συναυλία του Μπάμπη Παπαδόπουλου το Φεβρουάριο, στο ‘Αντωνάκης’ στη Λευκωσία, η οποία άφησε άριστες εντυπώσεις, η ομάδα παρουσιάζει τον Θανάση στον ίδιο χώρο. Αφορμή του ταξιδιού αυτού, μετά την πολύχρονη απουσία από το νησί, η κυκλοφορία του καινούριου του δίσκου ‘Ο Ελάχιστος Εαυτός’ ο οποίος γνωρίζει μεγάλη επιτυχία στην Ελλάδα αυτή τη στιγμή.

Ο Παπακωνσταντίνου ταξιδεύει στην Κύπρο με πενταμελές σχήμα το οποίο περιλαμβάνει τους Φώτη Σιώτα στο βιολί, τη βιόλα, τα πλήκτρα αλλά και το τραγούδι, τη Ματούλα Ζαμάνη στο τραγούδι, το Δημήτρη Μυστακίδη στην κιθάρα και το λαούτο και τον Αντώνη Μαράτο στα κρουστά, το μπάσο και το ούτι. Στα μπουζουκο-ειδή και τη κύρια φωνή θα είναι φυσικά ο ίδιος ο Θανάσης. Θα παρουσιάσουν κομμάτια από τον τελευταίο δίσκο αλλά και πολλές επιτυχίες από τη μεγάλη δισκογραφία του καλλιτέχνη, σε ένα πολύωρο πρόγραμμα που σίγουρα θα ενθουσιάσει. Επιπλέον εμφανίσεις θα γίνουν και στη Λεμεσό στο χώρο ‘Πόρτα’ σε συνεργασία με τηνομάδα Υπόγεια Σκηνή.

Info:
Συναυλίες Λευκωσίας:
Η Λουβάνα παρουσιάζει το ΘΑΝΑΣΗ ΠΑΠΑΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ
‘Κοσμικό Κέντρον ΑΝΤΩΝΑΚΗΣ’, Παλιά Λευκωσία
24 και 25 Μαρτίου 2011
Τιμή εισιτηρίου: 20 ευρώ
‘Ωρα έναρξης: 10:30
Προπωλήσεις και πληροφορίες: 22 664697 – 99566485

Συναυλίες Λεμεσού:
Η Λουβάνα και η Υπόγεια Σκηνή παρουσιάζουν το ΘΑΝΑΣΗ ΠΑΠΑΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ
‘ΠΟΡΤΑ, Γενεθλίου Μιτέλλα 17’, Παλιά Λεμεσός
26 και 27 Μαρτίου
‘Ωρα έναρξης: 10:00
Προπωλήσεις και πληροφορίες: 97839617

Η Λουβάνα Δίσκοι παρουσιάζει τον Μπάμπη Παπαδόπουλο και τους συνεργάτες του στο Κοσμικό Κέντρον Αντωνάκης

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

O συνθέτης Μπάμπης Παπαδόπουλος (κιθάρα) σε συνεργασία με τέσσερις μουσικούς, τον Φώτη Σιώτα και τον Μιχάλη Βρέττα (βιολιά), τον Δημήτρη Βλαχομήτρο (μπουζούκι) και τον Διονύση Μακρή (κοντραμπάσο), θα παρουσιάσουν ζωντανά τα κομμάτια από τους δύο προσωπικούς του δίσκους με τίτλο “ Σκηνές από ένα ταξίδι” (PuzzleMusik 2008) και “Απ' τη σπηλιά του δράκου” (PuzzleMusik 2010).

Την Τρίτη 15 Φεβρουαρίου 2011 στο Κοσμικό Κέντρο Αντωνάκης.
Ώρα Έναρξης 9:00 μμ
Εισιτήρια προπώληση 17€
Εισιτήρια εισόδου 20€
Εισιτήρια Προπωλούνται: Αντωνάκης τηλ. 99566485 – 22 664697
Λουβάνα Δίσκοι τηλ. 99495431, 99439511, 99327187
Κρατήσεις: Αντωνάκης τηλ. 99566485 – 22 664697.

Λίγα λόγια για τον Μπάμπη…
Ο κιθαρίστας και συνθέτης Μπάμπης Παπαδόπουλος είναι αυτοδίδακτος μουσικός κι από 12 ετών ασχολείται με την κιθάρα. Το μεγάλο του ταλέντο, η δημιουργικότητα κι ο ήχος της κιθάρας συνέλαβαν τα μέγιστα για την πορεία του κορυφαίου ελληνικού ροκ συγκροτήματος "ΤΡΥΠΕΣ", που υπήρξε μέλος του από το 1984 μέχρι τη διάλυσή του το 2001, ηχογραφώντας μαζί με το γκρουπ εφτά άλμπουμ. Το 2000 ενορχηστρώνοντας τον δίσκο «ΒΡΑΧΝΟΣ ΠΡΟΦΗΤΗΣ» του Θανάση Παπακωνσταντίνου, καταθέτει μία από τις σπουδαιότερες ενορχηστρωτικές δουλειές στον χώρο της ελληνικής δισκογραφίας. Μάλιστα, ο συγκεκριμένος δίσκος ανακηρύχθηκε το καλύτερο ελληνικό άλμπουμ της δεκαετίας που διανύομε. Η συνεργασία του με τον Θανάση Παπακωνσταντίνου συνεχίζεται τα επόμενα χρόνια με τη συμμετοχή του στο συγκρότημα Λαϊκελέδικα με το οποίο περιοδεύει με τον συνθέτη, και το 2002 ενορχηστρώνει τον δίσκο «ΑΓΡΥΠΝΙΑ» του ίδιου τραγουδοποιού. Το 2002 συνεργάζεται με τον Σωκράτη Μάλαμα και μαζί ενορχηστρώνουν τον δίσκο του δεύτερου «ΕΝΑ», ο οποίος περιέχεται στη λίστα με τα 10 καλύτερα άλμπουμ της δεκαετίας. Το 2003 συνεργάζεται με τον κορυφαίο σαξοφωνίστα-κλαρινετίστα Φλώρο Φλωρίδη και ηχογραφούν τον δίσκο «Fictional Lies on Right Occations», ένα άλμπουμ σταθμός στον χώρο της αυτοσχεδιαστικής τζαζ. Το 2005 συνεργάζεται και πάλι με τον Σωκράτη Μάλαμα ενορχηστρώνοντας τον δίσκο του τραγουδοποιού «ΤΟ ΑΔΕΙΟ ΔΩΜΑΤΙΟ» και την ίδια χρονιά γράφει τη μουσική για την ταινία «ΑΓΡΥΠΝΙΑ» του Νίκου Γραμματικού. Τις χρονιές 2005-2006 και 2006-2007, διδάσκει κιθάρα και μουσικά σύνολα στο Τ.Λ.Π.Μ. του ΤΕΙ Ηπείρου στην Αρτα . Τον Φεβρουάριο του 2008 κυκλοφορεί από την Puzzlemusik ο πρώτος προσωπικός του δίσκος με τίτλο « Σκηνές από ένα ταξίδι», όπου με κινηματογραφική γραφή κι εντοπιότητα ιχνηλατεί τα μονοπάτια της jazz, ambient, και rock μουσικής. Τον Απρίλιο του 2010 από την ίδια εταιρεία κυκλοφορεί το δεύτερο προσωπικό του άλμπουμ με τον τίτλο «Η σπηλιά του δράκου», όπου ανασκευάζει με δημιουργικό και μινιμαλιστικό τρόπο ρεμπέτικα μαζί με δικές του συνθέσεις.

Ο ίδιος ο Μπάμπης Παπαδόπουλος μιλώντας για τη δουλειά του λέει: «Οτιδήποτε κάνω προσπαθώ να έχει ένα νόημα και να με εκφράζει, αυτός εξάλλου είναι και ο μόνος λόγος για να κάνουμε πράγματα. Δεν με ενδιαφέρει να μπω σε μια αλυσίδα παραγωγής για να βρίσκομαι στην επικαιρότητα».

Λουβάνα – Φεστιβάλ Ακουστικής Μουσικής

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The first festival organised by Louvana Records

To 1ο Φεστιβάλ Ακουστικής Μουσικής ΛΟΥΒΑΝΑ ανοίγει τις πόρτες του για δύο μέρες στις 25 Σεπτεμβρίου 2009, στον ημι-υπαίθριο χώρο της μουσικής σκηνής ΙΡΙΣ, που βρίσκεται στο γραφικότατο χωριό της επαρχίας Λεμεσού, Πεντάκωμο. Το Φεστιβάλ είναι μια παραγωγή της ανεξάρτητης ομάδας ‘Λουβάνα’ (πίσω από την οποία είναι κρυμμένοι κάποιοι από τους διοργανωτές του περιβόητου Dogstock Festival) σε συνεργασία με την ‘Παραπλεύρως Παραγωγές’ η οποία διοργάνωσε πρόσφατα το φεστιβάλ χορού ΙndiePlat, στη Λευκωσία. Η ομάδα ‘Λουβάνα’ τα τελευταία χρόνια διοργανώνει ποιοτικά μουσικά δρώμενά, κυρίως στο Λονδίνο αλλά και στη Λευκωσία. Μοναδικός σκοπός της η προβολή και ανάδειξη νέων ή αφανών μουσικών/δημιουργών που έχουν κάτι να πουν είτε με τα λόγια τους είτε με τη μουσική τους.

Όπως και το Dogstock, έτσι και το Φεστιβάλ Λουβάνα, θα φιλοξενήσει εκτός από κύπριους καλλιτέχνες και αρκετούς καλλιτέχνες από εξωτερικό πάντα κινούμενο στα προκαθορισμένα πλαίσια της ακουστικής μουσικής, δηλαδή της μουσικής που εκτελείται με ακουστικά όργανα, τα οποία δεν χρειάζονται ηλεκτρισμό για να ακουστούν. Συγκεκριμένα θα εμφανιστούν το Τρίο Τεκκέ, η Ylva Ceder από τη Σουηδία, ο Adam Beattie από τη Σκωτία, οι School of Imagination από την Αγγλία, οι Χουβαρτάς-Αγαθοκλέους-Κούλας-Ροδοσθένους, o Δημήτρης Κωνσταντόπουλος, η Χαριτίνη, η Stelafi, 16 minutes underwater: Σύγκρουση, o DJ Tony Cusack και άλλοι.

Στο χώρο του φεστιβάλ θα πωλείται φαγητό και ποτό. Οι διοργανωτές παροτρύνουν τον κόσμο να περάσει και τις δύο νύχτες στο χωριό ενοικιάζοντας δωμάτια ή κατασκηνώνοντας στους προκαθορισμένους χώρους. Παράλληλα δρώμενα θα διεξάγονται σε διάφορες γωνιές του χωριού είτε από μουσικούς είτε από εικαστικούς καλλιτέχνες κατά τη διάρκεια του φεστιβάλ. Επίσης θα λειτουργούν παζαράκια και θα υπάρχει παιχνιδότοπος για παιδιά.

25-26 Σεπτεμβρίου, μουσική σκηνή ΙΡΙΣ, Πεντάκωμο, Λεμεσός

Πληροφορίες/εισιτήρια: 7000 9109, contact@paraplevros.org

Διακίνηση προς και από το Πεντάκωμο: Λεωφορεία κάθε ώρα από πλατεία Σολωμού. 22 778841, 22 665814, 25 370592

Ιστοσελίδες: www.myspace.com/louvana και www.paraplevros.org

Χορηγοί : Κυπριακές Αερογραμμές , New Division , Skoutaris Steel, Πολίτης , Interprint, Eleven 63 Studio, Κανάλι 6.