Biography
Timeline
2020
Her performances in Athens are canceled due to the pandemic and the lockdown.
During the pandemic she presents together with Ara Dinkjian and a group of artists (Kardes Turkuler & Maral Ayvaz from Turkey and Yoav Itzhak from Israel) a home made recording of “I stay out” with the title “Picture” and moves her friends.
2019
In January, he performs a European tour in Germany, Holland, Belgium and Sweden and continues immediately after the appearances with Yiannis Kotsiras, which conclude in March. In May, he inaugurates the “3 Culturas” Festival with an open concert in Murcia, Spain, and in the summer he makes a big tour in Greece and Cyprus together with Yiannis Kotsiras.
2018
In March and April he makes a series of personal appearances at Gazarte in Athens and Cyprus. In June, he presents at the Herodos Conservatory of Atticus the show “Same Time” together with TAKIM, the group of musicians united by the song they recorded in the autumn of last year, and by the common love for tradition. The concert takes place as part of the Athens Festival and is sold out, winning the hearts of the audience and critics.
2015
In June 2015, the personal album “9+1 Stories” is released with Eleftheria Arvanitaki signing the production of the album. These are new songs with music by Themis Karamouratides, Nikos Portokaloglou, Christos Deligiannis and Stathis Drogosis and lyrics by Nikos Moraitis, Leda Roumanis and Nikos Portokaloglou. In the summer he tours Greece and Cyprus.
2013
She tours all over Greece and Cyprus in the summer with a quartet of musicians. In September, she performs the “Film songs Project” along with the Cyclades Orchestra at the Herodion theatre in Athens. Nikos Portokaloglou and Vassilikos participate in the concert and the Cyclades Orchestra plays under the direction of Nikos Kypourgos.
2012
Eleftheria Arvanitaki makes a series of shows -entitled “Let’s go to the miracles again” – at Athens’ Gazarte Club until the end of March ,in which she is accompanied by a quartet of musicians and presents an unplugged show. The shows are also presented in Thessaloniki (Stage Club) and Cyprus (Red Club, Nicosia and Rialto Theatre, Limassol).
2010
Eleftheria Arvanitaki came “Face to Face” with herself, her repertoire and other beloved songs in the beginning of 2010 in a series of shows at Stage Club in Thessaloniki. These exceptional shows were recorded and released in a live double album entitled “Face to Face” and a dvd. The dvd was directed by Konstantinos Rigos, an awarded choreographer and director. The shows were presented also in Athens at Rex Hall in March and April.
2008
In April 2008 Eleftheria Arvanitaki toured in 4 Spanish cities (Castellon, Α Coruna, Zaragoza, San Sebastian). All concerts were sold out and the audience was absolutely enthusiastic. the comcerts was sold out !
During the summer Eleftheria Arvanitaki toured all over Greece and Cyprus together with Dimitra Galani with enormous success. In September and October she made a personal tour in central and northern Europe (Amsterdam,Utrecht, Helsinki, London and Brussels).
2007
Ιn April and Mary Eleftheria Arvanitaki and the composer Nikos Xydakis present the songs of their album “Grigora i ora perase” (i.e. “The time passed quickly”) in a series of 14 shows in Thessaloniki and Athens A band of 16 musicians and the conductor Nikos Platyirachos accompanied Eleftheria and Nikos Xydakis in these shows who surely became among the audience’s favorites in both Athens and Thessaloniki.
2006
In April, the album “Stis akres ap’ ta matia sou”/ “To the edges of your eyes” is released in Europe. In April, the concert of Eleftheria Arvanitakis at the Vrachon Theater in the summer of 1995 with the participation of Ara Dinkjian and Arto Tuncboyaciyian is released on the Greek market in a special edition with a bonus DVD.
2005
From November 2004 until March 2005 Eleftheria Arvanitaki played together in Athens together with Haris Alexiou, another very famous and very important Greek singer. Their collaboration was a long-awaited wish for the majority of the Greek audience. Their collaboration was a long-awaited wish for the majority of the Greek audience.Their common shows were also presented in Thessaloniki in March and April, 2005. Seeing Eleftheria Arvanitaki and Haris Alexiou playing together was definitely something to remember.
2004
The CD Single “Eleftheria Arvanitaki/Three songs” was released in Greece in January. The tree songs of the album are: 1. a brand new song by Stamatis Kraounakis entitled “I’m going to touch the sky” that was arranged by Akis Katsoupakis; 2. the song of Nikos Kypourgos and Afroditi Manou entitled “End” from the “Oxygen” OST; 3. the song “My friends don’t love you” of George Andreou and Thodoris Atheridis from the theatre play of Thodoris Atheridis entitled “…Of love”.
2003
Since December 12th, 2002, she plays at VOX, a brand-new club in Athens that was built especially for Eleftheria, having Lavrentis Maheritsas, one of the most important up-to-date song-writers and performers, as a guest. Manolis Pantelidakis creates the stage set. They presented the same show at “Fix Community” in Thessaloniki in April and May.
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2002
In early March, she tours in five Spanish cities: Barcelona, Tenerife, Madrid, Saragosa, Salamanca. Her Spanish tour is a big success Right after her Spanish tour, she begins a series of very special personal shows at the Gyalino Mousiko Theatre in Athens. Yiorgos Zachariou does the arrangements. The very best moments of these shows are recorded and in released in a CD entitled “Eleftheria Arvanitaki – Live” by Universal Music. Also, Eleftheria’s albums “The Bodies and the Knives” and “Outside the Program” are released in a special Spanish edition by the independent record company Resistencia.
2001
Her album “Broadcast” is released in March. Manos Achalinotopoulos, Sokratis Malamas, Ara Dinkjian, Ismael Lo (Senegal), Teofilo Chantre (Capo Verde), Dulce Pontes (Portugal), Yiota Kotseta and Sotiris Lemonidis – who also does the arrangements – are the composers of the songs, while lyrics are given by the poet Michalis Ganas, the writer Apostolos Doxiadis, Alkis Alkeos and Mirto Kondova “Broadcast” is also released in Europe in a special English edition, and in Spain in a special Spanish edition entitled “Emision”.
1999-2000
Eleftheria’s songs are traveling all over the world! The CD “Eleftheria Arvanitaki – The Very Best of 1989-1998” is released by the historic jazz label Verve which has a number of very important recordings of very famous jazz and ethnic artists in her catalogue, such as Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Mercedes Sosa, Louis Armstrong and Night Ark. She is the first Greek singer being introduced by Verve to the international audience.
Four of Eleftheria’s albums are released in Europe in special editions These are: “Meno Ektos” (i.e. “I remain outside”), “I Nichta Katevenei” (i.e. “The Night is Descending”), “Zontana stous Vrachous” (i.e. “Live at Vrachon”) and “Ta Kormia ke ta Maheria” (i.e. “the Bodies and the Knives”).
1998
Eleftheria and her band present the “Ektos Programmatos” (i.e. “Off the Road”) show at the “Stavros tou Notou” Club in Athens and the “Mylos” Club in Salonica. The show includes ‘old-time classic’ Greek songs that Eleftheria and her band used to play and sing during the breaks of the tours, or after the end of concerts either back-stage or while traveling by bus, airplane, train or boat! Eleftheria, therefore, and her collaborators Manos Achalinotopoulos, Vassilis Ginos, Spyros Goumas, Yiannis Zeugolis, Vangelis Karipis, Sotiris Lemonidis, Antonis Mitzelos, Manolis Pappos and Thanasis Sofras played and interpreted classical songs and invited the public “to a little folk party before 2000!”. These songs were recorded and a double-live album was released entitled “Ektos Programmatos”. Sotiris Lemonides did the arrangements.
1996
The album “Tragoudia gia tous mines” (i.e. “Songs for the Months”) is released, in which Dimitris Papadimitriou sets to music poetry by Odisseas Elitis (Nobel Prize award), Sappho, Maria Polidouri, Kostas Kariotakis and Michalis Ganas. Eleftheria works together with Dimitris Papadimitriou and Kostas Kalimeris for the production of this album.
1994
Eleftheria collaborates with the composer – and top oud soloists – Ara Dinkjian for the album “Ta Kormia ke ta Maheria” (i.e. “The Bodies and The Knives”). Lina Nikolakopoulou and the poet Michalis Ganas write the lyrics of the album, and Dimitris Papadimitriou does the arrangements.
She appears at the “Apollon” Club in Athens for the second time, and later at the “Apothiki” club of “Mylos” in Thessaloniki together with Dimitris Zervoudakis and Yannis Palamidas. The sets of the show are by Yiannis Kottis.
1991-1992
Eleftheria’s “Meno Ektos” album is released. This is a very decisive album for her career. A number of composers wrote the songs of this album: Hristos Nikolopoulos, Yiorgos Zikas, Andonis Mitzelos, Nikos Xidakis and the American-Armenian Ara Dinkjian who wrote her big-time hit “Dynata”.Lina Nikolakopoulou, Thodoris Gonis and Yiorgos Zikas wrote the lyrics Nikos Antipas did the arrangements. Eleftheria together with Lina Nikolakopoulou were the producers of the album.
She tours all over Greece in the summer. Dimitris Zervoudakis and Petros Gaitanos accompany her.
1989-1990
She works together with Stamatis Spanoudakis one more time and they release the album “Tanirama”. She also features in the album “To Kourema” (i.e. “The Haircut”) of Dionissis Savopoulos and “Kapou Anatolikoditika” of the composer Notis Mavroudis. In winter, she appears at “ZOOM” club together with Dionissis Savopoulos. and they also tour all over Greece in the summer.
1987
This is yet another discographically important year for Eleftheria. Together with Nikos Xydakis they perform the songs of the album “Konta Sti Doxa Mia Stigmi”, where Nikos Xydakis writes the music and verses by Thodoris Gonis and Emmanuel Zachos, as well as in poetry by Napoleon Lapathiotis. Eleftheria’s collaboration and friendship with Nikos Xydakis will continue and result in very important albums (“Tenedos”, “To Meli ton Gremon”, “Akrotirion Tenaron” – see “Discography” for more details).
1986
She meets the songwriter Stamatis Spanoudakis and they release the album “Kontrabando”, in which Stamatis Spanoudakis writes both the lyrics and the music and is responsible for the arrangements. “Kontrabando” is still considered a ‘landmark’ album for the Greek discography, as Eleftheria’s ‘peculiar’ and highly distinctive voice among the western instruments that were used managed to combine tradition with novelty.
1984-1985
Her first personal album entitled “Eleftheria Arvanitaki” is released, in which she performs older songs of very important folk and rembetika composers such as Vassilis Tsitsanis, Manolis Hiotis and Apostolos Kaldaras. At the same time, the third album of Opisthodromiki Kompania entitled “Sti Mesi tis Kompanias” is released. A little later, Eleftheria features in the album “Trapezakia Exo” of Dionissis Savopoulos.
Opisthodromiki Kompania is dissolved and Eleftheria starts her personal career She features in the album “Me ta fegaria hanomai” of the singer Stavros Logarides and the songwriter Yiorgos Zikas It is also the year that she meets the composer Nikos Xydakis and features in the OST of the picture “Mania” by Yiorgos Panousopoulos. The music is by Nikos Xydakis and the lyrics by Kostas Goudis.
1983
The album “Mia nichta me tin Opisthodromiki Kompania” (i.e. “Spending one night together with Opisthodromiki Kompania”) is released. The group makes a series of very successful appearances in Greece and abroad.
1982
The first album of Opisthodromiki Kompania entitled “Stis Xanthis, sto Aiginitio, sto Armatagogo Kos” is released, with Dionissis Savopoulos being the producer. She also features in the album “Kentro Dierhomenon” of the composer Nikos Mamangakis and the poet Yiannis Ioannou. In that same year, he contributed to the album “Center of Passers-by” by composer Nikos Mamagakis and poet Yiannis Ioannou. He also took part in the album “Oi Kakes Mas Praxes” by the band Hanomai why Remvazo.
1981
She does her first guest appearance in discography. She features in the album of Vangelis Germanos entitled “Ta Barakia”.
1980
She joins the group “Opisthodromiki Kompania” (i.e. Retrograde Company) and she makes her first steps in singing.