From Passion to Resurrection

The Byzantine Choir "Tropos," led by the chanter and teacher of the art of chanting, Κοnstantinos Angelidis, converses with the psaltery virtuoso Panos Dimitrakopoulos. A combination of sounds and modes, speech and chant, vocal and instrumental music.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Κοnstantinos Angelidis conducting, music instruction

Born in Tripoli, he studied theology and Byzantine music with Konstantinos Tasopoulos and Lykourgos Angelopoulos. As a researcher, he participated in the study and analysis programme of the works of the Byzantine maestro Ioannis Koukouzelis. He teaches Byzantine music in Greece and abroad, including at the School of Byzantine Music of the Music Foundation of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, of which he is the music director of the Byzantine Choir. He organized the Fathers’ Choir of the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi (Mount Athos), which he directed in the recording of 14 digital discs. He has collaborated with Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, the Radio Station of the Church of Greece and the online radio of Pemptousia. As a member of the Greek Byzantine Choir, directed by Lykourgos Angelopoulos, he participated in numerous events worldwide. In 2005, he founded the “Centre for the Study of Chanting Art” and the Byzantine Choir TROPOS, which he directs, participating in liturgical events and concerts in Greece and abroad, as well as in the release of digital albums. He serves as Protopsaltis (first chanter) at the Metochion of the Holy Sepulchre (Plaka, Athens).

Panos Dimitrakopoulos qanun

A virtuoso on the qanun with a distinctive and recognizable sound, he was born in Athens. He made his first appearances with Chronis Aidonidis and Domna Samiou in 1995, while in 2004 he obtained a diploma in traditional local instruments with first class honours from the Department of Greek Traditional & Popular Music at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory. He has collaborated with the most important Greek composers, singers and musicians of the last 30 years, as well as with famous international artists (Loreena McKennitt, Zbigniew Preisner, etc.). He has taught qanun at the National Conservatory of Athens, Athens Conservatory, Simon Karras Conservatory, Department of Folk and Traditional Music (TEI of Epirus), Postgraduate Program "Interpretation of Instrumental and Vocal Music" (Department of Music Studies, National University of Athens) and is a founding member of the "Chronis Aidonidis" Greek Music Orchestra. He recently began composing original music, part of which was presented in collaboration with the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation Contemporary Music Orchestra on Greek Radio as part of the 'New Greek Creation' program.

Byzantine Choir TROPOS

Founded by Konstantinos Angelidis and his associates in 2005 with the aim of studying and promoting Byzantine music. In its 20 years of activity, it has transferred the Greek musical culture, the art of chanting, to 20 countries abroad. It has participated in worship events presided over by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and other primates of the Church, as well as in long vigils at the holy monasteries of Mount Athos and Sinai Monastery. It has performed at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, the  Greek National Opera, and the Athens Concert Hall, while it also participated in the 1st Sacred Music Festival of the Greek National Opera. He has collaborated with artists such as Julien Jâl¬al Eddine Weiss and the Ensemble AlKindi, Kunci Ergüner, and Socrates Sinopoulos. He has also published a series of 32 digital albums containing a multitude of classical and unpublished works by great composers from Constantinople and Mount Athos, from the 13th century to the present day.

The participants in the Byzantine Choir TROPOS, in alphabetical order, are:

Emmanuel Avraam, Evangelos Gountis, Chrysovalantis Evangeliou, Emmanuel Theodoropoulos, Dimitrios Kalliakmanis, Dimitrios Karagiambas, Spyros Kasimatis, Pantazis Kapsachatis, Athanasios Kougias, Panagiotis Koutris, Nektarios Lagoudakis, Dimitrios Lazaris, Alexios Makropoulos, Nikolaos Makropoulos, Philippos Makropoulos, Dimitrios Maniatis, Theodoros Maniatis, Nikolaos Mantzouranis, Fotios Midas, Mitar Mirkovits, Konstantinos Moutafis, Alexander Botonakis, Dimitrios Nentas, Kosmas Nikolaidis, Dimitrios Nikolopoulos, Ioannis Petropoulos, Panagiotis Petropoulos, Stavros Pilichos, Dionysios Roussos, Georgios Savvas, Dimitrios Spatharis, Athanasios Stamoulis, Eleftherios Sotiropoulos, Ioannis Terzakis, Theofanis Triantafillou, Nikolaos Triantafillou, Elias Tsartakleas, Polykarpos Tsempoglou, Symeon Tsempoglou, Eleftherios Chavatzas, Antonios Chalaris, Kosmas Chalaris, Vasilios Psycharis.