ELENI TSALIGOPOULOU STEALS THE HEARTS OF ALL DURING A MAGICAL PERFORMANCE
WITH HER BAND BOGAZ MUSIQUE!
Watch videos from this performance
Greek singer Eleni Tsaligopoulou along with her band Bogaz Musique captivated the audience during AKTINA ‘s Greek Music Journey 2016 (GMJ) on Friday, April 22nd at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College during a performance termed by all in attendance as “magical!”. Produced by Elena Maroulleti and co-presented by AKTINA Productions, Inc., and CYPRECO Of America, Inc., the concert was given to benefit the organizations’ public service media, AKTINA FM and AKTINA TV while it also celebrated AKTINA’s and AKTINA FM’s 23rd anniversary.
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Before a packed theatre, Eleni Tsaligopoulou truly captivated the enthused audience who were fully engaged from beginning to end singing, clapping along and cheering. Along with her band Bogaz Musique comprised by the talented musicians, Apostolos Tsardakas, kanonaki/tzoura/baglama/vocals, Spyros Chatzikontstantinou, guitars/vocals, Haris Kellaris, bass and Argyris Diamantis, drums, Eleni Tsaligopoulou entertained the crowd during a very unique and unforgettable musical journey that lasted for 2 ½ hours and highlighted the best aspects of Greek music.
The audience enjoyed many great hits from Eleni Tsaligopoulou’s personal discography, as well as traditional, rembetika and classic everlasting songs by great Greek composers such as Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hatzidakis and Stavros Xarhakos, performed in a new and revived sound by the talented artists. Eleni Tsaligopoulou mastered the stage with incredible energy in a most dynamic performance. Soon after the commence of the performance, she took off her shoes and started dancing all over the stage fully engaging the audience that kept cheering, singing and clapping along. A unique highlight of the performance was her interpretation of the hit song “Diodia” composed by Stavros Siolas and based on lyrics by Greek Cypriot American lyricist and poet Polys Kyriacou, who is also a volunteer at AKTINA FM and a member of CYPRECO.
Referring to the successful performance, the Executive Producer of the concert and President of AKTINA and CYPRECO, Elena Maroulleti, stressed that, “we feel exceptionally happy and honored for receiving once again raving reviews and ecstatic compliments from our fans, supporters and members of the press for our new concert from the series, Greek Music Journey. Everyone thanked us for selecting Eleni Tsaligopoulou who according to their testimonies she truly mesmerized and captivated them, while there is much buzz on Facebook by everyone who attended."
In recognition of the many contributions of Eleni Tsaligopoulou to Greek music and for participating in support of Greek Music Journey 2016, the artist was honored with “AKTINA’s Distinguished Artist Award”. This prestigious award is exclusively presented to GMJ participating artists with many years of contributions to Greek music and Ms. Tsaligopoulou was the third recipient. Previous recipients were, Lavrentis Machairitsas and Yiannis Kotsiras. Council Member Costa Constantinides also honored Ms. Tsaligopoulou with a Citation on behalf of the City of New York in recognition of her contributions to Greek music and for her participation to GMJ 2016 for the benefit of Greek Americans and of all New Yorkers.
During his brief remarks, Council Member Constantinides congratulated Mrs. Maroulleti and the sponsoring non-profits of the concert, AKTINA and CYPRECO for the “outstanding and successful production” and for their “commitment of producing in New York unique musical journeys which revive the rich musical inheritance of Greece”. Mr. Constantinides also congratulated Mrs. Tsaligopoulou and her band Bogaz Musique for the “beautiful concert” they presented.
In accepting the awards Ms. Tsaligopoulou thanked Council Member Constantinides, the organizations AKTINA and CYPRECO and Ms. Maroulleti "for the great honor" they bestowed upon her and for inviting her to perform in Greek Music Journey 2016. She also thanked the audience for attending and for supporting AKTINA's and CYPRECO's cultural mission of promoting the representative music of Greece.
In her brief remarks Ms. Maroulleti thanked the participating artists, the audience for honoring with their presence, everyone who participated and contributed to this production, including all “dedicated volunteers of AKTINA and CYPRECO” and all companies and organizations who sponsored the concert. Ms. Maroulleti also referred to the upcoming events of both AKTINA and CYPRECO and invited all to participate.
The superb sound for GMJ 2016 was handled once again by the technical staff of the Kaye Playhouse, lights by Thanasis Tzouvelis, the official photographers were Anastassios Mentis and Petros Petrides, AKTINA’s and CYPRECO’s volunteer production staff included, Elena Maroulleti, Executive Concert Producer, Tom Stouras, video, Caroline Ioannou, Penny Chapman, Kosmas Vrakas, Michael Tribunella, Polys Kyriakou and Vlassis Anastasiou production staff and the Interns Christina Constantinou and Amy Zoitas.
Greek Music Journey 2016 with Eleni Tsaligopoulou & Bogaz Musique was made possible in part by Arch Capital Group (US), the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Investors Bank, Atlantic Bank, Astoria Bank, Onassis Foundation (U.S) and Christo Fifth Avenue. Catering Sponsors, AMMOS Estiatorio and Madison Restaurant in Manhattan and Bayside Diner in Queens. Media Sponsors, the weekly Greek American “I Efimerida Tis Neas Yorkis” and ANT1 Satellite U.S. Special media coverage by Greekreporter.com.
On Saturday, April 23rd, AKTINA in collaboration with PLAKA Entertainment offered a second successful performance with Eleni Tsaligopoulou & Bogaz Musique at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston.
Photos above by: Anastassios Mentis