Eleni & Souzana Vougioukli
Piraeus, Attica, Greece | Established. Jan 01, 2006 | SELF
Music
Press
"Eleni & Souzana Vougioukli stin praxi.gr" - "stin praxi.gr"
AKTINA's Concert Mediterranean Musical Odyssey with Eleni and Souzana Vougioukli - AKTINA'S PRODUCTION
“Acts of the Greeks” – I despinides tragoudoun
- Filmellon
Eleni and Souzana Vougioukli. Two voices molded by feeling and knowledge. They are making an intervention in the Greek song. Two voices directed, with a straight, clear vision, at the soul, which uniquely manage to cause excitement.
Loudovikos Ton Anoyion
- Loudovikos Ton Anoyion
Eleni and Souzana Vougioukli are two young girls, modern but mature, who have substantially adopted tradition. Specifically speaking, for them tradition is not an academic achievement, but a way of life, a friendly relationship. This was the impression I had when I went to the studio to play guitar for the songs of Thrace. And I was impressed by the ease and spontaneity of their interpretation when we began recording. Beyond their musical knowledge, they are two personalities with a wide ranging artistic culture. They carry in them various countries, a world of colourful sound and, because of this, they can interpret a traditional song from Southern Italy, or one of the songs of Hatzidakis or Tsitsanis equally effortlessly. I hope they will have a career which will continue to pleasantly surprise and impress us, as they have done with this CD.
Yiannis Spathas - Yiannis Spathas (member of the greek band "Socrates")
Eleni and Souzana Vougioukli are two young girls, modern but mature, who have substantially adopted tradition. Specifically speaking, for them tradition is not an academic achievement, but a way of life, a friendly relationship. This was the impression I had when I went to the studio to play guitar for the songs of Thrace. And I was impressed by the ease and spontaneity of their interpretation when we began recording. Beyond their musical knowledge, they are two personalities with a wide ranging artistic culture. They carry in them various countries, a world of colourful sound and, because of this, they can interpret a traditional song from Southern Italy, or one of the songs of Hatzidakis or Tsitsanis equally effortlessly. I hope they will have a career which will continue to pleasantly surprise and impress us, as they have done with this CD.
Yiannis Spathas - Yiannis Spathas (member of the greek band "Socrates")
Vougioukli sisters consist a unique artistic presence. With deep knowledge, talent, sensitivity and character they serve difficult musical forms which connect us with great moments of our musical tradition, simultaneously teaching and moving us. Their voices are rich, precise and cultivated, with an artistic quality and technique, and a wide range. Their well chosen repertoire represents a new presence on the music and artistic scene and, above all, they offer an alternative proposition as to how we might approach our musical tradition, in a creative and attractive way. The appreciation that the public has for them proves this to be the case.
Minister of Education
The President of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture
Professor G. Babiniotis
- Professor G. Babiniotis
Vougioukli sisters consist a unique artistic presence. With deep knowledge, talent, sensitivity and character they serve difficult musical forms which connect us with great moments of our musical tradition, simultaneously teaching and moving us. Their voices are rich, precise and cultivated, with an artistic quality and technique, and a wide range. Their well chosen repertoire represents a new presence on the music and artistic scene and, above all, they offer an alternative proposition as to how we might approach our musical tradition, in a creative and attractive way. The appreciation that the public has for them proves this to be the case.
Minister of Education
The President of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture
Professor G. Babiniotis
- Professor G. Babiniotis
It always makes me happy when young singers free themselves from the stress of achieving a popular hit and choose the difficult road of quality instead Here, in this CD, Eleni and Souzana Vougioukli have shown this in practice. I first heard them when they were still teenagers, in 2001, and I invited them to take part in my concert at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. It was their first official performance. They charmed me with their beautiful voices and their authenticity. I am very happy to see that they continue not only serving the traditional song seriously and respectfully but also the song ‘without frontiers’, in their own special way. I am sure that they have much more to offer us in the future.
Maria Farantouri - Maria Farantouri
Zwei Perlen
Konzert mit Kithara und Piano, mit Eleni Bougioukli und Souzanna Bougioukli im Fauteuil, Basel. Eleni und Suzana Bougioukli waren wohl den meisten der rund 80 Zuschauerinnen und Zuschauern, die sich im Kaisersaal eingefunden hatten, unbekannt.
Lieder aus Griechenland und dem Mittelmeerraum waren angekündigt; was die beiden Schwestern Vougiouki boten, übertraf alle Erwartungen. Lieder aus Griechenland, hauptsächlich aus Nordgriechenland, bildeten die Hauptsteine der Liederkette. Dazwischen reihten sich Lieder aus der Türkei, Armenien, dem Balkan, Spanien und Portugal. Kleine Pretiosen aus dem Jazz, dem Country und vor allem dem Blues vollendeten das wunderbare Arrangement. Die Lieder waren geschickt für Gitarre oder Piano arrangiert und wurden von den beiden Künstlerinnen gekonnt vorgetragen.
Die tiefe, manchmal etwas rau wirkende Stimme von Suzana harmonierte perfekt mit der hellen Stimme von Eleni. So entstand eine Musik, welche die Zuhörerinnen und Zuhörer sofort in ihren Bann zog und über das gesamte fast zweistündige Programm nicht los liess. Eleni beherrscht die für den ostmediterranen Raum typischen Koloraturen perfekt. Ihre Lieder erhalten dadurch eine unbeschreibliche Eindringlichkeit. Suzana gelang es beeindruckend, den Bogen vom griechischen Rembetiko über den portugiesischen Fado zum amerikanischen Blues zu spannen. Ihr selbst geschriebener Blues «to be safe» ist ein Versprechen für die Zukunft. Es war ein begeisternder Abend, den uns Eleni und Suzana boten. Herzlichen Dank! Dank gebührt auch der Griechischen Gemeinde Zürich. Das Konzert kam durch die sehr gute und freundschaftliche Zusammenarbeit mit ihr zustande. Eleni und Suzana Bougioukli sind zwei wahre Perlen. Wir werden alles daran setzen, sie im nächsten Jahr noch einmal in Basel zu präsentieren.
Martin Müller, Kulturverein der Freunde Griechenlands, Switzerland - Kulturverein der Freunde Griechenlands, Switzerland
Zwei Perlen
Konzert mit Kithara und Piano, mit Eleni Bougioukli und Souzanna Bougioukli im Fauteuil, Basel. Eleni und Suzana Bougioukli waren wohl den meisten der rund 80 Zuschauerinnen und Zuschauern, die sich im Kaisersaal eingefunden hatten, unbekannt.
Lieder aus Griechenland und dem Mittelmeerraum waren angekündigt; was die beiden Schwestern Vougiouki boten, übertraf alle Erwartungen. Lieder aus Griechenland, hauptsächlich aus Nordgriechenland, bildeten die Hauptsteine der Liederkette. Dazwischen reihten sich Lieder aus der Türkei, Armenien, dem Balkan, Spanien und Portugal. Kleine Pretiosen aus dem Jazz, dem Country und vor allem dem Blues vollendeten das wunderbare Arrangement. Die Lieder waren geschickt für Gitarre oder Piano arrangiert und wurden von den beiden Künstlerinnen gekonnt vorgetragen.
Die tiefe, manchmal etwas rau wirkende Stimme von Suzana harmonierte perfekt mit der hellen Stimme von Eleni. So entstand eine Musik, welche die Zuhörerinnen und Zuhörer sofort in ihren Bann zog und über das gesamte fast zweistündige Programm nicht los liess. Eleni beherrscht die für den ostmediterranen Raum typischen Koloraturen perfekt. Ihre Lieder erhalten dadurch eine unbeschreibliche Eindringlichkeit. Suzana gelang es beeindruckend, den Bogen vom griechischen Rembetiko über den portugiesischen Fado zum amerikanischen Blues zu spannen. Ihr selbst geschriebener Blues «to be safe» ist ein Versprechen für die Zukunft. Es war ein begeisternder Abend, den uns Eleni und Suzana boten. Herzlichen Dank! Dank gebührt auch der Griechischen Gemeinde Zürich. Das Konzert kam durch die sehr gute und freundschaftliche Zusammenarbeit mit ihr zustande. Eleni und Suzana Bougioukli sind zwei wahre Perlen. Wir werden alles daran setzen, sie im nächsten Jahr noch einmal in Basel zu präsentieren.
Martin Müller, Kulturverein der Freunde Griechenlands, Switzerland - Kulturverein der Freunde Griechenlands, Switzerland
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Eleni and Souzana Vougioukli began to explore world music very early and went on to experiment with the possibilities of the human voice as an innate musical instrument. With specific emphasis on the original language and with appropriate respect for pronunciation and articulation of each individual form, they sing in more than twenty languages and dialects, both a capella and/or accompanied by piano, guitar and percussion instruments which they play themselves.
They have given concerts of ethnic, classical and traditional music,
in the frames of very important events and intrnational festivals.
They have performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, in both ancient and national theaters, in castles, in the world unique train-theater "Treno sto Rouf", in Tedx Athens 2013, in famous concert halls and jazz clubs all aver Greece, Cyprus, Switzerland, Bulgaria, the USA, Italy, Ukraine, Luxembourg, Belgium, Turkey, Romania, Nepal and elsewhere.
Their repertoire consists of traditional songs of various ethnic groups: rebetika and traditional Greek songs in all dialects including that of the Greek speaking community of Southern Italy, Portuguese fado, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, Turkish, Arabic, Gypsy, Serb, American blues and jazz, Armenian, Sephardic, Pomak (a Slavic dialect of the Rhodopi mountain in N. Greece) and Bulgarian, as well as their own compositions. All their songs stand out for their power of expression and their diachronic qualities both in terms of history and geography, whilst the basic focus of their research is the deeper roots of each song. The long lasting quality of each song, that is, Tradition, the language and the music it carries with it on its journey through space and time, meets up with its modern exposition, its living present, as understood by the artists who make their own transformations and adaptations to the sounds of the times, in their own particular interpretation.
They have worked with many well known artists including Maria Farantouri at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Goran Bregovic, Thanassis Gaifyllias, Loudovikos Ton Anoyion, Vasilis Lekkas, Ilias Andriopoulos, Psarantonis and Rotting Christ.
Eleni was born in Thessaloniki and grew up in Xanthi. She holds a BA in Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies of the University of Macedonia. She has also studied piano, music theory and solo including all classical, Byzantine and jazz. Similarly, she studied Byzantine and jazz theory and music. She began performing traditional Greek songs from the age of eight and she gave a lot of performances in official festivals such as that of Old Town Festival in Xanthi. She was awarded a lot of distinctions and first prizes in various competitions such as First Prize in a capella category, in the National Competition organized by the Ministry of Education in 1997. As a member of traditional music groups she has made many appearances and CD recordings with songs from Asia Minor, Thrace and other areas of Greece. She has studied classical and traditional dancing and she is involved in research in theatrical performance. She speaks English, French, Turkish, and Arabic as well as a little Russian and Italian.
Souzana was born and raised in Xanthi, where her parents are professors at the Democritus University of Thrace. She is a graduate of the Mathematics Department of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, majoring in Pure Mathematics. She has studied piano, guitar, advanced theory and solo, as well as jazz - song and theory. She is also involved in composing. Among her interests, dance makes up an important part classical, traditional and afro-jazz, as well as theatrical performing. She speaks English, French and a little Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. The study of the relationship between music and mathematics is one of the things which especially
Band Members
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