KLAUDIA DELMER

KLAUDIA DELMER, vocals
HELENA CHOUNTA, piano
VANGELIS FAMPAS, guitar

Klaudia Delmer performs, with pianist Helena Chounta, the unreleased song cycle «20 songs of the Greek People» by composer Yannis Konstantinidis (1903-1984) and other songs from her personal discography.

Klaudia Delmer, vocals

Klaudia is born a Northerner, but she is brought up and lives in the South. The difference and the tension between these two worlds (these TWO WAYS OF BEING) is the source of her inspiration in music making and in the choice of her repertoire. From a very young age she admires different expressions of the art of song.

In her native country Poland she was exposed to classical music (her beloved composers are Chopin, Szymanowski, Lutoslawski, Penderecki and Gorecki) and a very highly developed tradition of so-called character (theater) song, so beautifully represented by Preisner and -a rather unknown outside of Poland composer- Konieczny, whose imaginative music rendition of polish poetry has always had a spell on her.

In her adoptive homeland Spain she encounters a fascinating world of flamenco tradition and there she takes her first voice lessons and gives “recitals” in various bars of Lavapies (district of Madrid). At the age of 17 she travels to Georgia, U.S as an exchange student. To her surprise she wins an opera contest for the state of Georgia. She decides to make singing the subject of her university studies. She moves to New York and gets her formal training at Mannes College of Music. While in New York, she takes part in opera productions and she is a finalist at the prestigious Rosa Ponselle voice competition at Lincoln Center and Koussevitzky competition.

After completing her studies she plans to come back to Europe. She moves to Greece and she is amazed by the beauty of the greek art and folk song. In Greece she collaborates with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Contemporary Music Orchestra of E.R.T., the Orchestra of Colors, the Greek Composers Contemporary Orchestra, the Athens Concert Hall as well as the National Opera of Athens and the Theodorakis Ensemble.

She continues her search within the art of the song by giving voice recitals with repertoire spanning from baroque to 20th century song, classical to popular. The love for song and the life experience of «moving around» in the world of music, languages and lyrics and in the world itself brings about her first solo album «Ainola» (Lyra, June 2001), a multilingual-multigenre project and it featured her own original lyrics in Italian and poetry by the Greek lyricist Michalis Bourboulis and the Spanish poet Antonio Gala with the original music composed by Vangelis Fampas and Nikos Xidakis. She also participates in the creation of several other CD projects as a guest singer and co-author.

Her new album «LaMAR – Dromi tis Thalassas» (Ways of the Sea) is released by Universal in April 2007 with lyrics by great Hispanic, Spanish and Greek poets about the sea and music by Mimis Plessas, a thrilling composer, great pianist and a leading figure in the greek music scene for the last 50 years.

She is currently recording 2 albums: «Eros», with lyrics about love from around the world, and «20 songs of the greek people» from a song cycle by composer Yannis Konstantinidis (1903-1984).

She is a founder and the Artistic Director of a summer Music Festival «Icarus – Festival for Dialogue between Cultures» on the island of Ikaria in the Aegean.

Helena Chounta, piano

Helena Chounta was born in Athens in 1973. Although she could play the piano by the age of three, just by watching her mother and sister practicing, she took her first official piano lesson when she was five years old. She studied at the Athenaeum Conservatory under the tuition of Dora Bakopoulou and graduated with honors in 1994. She was also rewarded with the «Athenaeum Golden Medal». Then, she attended Master Courses in Europe, given by Gyorgy Sebok, Leon Fleisher, Lev Vlassenko and Vladimir Krainev.

She has given numerous recitals in Greece and Europe and performed as a soloist with Greek State Orchestras.

In 2002, her love for chamber music, made her a member of the «Ellemis Piano Quartet», one of the most successful Greek ensembles, that has made appearances all over Greece and a recording of a CD with works of Chausson and Brahms.

She has also recorded works for piano and violin by famous Greek composers. All of her recordings have been frequently played by the Greek Radio and Television.

Her musical gamut also includes a devotion in teaching, lied accompaniment and a passion for composition. She made her first appearance as a composer at the age of 11. Her works have been performed by Greek Orchestras, the «Ensemble Symphonique des Brussels», children΄s choirs and famous soloists.

Vangelis Fampas, guitar

Vangelis Fampas was born in Athens and studied classical guitar from a very early age with his father, the famous guitarist Dimitri Fampas. Since the age of 16 he has been involved with composing and performing.

During 1979 to 1995, he lived to New York, where he attended the City University of New York (CUNY), and simultaneously worked full time as a composer for theater and TV. He received an M.A. from C.U.N.Y. and he continued towards a D.M.A. from the State University (S.U.N.Y.). Amongst his teachers were George Perle, Robert Starer, Henry Weinberg, Thea Musgrave and Arthur Harris.

Since 1995 he has been active in Greece as a composer and arranger for film and major orchestras. Vagelis has also been a ‘composer in residence’ with the ‘Greek Theater of New York’ and an associate composer for both CBS and PBS TV. Vagelis Fampas has scored for theatre, dance, fiction film, documentaries, multimedia, and commercial films.

Yannis Konstantinidis (1903-1984), composer