Maçka Radif-Christos Kaliontzidis Trio

The link between the ancient and the modern

As a society, we are going through periods that have as their dominant element multiculturalism, the transition from one cultural phenomenon to another, the exchange of a lot of information at great speed and the constant evolution of our everyday life. Next and normal is that this whole process has a direct effect on every form of art, let alone music which has been an integral part of a person’s life for centuries.
The project “Maçka Radif-Christos Kaliontzidis Trio” presents in sound this entire transition from the ancient to the modern, from the old to the new, from the “sterile” to the “irreconcilable”. The Pontic musical tradition is the main element of experiential experience for Christos Kaliontzidis who leads this idea. This experiential relationship that gives rise to the need to perpetuate a sound that survives for hundreds of years and adapts to the circumstances gave rise to the formation of this musical group.
Christos Kaliontzidis, as an exponent of the Pontic lyre and the sound of the Black Sea, undertakes, through the primordial sound of the “kemendze” and the Pontic song, to arrange old traditional melodies and to compose new ones that have as a common denominator the sounds and aromas of the Pontus , and as numerator sometimes Persian music, sometimes Turkish, sounds of the wider Mediterranean area, even elements from the jazz music school, which is directly attributed to the performance level. This recipe creates an audio-visual fusion that turns introversion into extroversion and vice versa, keeping the viewer’s interest undiminished until the last minute.
The composition of the trio plays, as expected, a catalytic role in the entire show. All compositions are accompanied by the oud of Thomas Meleteas and an original set of natural percussion by Yiannis Graikos, which is adjusted according to the timbre required by each composition. The above trio interacts with the five-stringed Pontic lyre performed by Christos Kaliontzidis, thus establishing a complete group that can cope with all levels of acoustic music scenes.
The performance “Maçka Radif-Christos Kaliontzidis Trio, The link between the ancient and the modern” has multifaceted advantages in festivals and music productions aimed at contemporary musical content. The composition and flow of the program is such that it makes the listener constantly feel a connection with the past while keeping him firmly in tune with the sounds he is surrounded by in his everyday life. This process automatically creates a disengagement from all kinds of taboos that sometimes fragment music creation and gives the organizer the opportunity to present to the general public a proposal full of substance, freshness, sound and spectacle, which is the creative and alternative continuation of an already historical musical tradition of the countryside.
An important role for the presentation of the musical content is also played by the space in which it will take place. It is necessary to have sitting listening and viewing conditions so that the attendees can fully harmonize with the content of the performance. It is logical that the relationship between the audience and the orchestra is two-way, so the place can act as a catalyst in this direction.
For the smooth performance of the show, specific sound and lighting conditions are needed, which can be shared in detail with a stage plan, if requested. The following is an appendix with more information about the participants as well as a link to a sample part of the musical performance.


Christos Kaliontzidis

Christos Kaliontzidis was born in Veroia Imathia in 1993, while he lives in Thessaloniki. He comes from a musical family since his father Michalis is one of the most important masters of the Pontic lyre in Greece. From his father, Christos acquired his first traditional listening skills, while at the age of six he came into direct contact with the Pontic tones, learning the Pontic lyre and singing. At the age of just 12, he began his first public appearances playing and singing Pontic music both at social events (weddings, baptisms, traditional festivals, etc.) and at concerts with choral ensembles. In 2001, he enrolled at the State Conservatory of Northern Greece, where he studied for a number of years, attending theoretical lessons, piano and classical violin under the great soloist Galina Batsika. In 2011 he passes with panhellenic ex

studies at the Department of Music Studies of the University of Ioannina from which he graduated, while a little later he completed with a grade of “Excellent” the postgraduate program of the Department of Music Science and Art of the University of Macedonia in the specialization “Early Music and Tropical Traditions of the Mediterranean”. His study and research focus on the Pontic musical tradition and its technical and stylistic elements. He also deals with other musical instruments apart from the Pontic lyre and the violin, such as lute, oud, kemane, yayli tanbur, guitar and piano, although he himself declares himself a lyre player. In addition, he has successfully attended (excellent grade) six-month seminars from the Berklee College of Music in Boston on the topic of developing musicianship and introduction to Jazz Improvisation. Algerian born singer Lamia Ait Amara. For a number of years he participated as a representative of the Pontic musical tradition in performances of the Estudiantes of Nea Ionia, under the artistic direction of Andreas Katsigianni.

Thomas Meleteas

Thomas Meleteas was born in 1993 and grew up in Athens. He studied at the Physics department of the University of Athens with a specialization in astrophysics and recently graduated from the postgraduate program “Early music and tropical traditions of the Mediterranean” of the Music Studies department of the University of Macedonia.
While his involvement in music starts from childhood, he appears in the music events of Athens in 2011 with various forms of rebetika, traditional and rock music. In 2016, he dedicates himself to the oud, the musical traditions of the eastern Mediterranean, but also their interaction with the modern experience towards a new synthetic and aesthetic proposal. At the same time, as a researcher, he is looking for the endings of the “traditional” musicians and instruments of the Mediterranean in the post-modern urban landscape. He has released two personal albums of his oud compositions (Nestinari (2019), Polyscope and Shapeshifting Wizards (2021), Polyscope) as well as a large number of singles and records, either as a solo artist or with musical groups. At the same time, he has an extensive concert activity in Athens and in various regions of Greece, collaborating with a multitude of artists from Greece and abroad in concerts, tours and festivals.
In addition to his musical activity, he has published a poetry collection and various visual works.

Yannis Graikos

Graikos Ioannis was born in 1990 in Katerini. He studied at the Department of Folk and Traditional Music in Arta (former TEI IPEROU) specializing in traditional percussion in 2018. He holds a degree in Byzantine music since 2010. In March 2022, he completed the postgraduate cycle of the Department of Music Science and Art with the title “Ancient Music and tropical musical traditions of the Mediterranean”. His involvement with music and percussion began in 2002 at the Katerinis music school. He mainly deals with the folk musical traditions of the countryside. He has attended several seminars on rhythmology, Balkan, Ottoman and Indian music from leading musicians. In recent years he has been dealing with drums and percussion sets. He is a teacher of traditional percussion instruments, mainly in music schools in Greece but also in the school of Byzantine music and traditional instruments of the Holy Cathedral of Catherine. His artistic activity ranges through various groups such as Yagini (traditional group), Grambery (alternative Pontiac music), the Christos Kaliontzidis Trio and the Katerini Polytonic Orchestra (classical and popular music). Finally, he has collaborated with various artists both at home and abroad.