Tag: Orestis Krikonis

The Orestis Krikonis Trio is a musical ensemble composed of three multi-experienced and talented musicians) Stefan Olofsson (piano), Kostas Katsonis (guitar) and Orestis Krikonis (violin and voice) united by their deep love for jazz and improvisational music.  

The repertoire includes compositions by jazz greats such as Charlie Parker, Kenny Dorham, Horace Silver, Clifford Brown, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea, among others, as well as some original compositions by the musicians themselves.

Orestis Krikonis

Orestis Krikonis (born 1984, Trikala, Greece) embarked on his musical journey at a very early age and has continued it uninterrupted ever since. He began playing the violin at the age of 6 and the guitar at the age of 12.

In 2002, he was admitted to the Musicology program at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Concurrently, he completed his conservatory studies, obtaining a degree in classical violin and a diploma in advanced music theory.

He completed his Musicology studies with an excellent-rated thesis on guitar technique in Smyrniot music. After finishing his studies, he began working in secondary education.

In the years that followed, he felt an increasing attraction to jazz. Initially, he was drawn to swing (he participated as a violinist and guitarist in the Django Festival 2013 with the band Jazz Noir) and soon to modern jazz. This passion led him to pursue a postgraduate degree in Jazz at the Ionian University Jazz Department in order to delve deeper into this genre.

There, he studied under renowned jazz instructors and artists such as Dimos Dimitriadis, George Kontrafouris, and Stefanos Andreadis, and attended seminars by esteemed artists like Petros Klampanis, Nikos Anadolis, Yiannis Pappadopoulos, Next Step Quartet, Gilad Hekselman, Jonathan Kreisberg, Marius Beets, Ronan Guilfoyle, Eric Ineke, Juraj Stanik, and others, gaining valuable experience.

As part of his postgraduate studies, he presented five compositions under the theme “Drawings of Childhood,” a concept album he hopes to record soon. He also authored a comprehensive study on the jazz violin in the modern scene. He graduated in 2019 with a specialization in Jazz Performance in Violin.

Krikonis has performed for audiences in various music venues and concerts in cities where he has lived, such as Trikala, Athens, Thessaloniki, Corfu, Samos, Heraklion, and Chania. He has participated in many local and national festivals.

A multi-instrumentalist, Orestis specializes in jazz violin but is also a skilled guitarist, singer, improviser, and composer across many genres. For the last decade or more, his focus has been on jazz improvisation and violin in jazz, alongside his compositions, some of which he plans to release soon. Orestis Krikonis has performed with some of the most talented contemporary Greek musicians in the modern scene. Since 2011, he has also been a music teacher in secondary education. 

Since 2017, he is based in Crete.

Kostas Katsonis

Kostas Katsonis (born 1996, Athens, Greece) is an exceptionally talented guitarist from the young generation of artists. In 2021, he graduated with a master’s degree from Ionian University in Greece. He then continued his studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he was mentored by jazz guitar luminaries such as Martijn van Iterson, Jesse van Ruller, and Reinier Baas.

Kostas is not only a guitarist but also a composer and band leader. He has performed with his band at numerous prestigious festivals and venues, including Burg Waldeck Festival Frankfurt 2017, Preveza Jazz Fest 2018, Petite Paris d’Athene Jazz Festival 2021, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

His music is a unique blend of American jazz tradition, Greek folk, and classical music influences. Now based in Amsterdam, Kostas has recently released a new single called “The Jacket,” and he will release his first album, “Short Habits,” in October 2024.