Petros Gaitanos

Petros Gaitanos was born in Drama, Greece. After many years of musical studies he was awarded his diploma in Byzantine and European Music from The Hellenic Conservatory in Athens, having as a teacher Mr. Manolis Chatzimarkos. He has been an artistic director of the Karipeion Melathron Institute. His first disc "To Dillima (The Dilemma)" in lyrics and music by Stamatis Spanoudakis, is well known from the great success of the song "Lathos Epohi (Wrong Season )". This was followed by "Yalinos Dromeas (Glass Runner)" and "Se proto prosopo (In first person)". In these works Petros Gaitanos cooperated with famous Greek composers like Yannis Spanos, Christos Nikolopoulos, Arletta, Dionisis Tsaknis, Lavrentis Mahairitsas, Pantelis Thalassinos and poets (versifiers) as Lina Nikolakopoulou, Manos Eleftheriou and others. These discs showed off, besides the important cooperations, great successes as : "Sto Kastro to palio (In the old castle)", "Kai me pernoun ta klamata (And I start crying)". His next disc was "Politia Delta (State D)" music by Mikis Theodorakis - lyrics by Manos Eleftheriou. In 1995 he participates in Pavlos Pissanos' movie "Orfeas & Evridiki", performing the mourn of Evridiki, starring Andrew Bullock, Carolina Lyriti and Oliver Reed as the narrator. In Easter 1995 appears in the charts his disc named "Ora Enati (Ninth Hour)" which is comprised of hymns of the Passion Week. This album marks the beginning of his artistic process and his effort to enlist (register) Byzantine ecclesiastic music in a series of CDs containing Byzantine hymns. Thus, there follows the album "Ta Thia Pathi (The Passion Week)" which is the live recording of his concert in Easter 1996 in the Metropolitan Church of Athens with hymns of the Passion Week. This album also contains the wonderful "Hymn of Love" in Apostle Pavlos's First Epistle to the Corinthians. Next is his "Fos ek Fotos (Light from Light)" with Christmas, New Year and Epiphany hymns and later a triple three-lingual cassetine titled "I will chant hymns to my God as long as I exist" which contains , besides the "Passion Week" and "Ninth Hour" , the "Pentecostarion" with hymns of the Holy Resurrection, the Ascension, the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit and the Miracles of Jesus. In 2000 he presented the new CD "Pigi Zois (The Source of Life)" with hymns for Holy Mary and narrator the Greek actor Yannis Fertis, while in 2003 he presented separately the CD "The Pentecostarion". In October 1997 he presented his new disc titled : "Eleftheres Thalasses (Free Seas)". In March 1998 he presented the album tilted "Ageras, Erotas and Armyra apo ti Mavri stin Aspri Thalassa (Wind, Love and Saltiness from Black to the White Sea)", which quite soon became golden. At this point, Petros Gaitanos is in the beginning of a personal registration in a disc of some important moments of the Hellenic traditional music. Songs from Asia Minor, Constantinople, Aegean Sea, Pontos ( the exquisite song "A mother is like fresh cool water (The song of the mother)" which comes from there, has been really beloved)! In 1999, he deals with the CD "I Thalassa kai to Tragoudi (The Sea in the Song)" which contains songs that talk about the sea. Here he has written the lyrics of the song about Mediterranean Anaemia entitled "San to poulaki pianomai (I'm caught like a little bird)". The profits of this disc will go to reinforce the attempts of the Association of people suffering from Mediterranean Anemia of Thessaloniki. What's more, in 2000 the emotion and the correspondence of the audience in his concerts along with the great sales of the CD "Wind, Love and Saltiness", gave to him the stimulus to present a second CD with traditional songs, this time from Macedonia. Title : "San ta kria ta nera (Like fresh cool water)". The same year he adapted and sang successfully the song of Yannis Markopoulos "I Mana tou Alexandrou (Alexander's Mother)". In the years 1999-2000 he cooperated with the composer Giorgos Chatzinassios who wrote for Petros songs played in the TV series "Love Borders" and "On the Wings of Love", songs really beloved form their first listening. It is worth mentioning that an important axis of his interpretative evolution is his successful - as it has been proved - creative occupation with Byzantine music. He is one of the few Greek singers who transfer the memories of tradition to the newer generations. Besides, he has his eyes focused on contemporary sound and contemporary song which he interprets with flaming soul. Having as a starting point Constantinople, he started for a unique tour to churches where with special emotions the auditorium listens to him chanting in his own way hymns which have been preserved during the centuries. It is also worthy to be noted that Petros' occupation with music has as its centre his communication with God and with the people, through many types of music, having as his aim the true and the substantial mental profit. This is a fan page; it is not endorsed by or affiliated with P. Gaitanos.