Andria Antoniou from Ayia Napa has an international career in jazz and latin music. Read the interview he gave to the Greek newspaper in.gr in view of the appearance at the "Glass Musical Theater" in Athens, on Wednesday, February 20.
The Cypriot musician and singer Andria Antoniou, appears for the first time in Athens on Wednesday, February 20, together with one of her many renowned collaborators, the Argentine musician Roman Gomez.
Andria Antoniou is pursuing an international career in jazz and Latin music. Based in London, he has to date collaborated with important names of the world and Greek music scene, such as Omar Puente, winner of the title for best Latin jazz musician in the Latin Grammy 2018 competition, Greek composer George Chatzinassios, and Greg Arrowsmith, music director and conductor at the West End in London.
The show Encuentro ("Meeting") presented in collaboration with composer Roman Gomez, was played in sold out concerts in London in 2018.
Andria Antoniou spoke to us about this concert that will be presented at the Upstage Glass Theater.
You were born in Cyprus, you live in London but your love is jazz and latin music. A separate route. Tell us a few words about you and your relationship with music.
I would say that this path is largely due to the social and family context in which I grew up. I was born in Ayia Napa in a tourist village of Cyprus where we have many influences from the foreign element. I also grew up in a family where my mother is Finnish-Swedish and my father is Cypriot. So my bilingual upbringing and contact with different cultures fueled my interest and curiosity for other countries and contributed to my involvement in different languages through song. I was also lucky enough to grow up in a musical family since my brother is a flamenco guitarist and my sister is a classical singer. As the youngest member of the family, I listened to a lot of music and very different genres. So my relationship with music has always been natural, an inner need, a way of shaping my own identity influenced by the various stimuli I had. As a restless spirit, I believe that the magic of the unknown will never cease to fascinate me.
You have collaborated with distinguished and renowned musicians abroad but also with George Chatzinassios in Greece. What leads you to any collaboration?
What serves as my driving force for any collaboration is my need to learn more and “grow” as an artist, filling it with new experiences and stimuli. For example, through my collaboration with the composer, George Chatzinassi, in London, I had the challenge to perform pieces written in other eras and for specific great singers such as Marinella and Dimitra Galani, giving another style and color that represents me. I had to find my own way of identifying with these pieces. With the collaboration I have with the band Classico Latino I continue to learn about the different types of Latin music and I am also given the opportunity to travel with them very often to Cuba and Colombia for recordings and performances. So each collaboration has to offer something different but a common denominator is the thirst for more knowledge and experience.
Where do you feel best? In Cyprus, in London or in Latin America? Where does your heart beat loudly?
I would say that at the moment I feel better in London. First of all, with the use of technology I can have contact with my family in Cyprus every day. At the same time, in London, in such a multicultural place, I can get authentic flavors from Latin America whenever I look for them. Also London is suitable for international travel that I need to do for my work often in Cyprus, Greece, Colombia and Cuba. My heart does not beat for a particular place - my heart beats for the people I love and the experiences that feed me in life wherever they come from.
What will you present in your appearance at the Glass Musical Theater?
The program will include performances of well-known latin and jazz songs in excellent covers and performances as well as new songs from our upcoming album, Encuentro ("Meeting"), with Roman Gomez. You will also hear original adaptations of a light Greek song with flavors and colors from Latin America. As the title of the show and our upcoming album suggest, it is a meeting of two musicians who aim to travel the audience through music in Latin America where the passion of Argentine tango meets the romance of Mexican bolero and the liveliness of Brazilian samb . I am very excited about this project and I am sure that the Greek public will embrace the result.
Source: www.in.gr