Cyprus mourns the death of Kyriakos Pelagia. The woman who connected her voice, but also her entire being with Cypriot culture and tradition, through traditional music, passed away around 6:30 in the morning.
The news was made known through her post by her granddaughter Solia.
Kyriakou Pelagia
Kyriakou Pelagia was born in Paralimni, Cyprus on July 8, 1936. Her father was Damianos Kouzalis (1903-1973), an excellent traditional singer who excelled in both erotic and "chiatisma". Her mother was Maria Koutsolouka (1908-1993) who knew quite a few old couplets and songs. Kyriakous' talent was evident from her childhood. She says that from the moment she began to understand the world and life, she began to sing. It was all she remembers liking. Her first teacher was her father and then the other singers of the time. He learned the various Cypriot "voices" and began to match lyrics to these melodies. From the age of 15, she started singing at her relatives' and friends' weddings, at various family gatherings, at local festivals and religious celebrations. She married Georgios Pelagia in 1957 and had two sons and a daughter.
Kyriakou Pelagia is a genuine traditional performer, the voice of the Cypriot countryside, "the voice that, when you hear it, you want to let loose in the pervolia giai the ormania", as our poet Michalis Passiardis has characteristically said. The timbre of her voice has a lot of Byzantine and Asia Minor musical elements. She is excellent both in singing and in "chatting", love couplets and poetry. In 1987 he published the poetry collection "Cypriot Verse". Since the beginning of 1995, he has been collaborating with the music group "Mesogios". The fruit of this collaboration is "TA PARALIMNIOTIKA 1 & 2", which were extremely successful.
Kyriakou Pelagia, the Mastorissa as characterized by her colleagues, has given another dimension to the Cypriot Folk song with her interpretation. On the one hand her authenticity and purity and on the other hand the sounds and experiences she carries from another era, in connection with her talent and spontaneity, established her in the consciousness of the Cypriot people as a special and unique traditional performer. Custodian of morals and customs, combining her art with the musical group "Mediterranean" and hand in hand with the personal archive of Michalis Chatzimichail, she wrote a new important chapter in the book of traditional music, frequently engaging its scholars. However, the greatest achievement of Kyriakous Pelagia is that she managed to bring young people to the yard of the Municipal song. Today he lives in Paralimni.