Andreas Smagas from Paralimni achieved an important musical distinction at the International Outi Competition, placing in the top five worldwide. The International Out Competition took place on November 22-24 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where, after a selection from among hundreds of candidates from all continents, the ten best out players from Azerbaijan, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Morocco, Greece/ Cyprus, Italy, France and the Netherlands. Andreas Smagas, even though he was the only minor utista against experienced, already awarded teammates with post-graduate music studies and great compositions, managed with his technical perfection and emotional depth to be promoted to the top five.
The Competition required the presentation of complex word music compositions, determined by the five-member worldwide jury, common to all selected participants, as well as high-level melodies of each individual artist's preference. Andreas Smagas, wanting to honor and promote the musical heritage of our country at an international level, decided to perform traditional Cypriot songs, which he adapted rhythmically to the Competition data by combining them with skillful improvisations. As he even mentioned in his introductory speech, the choice of specific traditional purposes was made because they were performed by both the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots of the island in the context of a common cultural identity, thus showing us that the prospect of peaceful coexistence in a free Cyprus is well founded. He even added that he is a student of the Music School of Famagusta, an educational institution that bears the name of an emblematic city occupied for 50 years, which caused intense reflection and emotion in the audience. When asked in the discussion that followed the competition, how he, as a young Greek Cypriot, chose to deal with a musical instrument identified with the culture of the East, he answered with vigor that the same instrument is depicted on domes of Byzantine churches and therefore he has no doubts about the relationship of the instrument with the world and the tradition of Romanism.
Through the three-day competition process, the talent and persistent work that Andreas Smagas has put in for several years was highlighted, but also the contribution of all the musical cultural groups he grew up with, such as the Romiosyni and the Paralimni Mandolinata, as well as of course the Musiko School of Famagusta. But above all, his success is an important international recognition of our musical tradition, a musical tradition that is lost in the depths of Byzantium.
Brief CV
Andreas Smagas, born in 2008 in Paralimni, Cyprus, started playing various instruments from a young age, but since 2013 he has focused on the oud. Since 2014, he has been a member of the cultural club "Romeosyni" and "Mandolinata Paralimniou". In 2016, he joined the oriental music workshop "Orientation" with outi teacher Christodoros Mnasonos and since then he has attended many seminars by distinguished outi players such as Yurdal Tokcan, Taxiarchis Georgoulis etc. In 2017 with the "Romiosini Ensemble" they won the first prize at an international competition in Moscow and performed at various music events and TV shows at home and abroad. Since 2019, he has published five short books on the oud and nine articles on the traditional music of Cyprus and Greece, while he has presented his work at cultural conferences and educational events. Since 2020 he is a student of the "Music School of Famagusta".
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