“FUOCO” Guitar Recital

The guitarist, composer and baritone Sotiris Kasparides presents the guitar recital “FUOCO”, at Technopolis 20, on Friday, 28th of April, at 8pm. Sotiris Kasparides, along with Plotinos Mikromatis (piano) and Maria Madgalini Iakovou (mezzo-soprano) on stage, will present compositions for guitar, baroque guitar, and German lute, songs for two voices and guitar.

Programme will include Kasparides’own concerto for guitar and orchestra with piano reduction. His compositions will indicate his own understanding of the guitar approach, his feelings and his own musical voice. Additionally, the guitarist will perform works by Roland Dyens, a compositional expression highlighting the guitar approach.

Entrance: €12 

Reservations are necessary at 70002420.

A few words about the musicians

Sotiris Kasparides was born in 1980 Strovolos, Nicosia, Cyprus and he is a classical guitarist, baritone and composer. He started guitar lessons at the age of eight with guitar teachers Ismini Giannaki and Eftychia Angeli. He studied at University of Tennessee, USA, at ARTE Music Academy, Cyprus and at Middlesex University, London and is titled with ΑΔΜ ΑRΤΕ, BA Music and ΜΑ Music specialised on guitar performance. He studied guitar with Mario Abril, USA, Demetris Regginos, Cyprus, and Timothy Walker, London, choir with Roland Carter and Lee Harris, USA, classical singing with Rebecca St. Goar, USA and Svetlana Krasnova, Cyprus and titled with Diploma ABRSM – Singing. He also studied Byzantine music with Christodoulos Papastefanou and titled with Diploma. He participated in over fifty guitar performances mainly in Cyprus and in countries like USA, England, Bulgaria for solo and chamber music. He participated in masterclasess for solo and research on guitar with Therese Saba, Eleftheria Kotzia, Evgeni Fingelstein and other guitarists. Since 2007, he teaches guitar at ARTE Music Academy, Hellenic College of Music and A.I MusicLab. He composes for guitar and other instruments, and for small and large ensembles. In 2013, he composed and performed his chamber opera “The Warrior’s Tale” and in 2017 he participated in concerts with the 100 guitars and published the guitar book “100 Studies for young guitarists”. In 2018, he participated as soloist with the Concert Orchestra of Nicosia. Furthermore, he published two CDs: “Atmospheres” for guitar and baritone with his own compositions and lyrics, and “Tribute to Leo Brouwer” for solo guitar. 

Maria Magdalena Iacovou started her musical studies at “Arte” music academy in her hometown Nicosia and continued her studies at “Vienna Konservarorium from where she graduated with excellent marks after having completed two degrees in classical voice performance and teaching. She started her musical career early, while she was still a university student, participating in concerts and operas in Vienna. From 2011 to 2014 she was a member of the Sine Nomine Choir under the conductor Johannes Hiemetsberger and from 2015 she is a permanent member of the Arnold Schoenberg Choir under the artistic and musical direction of conductor Erwin Ortner. The Choir has and still performs in the most prestigious halls in Europe and the world such as: “Musikverein” in Vienna, “Berliner Philarmonie, “Elbphilarmonie”, alongside world known conductors and performers. As a soloist, she took part in numerous performances among which, a solo concert during the festival “Kypria 2019” alongside well-respected artist from Vienna at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre as well as the Pallas Theatre in Nicosia with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. An example of highlight of her performances of 2021 was performing Schubert's "Winterreise” with pianist Plotinos Mikromatis.

Born in Cyprus, Plotinos Mikromatis has been performing since the age of eight as well as recording for Cyprus national radio and television. His first professional engagement was a recital with works by Telemann, Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann, which he gave when he was fifteen years old. In 1987 he won the Ρrix Ravel Competition, held in Nicosia, and in 1988, following his win at the national competition, he represented Cyprus at the 4th Eurovision Competition for Young Musicians which was held at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After he completed his studies with Pitsa Spyridaki in Cyprus, he moved to London in order to study with Alasdair Graham at the Royal College of Music and later with Simon Young and Κaoru Bingham at the University of London (Trinity College of Music). He holds performance diplomas of the Royal College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as a Master of Music degree from the University of London (Trinity College of Music). Plotinos has a wide repertoire ranging from the pre-baroque to the modern era, and has given premières of works by composers such as Savvas Savva and Filimon Lamprou and regularly includes their compositions in his programmes. Composer and conductor George Skipworth dedicated his Piano Sonata to Plotinos. Presently based in Nicosia, Cyprus, Plotinos is equally “at home” performing solo recitals, chamber music with singers and instrumentalists and as soloist with orchestra. He has collaborated with the Greek National Opera, the Thessaloniki Opera and the Greek National Theatre. Among his skills is training singers for operatic roles and accompanying singers and instrumentalists in concerts, auditions and examinations. He has appeared as soloist with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Lewis & Clarke University Symphony Orchestra and the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra among others; and under conductors such as Sergiu Comissiona, José Ferreira Lobo, George Skipworth, Stephen Futrell, Panayiotis Panayi, Themis Christodoulou and Ara Vorsganian. Apart from Greece and Cyprus, Plotinos has given concerts in the UK, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark.