ABOUT
Nektaria Karantzi is internationally acclaimed as one of the most important female voices in Byzantine ecclesiastical music and the musical tradition of the Mediterranean.
Having made a significant impact with her concerts in Europe and discography in Byzantine music, her performances are purely devoted to Byzantine Chant, the Mediterranean primeval musical tradition, and the sacred religious music in Greek, Romanian, Arabic, Russian, Italian, French, Aramaic (the language of Jesus Christ).
She has committed her work to the promotion of the art of female Byzantine chanting and the revival of the ancient Greek term “psaltria”.
Karantzi has been invited to run Master Classes from some of the most renowned educational and musical centers in Europe, such as the Liszt Academy in Hungary, the Sorbonne University in France, the University of Oviedo in Spain.
She is a unique Greek female performer, actively chanting as a solo chanter in church since she was 9 and, with a discography in Byzantine music since the age of 14.
In her first recordings, she accompanied Saint Porphyrios the Kapsokalyvite, a contemporary saint, and with his encouragement, she commenced her studies in Byzantine Music.
In the media, Karantzi is mostly referred to as “the one who best represents Byzantine female song today”, “One of the greatest female interpreters of byzantine hymns”, “Soft, deep and magical voice”, “She stands alone on stage, like an ancient Greek priestess and lays out before us the treasures and the secret paths of Heaven”, “an ecumenical artist”, “She can just as easily make her voice cherubic when she sings hymns, but also earthly when she sings traditional songs”.
In recent years, many women and young girls have approached Byzantine music, inspired by the work of Nektaria Karantzi. Having as a primary purpose of cultivating and promoting the female art of chanting, in 2013 she founded the first women's association in Byzantine music: "Women in Byzantine Music Worldwide Association”. She also founded and is the director of the women's byzantine choir "Psaltries Choir" with members from all over Greece and abroad.
Believing in the importance of the oral tradition and the preservation of traditional musical heritage, as a dominant element of the cultural identity of the people, Karantzi dedicates a large part of her work to teaching both Byzantine ecclesiastical and Greek traditional music in Greece and abroad.
Having studied for many years next to one of the greatest singers and teachers of the Greek traditional music, Chronis Aidonidis, she now directs the "Chronis Aidonidis Music School", in Greece. A cycle of integrated courses of the Greek musical tradition is provided, which includes lessons in Byzantine music, the music theory, folklore studies and a large repertoire of traditional songs from Thrace, Asia Minor, Macedonia and the Greek islands, as well as the religious songs from Eastern Thrace, in which Karantzi immersed herself in whilst studying with Chronis Aidonidis.
Since her childhood, Karantzi studied western music stating that "a complete musician, in any kind of music, needs a parallel classical music education". She also dedicates part of her work to the dissemination of classical music in Greece, mainly through her responsibility as the president of the "Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra of Athens". The Symphony is under the auspices of His Beatitude Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II and under the artistic direction of the internationally acclaimed pianist, composer and conductor Vassilis Tsambropoulos.
ORIGIN - THE "SMALL HOLY MOUNT"
Nektaria Karantzi was born in Port of Piraeus, where she lived until the completion of her studies.
Her mother's ancestry is from Bursa in Asia Minor and her father is from “Velanidia” of Cape Malea (known also as Kavomalias) in Laconia (Peloponessos), where historically the "Small Holy Mount" or “Small Mount Athos” is located.
Since the 10th century, when the first monks settled on its imposingly beautiful land, Cape Malea developed a remarkable monastic activity. Monasteries, churches, hermitages, cells, remain untouched until today, their traces in the shadow of Kavomalias. Important figures of Orthodoxy, such as Thomas and George of Malea, are emerging as enlightened saints and founders of Orthodox monasticism in the region. Over the years, this region has acquired the name: "Small Holy Mount" or “Small Mount Athos”, "competing" in spirituality and beauty to the Holy Mount Athos in Halkidiki.
Nektaria has dedicated part of her discography to the construction of the Holy Monastery of Saint Thomas of Malea at its place of spiritual practice, in Kavomalias. A dominant part of her works also concerns the promotion of the historical importance of her ancestral place, the "Small Mount Athos".
STUDIES
Having a special inclination and great love for studies and knowledge, she followed a parallel path, combining Music with Law studies and practice.
Since her childhood, Karantzi consistently dedicated her voice to the art of byzantine music, which she studied and practiced, by the encouragement of Saint Porphyrios, the enlightened saint of our time, who was her Spiritual Father.
Nektaria studied Law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, undertook postgraduates in Penal Law, Criminal Law Procedure, Criminology, Ecclesiastical Law in National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and she is also a Doctor of Laws and Legal Adviser on criminal protection of intellectual property and ecclesiastical law.
Since the age of 9, she studied piano, theory of music, and Byzantine ecclesiastical music. She completed a Diploma of Byzantine music, receiving an excellent grade of distinction, studying mainly with Dimitris Verykios, at the Byzantine Music School of Piraeus. At the same age, she started to participate as a chanter in orthodox church services of the byzantine rite, such as the church of St Paraskevi of Malakassa, the Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior (known as Saint Porphyrios’ monastery) in Milesi Oropos, the church of “Virgin Mary Rose the Amaranth”, in Piraeus. She studied traditional music of Thrace, Asia Minor, and Macedonia with Chronis Aidonidis, taking part in his concerts and discography for a number of years. She took vocal lessons from the tenor of the Greek National Opera Thanos Petrakis and Dina Goudiotis. She worked in the Department of Criminal Sciences of the University of Athens, as a curator of the Legal Publications P. Sakkoulas and the Law Magazine "Criminal Chronicles" and has collaborated with the law firms of Vassilis Venetis and Plato Niadis. She also attended a course of study in political philosophy, at Harvard University, with professor Michael Sandel and at the Theological School at the same university, with professor Karen King, on the study of Christianity through its Scriptures. She also attended a course of study offered by the Université Catholique de Louvain, on Oriental Beliefs, with Professor Godefroid de Gallatay.
FIRST TIME ON STAGE
Although Nektaria had been chanting in churches since the tender age of 9, by the encouragement of her spiritual fathers Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia and also Archimandrite Fr. Daniel Gouvalis, and already having her first discography in Byzantine music alongside the voice of Saint Porphyrios, at the age of fourteen, she was introduced to the artistic musical stage by the leading teacher and a legendary figure of the Greek musical tradition, Chronis Aidonidis. On May 25, 2004, she received a “baptism by fire” on the stage "Christos Lambrakis" of the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), performing the song of Northern Thrace "My black swallow" and the Byzantine “Thrice holy hymn”. This concert was the trigger of an important later career in Greece and abroad.
TEACHING - MASTER CLASSES - OPINIONS
An important part of Karantzi's work is dedicated to the teaching and dissemination of Byzantine ecclesiastical music, Greek traditional music, folklore studies and history, and the role of women in the art of Byzantine chanting, through master classes, scientific presentations and articles.
The main field of her interests and studies is the relationship between religious belief and music. As she characteristically states: “There is one aspect of the relationship between religious belief and music that should not go unnoticed: the fact that the path of both is ascetic. Music in general is a gift. It is the imitation of real art, which is not found in this world and which transcends human. You can conquer it only when you do not try to adapt it to your passions and weaknesses, but you seek to follow with ascetic reverence the terms, rules and "secret" paths that she sets for you. If the road is not ascetic, then the course has no meaning and no result ". She considers byzantine music, mostly, as a special path of intellectual development rather than as a purely musical art: "There is no Byzantine music without prayer".
Comparing it with classical music, she notes: “Classical Music is, without a doubt, more difficult than Byzantine music. Anyone who says otherwise is truly unfamiliar with either style. If, however, Byzantine music excels, it is not from a musical perspective, but from a spiritual one which transfigures and empowers the music to mystically touch the souls of its listeners. It is for this reason that when grace is missing from a byzantine chanter, no one can hear him”. She often refers to the fact of the ease with which those who involve in the music of traditions acquire qualities, the meaning of which is defined in their ideal form in the field of classical, without having traveled the corresponding distance of effort and knowledge.: "The danger in the music of traditions is that one can easily hide weaknesses, under the pretext of personal expression”.
She considers that musical tradition can be approached, with a sincere mood, only if the modern human confesses his historical truth: "In order for some things to have a role in our lives, it does not have to be useful or up-to-date. There are other dimensions. Seeking timeliness and usefulness in Tradition would be an unfair approach to what it can offer us. […] We often say that Tradition is not or should not be a museum item. However in a society where museums and historical memory would really have the important role they can play in the being and consciousness of each of us, then it would be desirable for Tradition to be able to act as a museum species. To be able to "speak" silently, without prologues and explanations and without compulsion to acquire a useful role in our lives. To be "exposed" revealing a whole bond of centuries of people. It would be desirable for us, as listeners, to prefer to listen to it reverently, much more than to try to revive it, as if it were dead. In fact, even if the experience from which the traditional song was born does not exist today, there is its culmination: its pure and simple speech, its language, which is still in our mouths. This is perhaps the most glaring proof that the traditional song, like the whole Folk Tradition, either through its customs, or through its wisdom and proverbs, lives and breathes alive to this day".
She has presented master classes at European universities and academies, namely, the List Academy in Hungary, the Sorbonne University in France and the University of Oviedo in Spain. The topics she develops in her presentations relate to musicology, folklore and legal science, such as:“The Byzantine musical system of eight modes" (Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest 2012 και Hajdúdorogi Főegyházmegye, Nyíregyháza 2014), “Musique byzantine et musique de Thrace occidentale” (Sorbonne, Paris, 2008), “The Holy Canons about the art of chanting and its interpretation” (Women in Byzantine Music Worldwide Association, Athens 2013), “The History of Byzantine Oktōēchos” (Universidad de Oviedo, Spain 2015), “The Spartan woman – a woman symbol” (Sparta, Peloponessos, Greece 2018), “The position of women in the art of chanting under the canon and ecclesiastical law” (Volos Academy for Theological Studies, 2019), “Σχέση βυζαντινής και παραδοσιακής μουσικής” (Open University of Athens 2019), "Byzantine Modes and Western Musical Scales" (Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest, 2020).
Having grown up next to Saint Porphyrios, she is also often invited to talk about her experiences with the Saint.
She has taught Byzantine and Greek Traditional music in various conservatories. Today she teaches at the “Chronis Aidonidis Music School” and at the Scuola Romana di Musica Academy.
SELECTED COLLABORATIONS AND CONCERTS
Starting her artistic presence in 2004, with her first performance on the stage of the Athens Concert Hall, alongside the leading singer Chronis Aidonidis, she continued for several years, as his collaborator, in concerts and discography, gaining invaluable experience.
From a very early age, she felt with certainty that her voice was intended to serve the genre of sacred religious music. So, she started presenting solo programs dedicated exclusively to this particular genre. She chose the most difficult path, that of solo a cappella interpretation. Invitations from abroad did not take long to arrive. Her a cappella programs were presented in countries such as: France, Italy, Hungary, Serbia, Turkey, Skopje, Bulgaria, Romania, Switzerland, Spain, Moldova, Estonia, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, etc. At the same time, she made special collaborations with both soloists and vocal ensembles in Europe. As part of her selected performances in Greece, she took part in many events and scientific conferences of the Hellenic Folklore Research Center of the Academy of Athens, under the direction of Dr. Aikaterinis Polymerou-Kamilaki.
She has collaborated with the great traditional singer of Hungary and Unesco Artist of Peace, Marta Sebestyen, with the highlight being their concert at St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest with the acclaimed male choir of Budapest “St Ephraim male choir”, conducted by Tamas Bubno. She has also collaborated with the chanter Sister Kassiani, from Bigorski Monastery, with the Swiss choir of orthodox chant “Choeur Yaroslavl”, under the direction of Yan Greppin, with the gifted vocalist of Aramaic hymns and Abbot of the monastery of 13 Holy Assyrian Fathers, in Georgia, f. Serafim bit-Kaharibi.
In 2019, Nektaria Karantzi was invited for two concerts at the Ravenna Festival in Italy, at the Cathedral of San Vitale and with Vassilis Tsabropoulos at Chiostro della Biblioteca Classense. The same year, she also represented Greece at the international festival of Byzantine music in Iasi, Romania.
Notable artistic appearances also include the concert "From the Byzantine Hymn to the Epitaph of Mikis Theodorakis", produced by the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), one of the concerts that marked the beginning of the cycle "Adagio - Music for Easter". A special moment was also her participation, with byzantine hymns, in the musical event "Oh folly of the lawless - Romanos Melodist, glory and speech" which was based on the poetry of St Romanos the Melodist. Professor George Babiniotis, the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki Anthimos, the Archimandrite Fr. Ananias Koustenis and the leading Greek tragedian Anna Synodinou took part in this event by reading texts.
For the historic reopening of the Cathedral of the Diocese of Athens, in the presence of His Beatitude Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II, she had the opportunity to perform sacred religious music in Aramaic and Romanian, with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra of Athens, under the direction of Vassilis Tsambropoulos. She also participated in the concert in Constantinople that took place by invitation and in the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, for the reopening ceremony event of the Halki Theological School.
Nektaria participated in the concert-tribute to the 70 years of the Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece at the Athens Concert Hall, in the presence of the Blessed Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos. She performed Byzantine hymns at the famous St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest (Szent István Basilica), together with Marta Sebestyen and the Szent Efrém Férfikar choir in a special concert organized for the project “Orientale Lumen”, recorded by BMC. One of her special appearances in France was the concert, produced by the EthnomusiKa Organization, at the "Maison de la musique de Nanterre" presenting music from Eastern Thrace. She represented Greece in North Macedonia, participating in the Music Stadium, with the Symphony Orchestra, conducted by maestro Le Phi Phi, organized by the Bigorski Monastery and attended by the Prime Minister and the country's political leadership. She presented a special a cappella concert in Oviedo, Spain, at the Cathedral of San Isidoro El Real, in the sacred music cycle "Maestro de la Roza", with the Spanish press referring to the special "mysticism" of the concert. At the invitation of the Department of Archaeological Studies of the University of Basilicata in Italy, together with Vassilis Tsabropoulos, they presented the project "Between East and West" in the Casa Cava, at the oldest historic city of Matera, which consists of cave houses in the rocks dating back from the prehistoric period and in which "The Gospel of Matthew" by Pier Paolo Pasolini and "The Passion" by Mel Gibson were filmed. Some of her notable performances with Vassilis Tsabropoulos were in Milan, Italy, representing Greece at the International Exhibition EXPO 2015 and the special concert that took place, for the first time in the courtyard of the church of Panagia Megalochari in Tinos, one of the largest centers of Christianity in the world, during the 1st Religious Music Festival of the Radio Station of the Church of Greece. The same program was performed by the two artists the following years at two more greatest centers of Orthodox Christinity, the Holy Monastery of Panayia Ekatontapyliani in Paros island, that was constructed by Saint Constantine, first Emperor of Constantinople and the the Archaeological Site of Mystras.
A highlight of her career was her collaboration with the internationally acclaimed pianist, composer and conductor and ECM artist Vassilis Tsabropoulos in an artistic collaboration inspired by byzantine hymns joining West and East and toured in Europe several times. Part of this project, “Between East and West”, was recorded under the title “Eleison”.
TV - CINEMA - RADIO
Nektaria Karantzi participated in the TV series "Epikranthi" of Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation , produced in 2005, with Byzantine hymns of Holy Week. Chronis Aidonidis, Dimitris Verykios, Grigoris Valtinos and Coralia Karanti took part in the series. Filming took place in the Archaeological Site of Mystras. Today, Epikranthi is considered a historical show of the National Greek television which broadcasts almost every year during Holy Week. The Byzantine hymns that were heard in the series were recorded by the Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, under the homonymous title of the series.
Karantzi was a radio producer of the show "Musical Traditional Echoes" together with Chronis Aidonidis, at the Radio Station of the Piraeus Church (2006-2007). The show followed the model of the historical show "Thracian Echoes" of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, edited by the famous Greek folklorist Polydoros Papachristodoulou.
She also recorded the soundtrack of the spiritual Serbian film of Cinammon Production, Isceljenje’ (The Healing), by Ivan Jovic, written by Monja Milinkovic. The film won significant international awards.
AWARDS
Nektaria Karantzi has often been awarded for her work in the dissemination of Byzantine and traditional music. Among other things, she has received the following honors:
- from the Cultural Center of the Municipality of Vrilissia (2008)
-from the Blessed Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos (2008)
- from the musicological-ecclesiastical magazine "Psaltiri" and the Hellenic Musicological Society - Institute for the Study of Byzantine and Greek Traditional Music (2010)
- by the Union of Rhodes Chanters (2013)
- from the Association of Neapolitans “Vatika " (2015)
- from the Association of Friends of Byzantine Music and Tradition of Naxos island “St Nikodimos" (2016)
- from "Philistes" at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2017)
- from the Byzantine Music Ensemble of the Hellenic Open University (2018)
- from the Festival "Sparta - Eternal City" and the Metropolitan of Sparta Mr. Efstathios (2018)
- from the Free Open University of the Municipality of Dafni - Ymittos (2019)
- from the International Church Music Festival of Hajnówka in Poland (2020)
Karantzi is the honorary president of he Women in Byzantine Music Worldwide Association and honorary member of the “Peloponnesian Association of Rhodes Morias" and of the “Livadia Mother’s Home”.
