Savina Yannatou is a renowned Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 singer.

After taking classical guitar

Classical guitar

The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...

 lessons and participating in the children's choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 of Yannis Nousias for some years, she studied singing with Gogo Georgilopoulou and Spiros Sakkas in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, and later attended postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. In 1979 she began working as a professional and two years later participated in the recording of the critically acclaimed album "Εδώ Λιλιπούπολη" ("Lilipoupolis here"); following that, her career took off and has since released numerous albums, collaborating with many Greek composers. In the mid-1990s, she joined forces with select jazz / traditional musicians forming a band known as Primavera en Salonico, which started by interpreting Sephardic

Sephardic music

There are three types of Sephardic songs—topical and entertainment songs, romance songs and spiritual or ceremonial songs. Lyrics can be in several languages, including Hebrew for religious songs, and Ladino....

 and Mediterranean songs, but later expanded to music from various areas of the world. Gradually, she has extended her vocal techniques

Vocal extended technique

Vocalists are capable of producing a variety of extended technique sounds. These alternative singing techniques have been used extensively in the 20th century, especially in art song and opera...

 to include throat singing

Overtone singing

Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, or harmonic singing, is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.The partials of a sound wave made by the human voice can be...

, glossolalia

Glossolalia

Glossolalia or speaking in tongues is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables, often as part of religious practice. The significance of glossolalia has varied with time and place, with some considering it a part of a sacred language...

 and ululation

Ululation

A is a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound resembling a howl with a trilling quality. It is produced by emitting a high pitched loud voice accompanied with a rapid movement of the tongue and the uvula. The term ululation is an onomatopoeic word derived from Latin...

s among others.

Besides that, her repertoire consists mainly of Greek music, although she has been a founding member of an Early music

Early music

Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...

 ensemble (Εργαστήρι Παλιάς Μουσικής), and has always displayed a keen interest in exploring free jazz

Free jazz

Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...

 and avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

 music. Said explorations have led her to on- and off-stage collaborations and sessions with international musicians such as Barry Guy

Barry Guy

Barry John Guy is a British composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe...

, Peter Kowald

Peter Kowald

Peter Kowald was a German free jazz musician.A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with a large number of European free jazz and American free-jazz players during his career, including Peter Brötzmann, Irène Schweizer, Karl Berger, Fred...

, Floros Floridis, Günther Pitscheider, Gerald Preinfalk of the band BPM

BPM (band)

BPM is a jazz-fusion band formed by Alex Machacek, Terry Bozzio and Gerald Preinfalk in 2002. They released the album, Delete and Roll, in 2002, which has received heavy critical acclaim.They are from Montgomery, Alabama.- References :**...

, Ken Vandermark

Ken Vandermark

Ken Vandermark is an American jazz composer and saxophone and clarinet player.A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compositions, which typically balance intricate orchestration with passionate...

, Sussan Deyhim

Sussan Deyhim

Sussan Deyhim is an Iranian singer, composer and dancer.Born in Tehran, her career began as a dancer with Iran's Pars National Ballet company...

, Damo Suzuki

Damo Suzuki

, universally known as Damo Suzuki , is a singer best known for his membership in the German krautrock group Can.-Biography:As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking....

 of the krautrock

Krautrock

Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...

 group Can

Can (band)

Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...

, and Kiya Tabassian

Kiya Tabassian

Kiya Tabassian was born in 1976, in Tehran, Iran, immigrating to Quebec in 1990. He has been trained in Persian music under Reza Ghasemi and Kayhan Kalhor...

 of the Ensemble Constantinople.

Yannatou is also a songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 ("Dreams of the mermaid. Is king Alexander alive?", "Rosa das Rosas", "Musique Des Chambres"), as well as a composer for theater, dance theater and video art

Video art

Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...

. She occasionally participates in select workshops, teaching vocal improvisations to actors and musicians.
Currently she's an ECM artist.

Discography & Participations

Releases (solo/group/compilations):

Year	Album	Album Artist	Label
1980	Εδώ Λιλιπούπολη	Manos Hadjidakis - Various artists	Columbia - Minos EMI
1981	Σαμποτάζ	Lena Platonos	Lyra
1982	Κέρκυρα ’82: Αγώνες Ελληνικού τραγουδιού	Manos Hadjidakis - Various artists Live Recording	Κέρκυρα - Minos EMI
Καρυωτάκης Kostas Karyotakis Kostas Karyotakis is considered one of the most representative Greek poets of the 1920s and one of the first poets to use iconoclastic themes in Greece. His poetry conveys a great deal of nature, imagery and traces of expressionism and surrealism... , 13 τραγούδια	Lena Platonos	Lyra
1983	Ρεβάνς (O.S.T.)	Dimitris Papadimitriou	Lyra
Το '62 του Μανου Χατζιδάκι	Lena Platonos	Lyra
1985	Εν Αθήναις	Nikos Kypourgos	Lyra
	Ερωτόκριτος Erotokritos Erotokritos is a romance composed by Vikentios Kornaros in early 17th century Crete. It consists of 10,012 fifteen-syllable rhymed verses....  και Αρετούσα	Nikos Mamangakis	Σείριος - Minos EMI
	Η ηχώ και τα λάθη της	Lena Platonos	Σείριος - Minos EMI
Μίλα μου για μήλα	Stavros Papastavrou	Σείριος - Minos EMI
Lullabies Νανουρίσματα	Nikos Kypourgos	Lyra
Ο Οδυσσέας στο ποτάμι	Michalis Gregoriou	Σείριος - Minos EMI
1986	Dreams of the Mermaid. Is king Alexander alive? Ζει ο βασιλιάς Αλέξανδρος;	Savina Yannatou	Lyra
	New excursion Νέα εκδρομή	Elena Papandreou	Lyra
Λεπιδόπτερα	Lena Platonos	Lyra
Μinimal suite - Double image	Vangelis Katsoulis	Praxis
1988	Το αηδόνι του αυτοκράτορα Του Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...	Lena Platonos	Lyra
1990	Μαρία Ντολόρες παρελθόν	Dimitris Maragkopoulos	Σείριος - MBI
Το φλυτζάνι	Petros Dourdoubakis	Lyra
1991	Ερωτική πρόβα	Dimitris Lagios	Columbia - Sony Music
1992	Africa (O.S.T.)	Panagiotis Kalantzopoulos	Cantini
Ίνα τί	Dimitris Lagios	Minos EMI
1993	Die zweite Heimat (O.S.T.) New arrangements and performances inspired by the film	Nikos Mamangakis	Milan - Sony BMG
Ατασθαλίες	Vasilis Nikolaidis	Lyra
1994	Masko	Savina Yannatou & Nikos Touliatos	Cήμαντρον Εμσε
Φέρτε τα!	Aera Patera	Olon Music
1995	Spring in Salonica: Sephardic folk songs Άνοιξη στη Σαλονίκη: Σεφαραδίτικα λαϊκά τραγούδια Primavera en Salonico: Canciones populares Sefardíes	Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico	Lyra
Εάλω η Πόλις. Θρήνοι για την άλωση της Κωνσταντινούπολης Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...	Early Music Workshop	FM Records
1996	Ιστορίες αποχαιρετισμού. Μουσική για τις παραστάσεις της εταιρείας θεάτρου Διπλούς Έρως	Dimitris Kamarotos	Theseum
1997	What summer is made for. Live at Rivermead Reading, 1996 WOMAD Festival	Various artists Live Recording	Womad Select
	Αναπνοές	Lena Platonos	Lyra
	Αποχαιρετισμοί της θάλασσας Ποίση Τάκη Σινόπουλου Takis Sinopoulos Takis Sinopoulos was a Greek poet and a leading figure among the so-called first postwar generation of Greek poets...  - Άρη Αλεξάνδρου Aris Alexandrou Aris Alexandrou was a Greek novelist, poet and translator. Always on the Left and always unconventional , he is the author of a single novel which is widely considered to be among the classic modern Greek works in the second half of the 20th...	Michalis Gregoriou	Minos EMI
	Μελωδίες της ανατολής. Τραγούδια της Σμύρνης Smyrna Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...	Various Artists Compilation	FM Records
Μέσ' απ' το σκοτάδι Through the darkness	Vangelis Katsoulis	Lyra
Προστάτης οικογένειας (O.S.T.)	Nikos Mamangakis	Δίφωνο
Σκοτεινή πράξη. Ορατόριο σε ποίηση Τάσου Λειβαδίτη	Michalis Gregoriou	Lyra
Τέμπλο Templo	Giorgos Christianakis	Virgin Greece
1998	Vananda	Andreas Georgiou	Libra Music
	Zoolixo Λίγο	Zoolixo Ligo	E2
	Όπως η θάλασσα	Omadiki Αpodrasi	Lyra
The photographers (O.S.T.) Οι φωτογράφοι	Nikolas Gkinis	Κίνησις
Mediterranea: Songs of the Mediterranean Τραγούδια της Μεσογείου	Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico	Lyra Sounds True
1999	Μικρές αγγελίες	Michalis Siganidis	Lyra
	Μικρό έπος για τον Ανδρέα Ροδινό	Nikos Mamangakis	Sony Music Ιδαία
Virgin Maries of the world Παναγιές του κόσμου	Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico	Lyra
Shores of twilight (O.S.T.) Τα ρόδινα ακρογιάλια	Dimitris Katakouzinos	Ostria - Eros
2000	Rosa das rosas	Savina Yannatou	Lyra
2001	Mode Plagal III	Mode Plagal Mode Plagal Mode Plagal is an originally Greek group who perform traditional Greek music blended with jazz, funk and other international styles. They have been described as "the preeminent ambassadors of the much-maligned vernacular Greek music in the 21st century"...	Lyra
	Terra nostra	Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico Live Recording	Lyra ECM
	Εδώ Λιλιπούπολη. Ζωντανή ηχογράφηση σπό το μουσικό θέατρο Βόλου	Various artists Live Recording	Lyra
Έλληνες συνθέτες. Τραυλός, Λαπιδάκης, Παπαδάτος, Τενίδης	Plucked String Orchestra of Patras	Κίνησις
Garden secrets Τα μυστικά του κήπου	Nikos Kypourgos	Σείριος - Minos EMI
2002	Lilly's story (O.S.T.)	Nikos Mamangakis	Universal
	Μια φορά κι έναν καιρό... Παραμύθια και διηγήματα απ' την Ελλάδα και τον κόσμο	Various artists Compilation	Δίφωνο
Savina Yannatou sings Manos Hadjidakis Manos Hadjidakis Manos Hatzidakis was a Greek composer and theorist of the Greek music. He was also one of the main prime movers of the "Éntekhno" song .... Πάω να πω στο σύννεφο Η Σαβίνα Γιαννάτου σε τραγούδια του Μάνου Χατζηδάκι	Savina Yannatou	Lyra
2003	Asate	Andreas Georgiou	Libra Music
	Your golden boat Tvá zlatá lodka	Irena Havlová & Vojtěch Havlov Live Recording	Indies Records
	Ένα γράμμα στον πατέρα μου	Various artists Compilation	Lyra
Μπλέ Σε ποίηση Ρηνιώς Παπανικόλα	Michalis Gregoriou Live Recording	Legend
Σας τα 'παν άλλοι; Κάλαντα δωδεκαημέρου	Various artists Compilation	Μελωδικό Καράβι
2004	Garden theater Κηποθέατρο	Nikos Kypourgos Live Recording	Σείριος - Minos EMI
2005	Electra	Arild Andersen Arild Andersen Arild Andersen is a Norwegian bass player.Born in Lillestrøm, Norway, he started out as a member of the Jan Garbarek Quartet , with Terje Rypdal and Jon Christensen...	ECM
	Levantina	Vojislav Ivanović	Εμσε
Sumiglia	Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico	ECM
2006	En concert	Miquel Gil Live Recording	Galileo
	Heimat (O.S.T.) 58 music pieces from Edgar Reitz films Heimat I,II,III Heimat (film) Heimat is the overall title of three series of films in 30 episodes written and directed by Edgar Reitz which view life in Germany between 1919 and 2000 through the eyes of a family from the Hunsrück area of the Rhineland. Personal and domestic life is set against glimpses of wider social and...	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία
	Tutti baci	Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico Elena Ledda Elena Ledda Elena Ledda is a Sardinian singer.Born near Cagliari, she pursued conservatory studies in oboe and voice. Ledda has a dramatic soprano voice suitable for opera, which she originally performed as an artist, but was attracted by the folk singing of her native Sardinia and has chosen a career...  & Mauro Palmas	Lyra
Άσμα ασμάτων. Ιερά τραγούδια του έρωτα	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία
Η μπαλάντα του Ερωτόκριτου	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία
Μέγα ορατόριο των Ελλήνων. Στρατηγού Μακρυγιάννη	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία
2007	Far West - Tribal dances	Sotiris Debonos	HitchHyke
Musique des chambres Μουσική δωματίων	Savina Yannatou	Lyra
2008	Songs of an other	Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico	ECM
	Τραγούδια του Αιγαίου	Orchestra οf Colours	Λέσχη Του Δίσκου
Πάντως ήταν νύχτα - La poupée	Stella Gadedi	Lyra
2009	Birthdays	Felizol	Puzzlemusik
	Οι άλλοι	Michalis Siganidis Live Recording	Lyra
Σώμα	Soma	Polytropon
2010	Ερωτόκριτος. Όπερα σε πέντε μέρη	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία
	Η όπερα των σκιών Shadow play Shadow play or shadow puppetry Shadow puppets have a long history in China, India, Turkey and Java, and as a popular form of entertainment for both children and adults in many countries around the world. A shadow puppet is a cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen...	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία
	Attikos	Savina Yannatou & Barry Guy Live Recording	Maya Recordings
	Ερωφίλη	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία
Η συναυλία στο Παλλάς	Lena Platonos Live Recording	Lyra
Ερωτόκριτος. Η εκδοχή της Σητείας Sitia Sitia refers both to the port town, with 8,900 inhabitants and to the municipality with 19,209 inhabitants in Lasithi, Crete . It lies to the east of Agios Nikolaos and to the northeast of Ierapetra. Sitia port is on the Sea of Crete, which is a part of the Aegean Sea and is one of the economic...	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία
Το τραγούδι του Μπελογιάννη Nikos Beloyannis Nikos Beloyannis was a Greek resistance leader and leading cadre of the Greek Communist Party. He was born in Amalias in 1915...  και της Έλλης Παππά	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία
2011	Ομήρου Οδύσσεια Odyssey The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...	Nektarios Karantzis	Lyra
	Εγκώμιο στον Αλέξανδρο Παπαδιαμάντη Alexandros Papadiamantis Alexandros Papadiamantis was an influential Greek novelist and short-story writer.-His life:Papadiamantis was born in Greece, on the island of Skiathos, in the western part of the Aegean Sea. The island would figure prominently in his work. His father was a priest...	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία
Η Οδύσσεια The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel 'The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel is an epic poem by Greek poet and philosopher Nikos Kazantzakis, based on Homer's Odyssey. It is divided into twenty-four rhapsodies as is the original Odyssey and consists of 33,333 17-syllable verses. Kazantzakis began working on it in 1924 after he returned to Crete...  του Νίκου Καζαντζάκη Nikos Kazantzakis Nikos Kazantzakis was a Greek writer and philosopher, celebrated for his novel Zorba the Greek, considered his magnum opus...	Nikos Mamangakis	Ιδαία

Theatre

Year	Play	Director	Commission
1997	Medea Medea (play) Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed...	Nikaiti Kontouri	National Theatre of Greece National Theatre of Greece The National Theatre of Greece is based in Athens, Greece.-History:The theatre was originally founded in 1880 with a grant from King George I and Efstratios Rallis to give theatre a permanent home in Athens...
2005	The Bacchae The Bacchae The Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy by the Athenian playwright Euripides, during his final years in Macedon, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included Iphigeneia at Aulis, and which...	Sotiris Hatzakis	National Theatre of Greece
2006	The Dybbuk Between Two Worlds	Sotiris Hatzakis	National Theatre of Greece
2007	Iphigenia in Aulis	Sotiris Hatzakis	Thessalian Theatre
Η Γυναίκα της Ζάκυθος	Sotiris Hatzakis	Ymittos Ymittos Ymittos , is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Dafni-Ymittos, of which it is a municipal unit....  Festival
2008	The Caucasian Chalk Circle The Caucasian Chalk Circle The Caucasian Chalk Circle is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than its natural parents....	Sotiris Hatzakis	National Theatre of Northern Greece

Dance Theatre

Year	Play	Director	Commission
1993	Medea of Silence	Aspasia Kralli	Theatre of Silence
1995	Hades Hades Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...  in a Room Orpheus Orpheus Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...  and Eurydice Eurydice Eurydice in Greek mythology, was an oak nymph or one of the daughters of Apollo . She was the wife of Orpheus, who loved her dearly; on their wedding day, he played joyful songs as his bride danced through the meadow. One day, a satyr saw and pursued Eurydice, who stepped on a venomous snake,...	Aspasia Kralli	Theatre of Silence

External links

• Official Site
• Upcoming Concerts from Songkick
• Interview for rootsworld.com