Magical Performance with Eleni Tsaligopoulou & Bogaz Musique

Greek singer Eleni Tsaligopoulou along with her band, Bogaz Musique, captivated the audience during AKTINA’s Greek Music Journey 2016 (GMJ) on Friday, April 22, at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College during a performance termed by all in attendance as “magical.” Produced by Elena Maroulleti and co-presented by AKTINA Productions, Inc., and CYPRECO Of America, Inc., the concert was given to benefit the organizations’ public service media, AKTINA FM and AKTINA TV, while it also celebrated AKTINA’s and AKTINA FM’s 23rd anniversary.

Before a packed theatre, Tsaligopoulou truly captivated the enthused audience who were fully engaged from beginning to end, singing, clapping along and cheering. Along with her band, Bogaz Musique, comprised by the talented musicians Apostolos Tsardakas, kanonaki/tzoura/baglama/vocals, Spyros Chatzikontstantinou, guitars/vocals, Haris Kellaris, bass, and Argyris Diamantis, drums, Tsaligopoulou entertained the crowd during a very unique and unforgettable musical journey that lasted for 2 ½ hours and highlighted the best aspects of Greek music.

The audience enjoyed many great hits from Tsaligopoulou’s personal discography, as well as traditional, rembetika and classic everlasting songs by great Greek composers such as Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hatzidakis and Stavros Xarhakos, performed in a new and revived sound by the talented artists. Tsaligopoulou mastered the stage with incredible energy in a most dynamic performance. Soon after the commence of the performance, she took off her shoes and started dancing all over the stage, fully engaging the audience that kept cheering, singing and clapping along. A unique highlight of the performance was her interpretation of the hit song “Diodia,” composed by Stavros Siolas and based on lyrics by Greek-Cypriot American lyricist and poet Polys Kyriacou, who is also a volunteer at AKTINA FM and a member of CYPRECO.

Referring to the successful performance, the concert’s executive producer as well as AKTINA and CYPRECO President Elena Maroulleti stressed that, “we feel exceptionally happy and honored for receiving, once again, raving reviews and ecstatic compliments from our fans, supporters and members of the press for our new concert from the Greek Music Journey series. Everyone thanked us for selecting Eleni Tsaligopoulou, who according to their testimonies, she truly mesmerized and captivated them, while there is much buzz on Facebook by everyone who attended.”

In recognition of Tsaligopoulou’s many contributions to Greek music and for participating in support of Greek Music Journey 2016, the artist was honored with “AKTINA’s Distinguished Artist Award.” The prestigious award is exclusively presented to GMJ participating artists with many years of contribution to Greek music and Ms. Tsaligopoulou was the third recipient. Previous recipients were Lavrentis Machairitsas and Yiannis Kotsiras. Council Member Costa Constantinides also honored Ms. Tsaligopoulou with a Citation on behalf of the City of New York in recognition of her contributions to Greek music and for her participation to GMJ 2016 for the benefit of Greek-Americans and of all New Yorkers.