Free for Five #2
Savina Yannatou (voice), Giorgos Kokkinaris (double bass), Alexis Porfyriadis (piano), Joe Tornabene (baritone saxophone) and Stephanos Chytiris (drums, percussion) meet for two sets of free improvisation.
Savina Yannatou studied singing with Gogo Georgilopoulou and at the Vocal Art Workshop with Spyros Sakkas. She graduated from the PCS department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with a scholarship from “Mousegeti”. She began her professional career singing in the ERT’s Third Programme emission “Edo Lillipopoli”, in collaboration with Lena Platonos (1978-81). She has collaborated with many Greek composers. Since 1994, with the band Primavera en Salonico, she has been performing songs from the Mediterranean and the Balkans at festivals all over the world. Since 1992 she has been involved in vocal improvisation in the field of free jazz. She has composed music for the National Theatre, the Larissa Theatre and the Theatre of Neos Kosmos. Part of her collaboration with the theatre is also teaching free vocal improvisation. Her discography includes around thirty albums (Lyra, ECM) with compositions by Greek and foreign composers, traditional songs from various countries, free improvisations and her own songs.
The double bassist Giorgos Kokkinaris composes, improvises and collaborates with people from the fields of composition, visual arts, poetry and dance. His art is based on the physicalization of music through voice and movement and the use of new technologies. He gives concerts abroad and organizes seminars on improvisation. He is part of the editorial team of the magazine “NewMusic.gr” which aims to strengthen the local music community. He is a member of the contemporary music group àktapha.
Alexis Porfyriadis is a composer and pianist/improviser. He studied composition at the University of Bath-Spa/England (PhD) and at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz/Austria (Magister and Postgraduate). Among the awards he has received are First Prize at the Franco Evangelisti International Composition Competition 2020 Rome/Italy and Third Prize at the Molinari Quartet International Composition Competition Montreal/Canada (2004/05). His compositions have been performed in Europe, USA, Mexico and Canada. He has been involved in improvisation since 2005. He teaches improvisation, experimental music and unconventional performing arts at the Department of Music Science and Art, University of Macedonia. He is a member of the 6daEXIt Improvisation Ensemble (Thessaloniki) and WHI ensemble (Athens).
Joe Tornabene is an award winning international multimedia musician, stage and film actor, sound designer, composer and sound therapist. He has taught experiential workshops concerned with the relationships of performance, somatic embodiment, movement, voice, sound, music and improvisation in 11 countries.
Stephanos Chytiris is a drummer and improviser from Athens. He has worked on a wide range of works from avant-garde jazz to contemporary classical music. Maintaining a balance between tradition and modernism in drums and cymbals, his works serve as a free base for musicians to explore and interact with the personal and collective unconscious, with the aim of reaching a cathartic experience.