Socrates Sinopoulos, the distinguished Greek musician and composer, internationally recognized for his contributions tothe politiki lyra, whose work bridges the traditional music of the Eastern Mediterranean with contemporary jazz and classical music, will be a guest at the 2nd Festival of Traditional Culture “Voices and Memories” organized by the Municipality of Paralimni – Deryneia, which begins on Saturday, March 28, 2026, and is held under the auspices of the Deputy Ministry of Culture.

Specifically, Socrates Sinopoulos will be a guest at two events that are open to both professional and amateur musicians as well as the general public:

Saturday, March 28, 2:00–5:00 p.m. and 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Basement of the Agios Dimitrios Cultural Center in Paralimni
Improvisational Music Workshop with Socrates Sinopoulos
Participation fee: €10 (Limited number of spots).
Registration: https://forms.gle/XeTP5t91Bzpat9Bn9

Sunday, March 29, 8:00p.m.
Old Church of St. George, Paralimni
“The Lyre Meets Cyprus,” a concert featuring the acclaimed artist Socrates Sinopoulos.
Free admission

For more information and the full festival program, visit: https://tinyurl.com/44jcjcs7

Socrates Sinopoulos

He was born in Athens. He studied classical guitar with Maria Galani and Vasilis Gratsounas, music theory with Michalis Adamis, Byzantine music and folk song with Yannis Tsiamoulis, and musicology at the Department of Music Studies at the University of Athens. In 1988, he began studying the politiki lyra and lute with Ross Daly, and a year later he joined his ensemble “Labyrinth.” Since then, he has collaborated with musicians from Greece and abroad in various musical ensembles, participating in recordings and concerts around the world. Among others, she has recorded with Charles Lloyd for Blue Note, with Jean-Quentin Queyras for Harmonia Mundi, with Eleni Karaindrou for ECM, and with the early music ensemble L’Achéron for Fuga Libera. In 1999, he was awarded the State Prize for Young Artists: “Melina Mercouri” by the Ministry of Culture. In 2010, he formed the Socrates Sinopoulos Quartet. The quartet’s first album, titled “Eight Winds,” was released in 2015, produced by Manfred Eicher for ECM Records, and received outstanding reviews internationally. In 2018, his album “Under the Rose Tree – Tunes from the Greek musical traditions” was released by Saphrane Records and was selected as one of the best CDs of 2018 by the German Music Critics’ Association. In 2019, the quartet’s second album, titled “Metamodal,” followed. In 2025, the album “Topos” was released, a duet with pianist Yannis Kyriakidis featuring arrangements of Béla Bartók’s Romanian Dances. He has composed music for theater productions and musical theater: “It Is Not a Time for Poetry” (2025 – Torniki Monastery), “Tsunami” (2023 – Ancient Olympia), “Mortal Gods” (2020 – Ancient Olympia), “13 Moons” (2019 – Daphni Monastery), among others. As artistic director of performances, he has curated, among other things, the concert “Kyra-Domna’s Asia Minor” (2022 – Athens Concert Hall, Heraklion Cultural and Conference Center, Kalamata Dance Hall), the four festivals of young traditional music ensembles “The Leaves of the Rosebush – The Youth for Domna Samiou” (2017 – Athens Concert Hall, 2019 & 2021 – Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, 2024 – Technopolis of the City of Athens), the performance “Epestrefe,” a tribute to C. Cavafy produced by the European Cultural Center of Delphi (2013 – National Garden, Athens), concerts by Domna Samiou at all major theaters in Greece during the period 2003–2011, and others. He is a professor in the Department of Music Science and Art at the University of Macedonia, director of the Poetry Laboratory within the same department, and president of the Domna Samiou Folk Music Artistic Association.