Diomira, the artists
Born in Athens in 1976, Stefanos Filos studied classical and traditional violin from the age of eight. A graduate of the Pallini Music High School, he continued his studies at the Music Department of the University of Athens, also earning his Harmony Diploma.
Since 1995, he has performed as a musician, composer, arranger, and performer in the Greek traditional, contemporary, experimental, and world music scenes. He collaborates with many renowned artists such as Christos Tsiamoulis, Brenna MacCrimmon, Patrizia Bovi, Martha Frintzila, Mode Plagal, Matoula Zamani, Takis Farazis, Kaiti Koullia, Giota Vei, and many others.
Also very active in the fields of theatre and contemporary dance, he works notably under the direction of directors Dimos Avdeliodis, Lydia Koniordou, Sotiris Hatzakis, Carlo Formigoni, Mirek Kocur and collaborates with international choreographers such as Ali & Hedi Thabet, Giannis Karounis and Ioanna Vassilakopoulou.
Notable projects include collaborations with the National Theatre of Greece, the National Theatre of Belgium, the theatre companies Tsiritsantsoules, Ditto Dance, Saltator and the MITOS Centre (Cyprus). Between 2013 and 2016, he participated as a musician in the world tour of the contemporary dance and new circus show "Ali / We Are The Same" by choreographers Ali & Hedi Thabet, with performances including at the National Theatre of Belgium, the São Paulo International Festival, the Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris, the Teatro del Mayo in Buenos Aires and the Napoli Teatro Festival.
Since 2007, he has been a founding member of the folk/electronica band EleKtroBalKana and since 2018 of the Mediterranean rock band Hybridian. From 2012 to 2016, he also collaborated with the international band Alcalica (DE/GR/UK).
Since 2020, he has participated in the creation "Uwrubba" by choreographers Ali & Hedi Thabet, co-produced by the French company État d'Esprit and the Théâtre de Suresnes in Paris.
Mahdokt Karampour Born in Iran in 1981, she began learning the santur, an Iranian table zither with struck strings, at the age of eight. She studied Persian modal music in Tehran. In her improvisations and compositions, Mahdokht draws inspiration from Persian modes, traditional Middle Eastern music, and contemporary music. For her, poetry is inseparable from musical creation. Sensitive to contemporary language, Mahdokht has recently sought to develop new ways of playing the bass santur. She performs as a musician and composer for theater, performance, and film accompaniment.
Athanasia (Nancy) Legkitsa is a Greek singer who combines traditional roots and colors with musical influences from around the world. Introduced to music at a young age, she began by studying classical guitar and music theory, before discovering that singing was her true vocation. She joined several choirs, exploring varied repertoires, including the ensemble "Tsikaina", based on a Greek island, whose repertoire extends from Africa to the Balkans. Later, she sang in the Athenian choir "String theory", directed by pianist George Paterakis. She deepened her knowledge by participating in vocal workshops with Greek singer Katerina Papadopoulou and percussion workshops with Vaggelis Karipis. After exploring blues, jazz standards and bossa nova, she is mainly passionate about traditional oriental music. Her repertoire primarily covers Greece, Asia Minor, the Balkans, and the Levant, with a particular emphasis on vocal ornamentation. Passionate about the art of Andalusian flamenco, she took classes and began collaborating with a flamenco guitarist in Greece. A versatile mezzo-soprano singer, she places great importance on the profound interpretation of each musical work. A great travel enthusiast, she regularly tours Spain and France, primarily with a traditional Mediterranean and oriental repertoire.
Apostolos Sideris (bass, composition, vocals), born in 1978 in Athens, began his musical career with the flute and then the double bass. Passionate about jazz, he studied at the Berklee School of Music (Boston, USA) and earned a master's degree from the City College of New York under the direction of John Patitucci. After living in New York and Istanbul, he now resides in Paris.
His latest project, "Past-Presented" (Parallel Records, France, 2023), fuses Eastern modal melodies, modern jazz, and rhythms from the African diaspora, receiving excellent reviews. He collaborates with Lionel Loueke, Rez Abbasi, Leo Genovese, Clarence Penn, Mokhtar Samba, and Seamus Blake, among others.
In the world music field, he works with Ziad Rahbani, Sanaa Moussa, Ara Dinkjian, the Turkish ensemble MESEL, of which he is co-founder, and Savina Yannatou. He performs on international stages such as the Roskilde Festival (Denmark), the Arles Festival (France), the Seoul Jazz Festival (Korea) and the Istanbul Jazz Festival (Turkey).
His previous albums include "Summation" (2019) and "Hane" (2022). Based in Paris since late 2023, he has participated in various projects such as "Nomades", as well as collaborations with Eléonore Fourniau, Naissam Jalal and Lynn Adib, while soaking up the cultural influences of his new Parisian environment.
Andrea Romani , an Italian-born jazz flautist, ney player and singer, is a disciple of the Turkish master Ömer Erdoğdular. After living for several years in Istanbul, Paris and Athens, he released his first album, "Cekirdek" with Alonisma Vtet, in 2017 on the Turkish label Kalan Muzik.
In 2019, Andrea Romani collaborated on the album "Summation" (Fresh Sound Records) by bassist Apostolos Sideris, alongside New York pianist Leo Genovese, and also recorded on the album "LOWN" by pianist Alexis Bajot-Nercessian. In 2021, he participated in the recording of "Hane", Apostolos Sideris's new album. He is also actively involved in Apostolos Sideris's "Past-Presented" project, which will lead to the release of the eponymous album in 2023.
Founder of Makam Odyssey, an educational initiative dedicated to makams, Andrea Romani organizes masterclasses on Ottoman music with Ali Osman Erdoğdular (ney) and Ahmet Erdoğdular (vocals).
In October 2021, he launched the Jazz-Maqom project in Uzbekistan with Anne Paceo (drums), Alexis Bajot-Nercessian (piano) and Apostolos Sideris (double bass), including a creative residency and two concerts in Tashkent, which will continue in 2023 in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In 2024, he invited Kyrgyz musicians for a residency and concerts in Normandy and Paris.
At the end of 2023, Andrea Romani created the project "Alonisma in Paris" with Parisian drummer Corentin Rio (professor at the Paris Conservatory), with whom he held a concert-conference at the Bourg-la-Reine Conservatory, thus reinforcing his commitment to promoting the encounter between jazz, Mediterranean music and oriental traditions.
In 2024, he collaborated with the Association of Former Students and Friends of Oriental Languages (AAÉALO) on a series of concert-conferences on music from different regions of the world.
A polyglot, Andrea Romani is fluent in Italian, English, French, Turkish and Greek, musically exploring the cultures and traditions of these countries.
Producer, pianist and composer Pablo Vergara is a Latin Grammy-nominated musician who has performed across five continents. A classically-trained pianist in his native Chile, Pablo moved to New York to study with some of his jazz heroes like Barry Harris, Ron Carter and Bruce Barth. Since then he has worked with artists like saxophone legend Gato Barbieri, Dave Valentin, Claudia Acuña, Fred Wesley, Husnu Senlendirici, Jacques Schwartz-Bart, Ibrahim Maalouf, Gregoire Maret, Edmar Castañeda, Alain Pérez, Sara Serpa, Bebel Gilberto, Mino Cinelu, Keith Carlock and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Vergara composed and produced the score for Alejandro Fernandez Almendras's ¨To Kill A Man¨, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival and Dutch Circle of Film Critics Award at Rotterdam Film Festival. The successful collaboration sparked Vergara’s interest in writing music for film. He recently composed and produced the original soundtrack for Fernandez Almendras last two movies: Chilean box-office hit "My Amigo Alexis" -currently on Netflix- and the Czech black-and-white drama "The Play". Mr. Vergara studied at the Julliard School and at City College of New York and holds an MA in Music. He studied orchestration with Daniel Ott, counterpoint with Jonathan Pieslak and conducting with Vincent La Selva. Performance credits include Newport Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, Istanbul Is Sanat, Paris' Le Zenith, New York's Central Park SummerStage and Australia's Sidney Festival, amongst many others.
Né à Paris de deux parents grecs, oudiste, chanteur, compositeur, Stefanos Floras a toujours baigné dans la musique. Il bénéficie d’un parcours multiple: musique classique (10 ans de percussions classiques au Conservatoire Charles Munch), musiques actuelles (10 ans de guitare en cours particuliers) et musiques traditionnelles (Oud et Chant au CRD de Gennevilliers, DEM).
Spécialiste des les musiques modales de la Méditerranée, il se produit dans diverses formations et collaborations de la scène parisienne. En 2022 il fonde avec Mélina Vlachos et Mahdi M’kinini le groupe Nima, dont le 1er album « Pistes » et sorti en Mars 2023. Compositeur, Stefanos co-écrit la musique du film « La Mauvaisinière » (Paul Gaillard, 2020) ainsi que des spectacles musicaux-circassiens en collaboration avec le PPCM « Escaladant Eleusis » (Mise en scène Gaetan Levêque) et « Roza » , prix FoRTE 2021 de la Région Ile-de-France. En 2024 il compose la musique du spectacle « Les Tisserandes » de la Compagnie Dahlia Blanc. Son travail offre à entendre la richesse et la profondeur des musiques traditionnelles du bassin Méditerranéen, empreintes aussi de modernité.
The projects of Carlo Maria Nartoni spring from a constant dialogue with different cultures and artistic languages. As a leader, he has released Improvvisi (2013), acoustic and electronic music blend, Syria (2017, Unit Records), with the goal of tackling social and contemporary themes, and Ellittica (2022, AUT Records), which is entirely dedicated to spontaneous improvisation. He has performed in prestigious venues such as the Piccolo Teatro Strehler, the Teatro degli Arcimboldi, and the Blue Note in Milan, as well as the Casa del Jazz in Rome. On an international scale, he has participated in festivals including Piano di Primo in Allschwil, the Venice Biennale, TEDx, Clusone Jazz Festival, and Suisse Diagonales Jazz. Outside Italian borders, he regularly performs across Europe, including Germany, Switzerland, France, Turkey, and England. His performances intertwine with theater, dance, painting, and poetry. Among his latest projects is Distances, born during the Uncool artistic residency in Poschiavo. Upcoming releases include Flows from Stillness, a duo with double bassist Ferdinando Romano, and Canto, his solo debut album—recorded live and entirely improvised.
Natif de Grèce, Yannis Pournaras a baigné dès son enfance dans la musique. Après avoir obtenu sa licence en philosophie et son prix de guitare classique à Thessalonique, il a entamé sa carrière au théâtre National du Nord de la Grèce. Son parcours l'a ensuite conduit à Istanbul, où il s'est plongé dans l'étude de la musique classique ottomane tout en participant à divers projets explorant les riches traditions musicales de la région, notamment la musique grecque, turque, balkanique et le rébétiko. En 2021, il a élargi ses horizons en obtenant sa licence en musicologie au département jazz de l'université Jean Jaurès à Toulouse. Trois ans plus tard, il a consolidé son expérience en complétant avec succès la troisième année du cercle professionnel à l'école de musique actuelle Music'halle, décrochant ainsi la certification IOMA de FNEIJMA. Depuis lors, Yannis collabore avec de nombreux artistes, explorant une variété d'esthétiques musicales et créant des projets novateurs et inspirants.
Drummer and composer Srdjan Ivanovic (born 1983) has chosen sticks, drums, and cymbals as his preferred instruments in his quest to unleash energy through musical encounters. He blends melodic modern jazz with Balkan musical heritage, enriching his music with multiple influences encountered along the way.
“Srdjan Ivanovic hides an energizing style of drumming and percussion, a true antidote to torpor.” Citizen Jazz, Alice Leclercq
Currently based in Paris, Srdjan was born in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), before moving to Athens, Greece, in 1992 to escape the war. His first musical influences came from the late-night sessions of his father's friends, a classical guitarist and composer. He began studying drums with Greek drummer George Polychronakos, then continued his studies in the Netherlands at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Utrechts Conservatorium, where he won several awards, including the Dutch Jazz Competition at the North Sea Jazz Festival. He also received a scholarship from the Prins Bernhard Foundation to study in New York.
As a leader, he took the Blazin' Quartet around the world and released four albums. His new band, bearing his name, brings together leading Paris-based musicians with whom he released the album "Modular" in February 2024 on Rue Des Balkans.
Still active, he also co-leads the group Xénos, a Balkan rock-jazz ensemble whose first album was released in 2023, as well as the Nikolov-Ivanovic Undectet (11 musicians), whose latest album features flautist Magic Malik, and which is preparing a new album for 2024. Srdjan appears as a sideman on more than twenty albums and performs regularly with various groups in Paris. He also composes for film and theater.
Drummer and composer Srdjan Ivanovic (born 1983) has chosen sticks, drums, and cymbals as his preferred instruments in his quest to unleash energy through musical encounters. He blends melodic modern jazz with Balkan musical heritage, enriching his music with multiple influences encountered along the way.
“Srdjan Ivanovic hides an energizing style of drumming and percussion, a true antidote to torpor.” Citizen Jazz, Alice Leclercq
Currently based in Paris, Srdjan was born in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), before moving to Athens, Greece, in 1992 to escape the war. His first musical influences came from the late-night sessions of his father's friends, a classical guitarist and composer. He began studying drums with Greek drummer George Polychronakos, then continued his studies in the Netherlands at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Utrechts Conservatorium, where he won several awards, including the Dutch Jazz Competition at the North Sea Jazz Festival. He also received a scholarship from the Prins Bernhard Foundation to study in New York.
As a leader, he took the Blazin' Quartet around the world and released four albums. His new band, bearing his name, brings together leading Paris-based musicians with whom he released the album "Modular" in February 2024 on Rue Des Balkans.
Still active, he also co-leads the group Xénos, a Balkan rock-jazz ensemble whose first album was released in 2023, as well as the Nikolov-Ivanovic Undectet (11 musicians), whose latest album features flautist Magic Malik, and which is preparing a new album for 2024. Srdjan appears as a sideman on more than twenty albums and performs regularly with various groups in Paris. He also composes for film and theater.
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