Stelios Petrakis, Dimitris Sideris The distinctive sound of Cretan “Syrtos”

Stelios Petrakis began learning the art of the Cretan lyra in his hometown of Sitia. In 1983, he started his studies at the Sitia School of Music, learning to play the lyra with teachers Giannis Dandolos, Ross Daly, and Eleni Drettaki under the directorship of Kostas Mountakis. It was not long before he extended his interests to include Greek, Turkish, and Bulgarian repertoires, as well as that of Crete.

Petrakis’s interests have led him to work with an impressive list of international artists who represent multiple Mediterranean musical traditions. He has appeared in concert and recorded with major musicians in world music (Ross Daly, Bijan Chemirani, Keyvan Chemirani, Ojos de Brujo, Patrick Vaillant) and traditional Cretan music (Giorgis Xylouris, Vasilis Stavrakakis, Michalis Stavrakakis, Mitsos Stavrakakis). In addition, he has worked with Greek musicians and composers (Christos Leontis, Stamatis Spanoudakis, Achilleas Persidis) and Spanish singer Manolo García. He formed an instrumental trio with Valencian multi-instrumentalist Efrén López and Franco-Iranian percussionist Bijan Chemirani; the ensemble has toured Europe and India, and recently appeared at the Jazz sous les pommiers festival in France.

“Syrtos”