Lafazanidis Giorgoulis

Giorgoulis Lafazanidis was born in 1931 in Dipotamo, Kavala, of refugee parents who had to abandon their hometwons of Matsouka and Daniaha in Trapezounta, Pontos in 1922. While still very young he began to play the lyra , sing the Pontic songs of his village, and act in Pontic plays. He married in 1955 and two years later emigrated with his young family to Toronto, Canada, only to return to Athens in 1973. Once back in Greece he was invited by his compatriot Michalis Kaliontzidis, already an established lyraris, to join him in reviving and serving the cultural and musical legacy of their ancestors. In 1986 they produced their first recording together, Authentic Songs of Pontos #1. The enormous success of this recording led to the release of Authentic Songs of Pontos 2, 3, and 4 (#5 is in progress). Since then he has been the soloist for Kaliontzidis' ensemble and choir in all their appearances in Greece and abroad, and has taught the traditional songs of Pontos to emerging singers and instrumentalists.