About me

Christos Kaliontzidis was born in Veria Imathia, Greece in 1993 and was raised in Thessaloniki. He comes from a family with a rich musical background. His father Michalis, who is considered to be one of the most important masters of the Pontic lyra in Greece, immersed him into both the traditional Greek and Pontian music from a very young age. Christos has been playing the Pontic lyra since he was six and at the age of twelve he started making his first public appearances.  He has played and sung Pontian music at various social events (weddings, christenings, traditional festivals, name days, etc.) and in concerts with choirs and large orchestras throughout Greece, either with his father or alone. In 2001 he enrolled in the State Conservatory of Northern Greece, where he studied for a number of years taking theoretical lessons and  learning how to play the piano and the classical violin under the instructions of the great soloist Galina Batsika. In 2011, after succeeding in his Panhellenic examinations, he entered the University of Ioannina and studied at the Department of Music Studies.  As soon as he graduated he went on and got his master’s degree on “Modal Traditions of the Mediterranean” from the Department of Music Science at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki. He specializes on the musical tradition of Pontus and the modality that has been used both technically and stylistically. He plays several musical instruments such as the Pontic lyra, the violin, the lute, the oud, the kemane, the yayli tanbur and the tulum (Pontic bagpipe). However, he declares himself as a lyra player. Despite his young age he has traveled all over Greece giving concerts in historical places such as the Odeon of Herodus Atticus and the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. He has also performed in many countries in Europe, America, North Africa and Australia, participating in numerous events. Christos has worked with some of the most important Greek singers and musicians that include Chronis Aidonidis, Petros Gaitanos, Stamatis Gonidis, Sofia Papazoglou, George Ntalaras, Areti Ketime, Panagiotis Lalezas, Matthaios & Konstantinos Tsahourides and Mimis Plessas. Moreover, he has had the chance to work with  some exceptional musicians and artists from abroad such as Dilek Coç (Turkey), Hussein Zahawy (Iraq), Peter Ralchev, Peyo Peev (Bulgaria), Lamia Ait Amara (Algeria) and the famous ethnic performer Omar Faruk Tekbliek (US), accompanying them with the Pontic lyra and the violin. He has participated in numerous recordings cooperating with musicians from different music styles and idioms. He has also created his own recording studio called “Argo Records” in order to produce projects and recordings which are based on Pontic and ethnic fusion style. Since October 2019 he has been a lecturer at the University of Ioannina in the department of Music Studies. Finally, for the last 7 years he has been an active member of “Lyra”, a Pontic lyra music school, helping his father with his teaching work and conducting, both, online and live lessons in many Greek cities including Thessaloniki, Serres, Ioannina, Kozani, Preveza and elsewhere.