Biography
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Born
16 November 1953 (age 70)
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Born In
Serres, Kentriki Makedonia, Greece
Glykeria (born Glykeria Kotsoula) is a popular Greek singer. She was born in Agio Pnevma, Serres in 1953.
Glykeria began her career in 1974 working in the Athens Plaka music boites and gave performances with well-known artists, singing songs by M. Hadjidakis, M. Theodorakis, M. Loizos and others.
Collaborations in concerts and discography with: A. Kaldaras, S. Fotiadis, Natacha Atlas, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Loukianos Kilaidonis|L. Kilaidonis, Mary Linda, P. Thalassinos Sotiria Bellou, George Dalaras, Marinella, Ofra Haza, Ricky Gal, Chava Alberstein, Amal Murkus, Paschalis Terzis, Ilias Aslanoglou, Antonis Vardis, Sarit Hadad, Fortuna and more.
In 1982 she was selected to represent Greece in the Europalia '82 festival in Brussels, together with Sotiria Bellou, George Dalaras and Margarita Zorbala. In 1986 she sang “Earini Symfonia” (poem by Yiannis Ritsos, music by Yiannis Markopoulos) for the song’s premier performance, at the opening ceremony of the World Championships held for the first time at the Athens Olympic Stadium, broadcast to 120 countries all over the world.
She has sung in concerts in Greece and abroad (Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Cyprus, Israel) and Turkey. Due to the successful concerts she gave in Israel she was proclaimed most popular foreign singer; the Mayor of Jerusalem awarded her the golden key of the city (1994). Three albums were released in Israel at the same time, all of them gold in a very short time: Glykeria golden-hits, Far away, Glykeria – 14 classics, and her first album in France: Golden hits – The voice of Greece.
In 1998 her second album was released in France. She took part in two albums for the American label Putumayo and in compilations released in Europe.
In 1999 she performed two concerts in Tel Aviv with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. A few months later the concert’s album was released and, immediately afterwards, Glykeria and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was released throughout the world by Sony Classical.
In 2001 she participated in the album Alif of the world-renown musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek.
In 2002 she gave concerts with the “Mikis Theodorakis Orchestra”, the “Estudiantina” orchestra, and gave a personal tour all over Greece as well.
In the same year her album “Open Heart” was released in Israel and “Glykeria’s Rebetika Songs” in Turkey. In the First Arion Awards in Greece she was awarded the prize for best Greek popular singer. Glykeria, "The Sweet one" in Greek, has been a successful female singer in Greece for many years. In the of summer 1993 she performed in Israel for the first time. She ended her performance with her own captivating version of an Israeli anthem "Shabechi Yerushaly'im" ("praises to Jerusalem") in Hebrew. This magical moment triggered a Greek-Israeli love story.
Glykeria became the most loved Greek singer in Israel and a major part of Israel's cultural scene in the 90s. Her special style full of depth, melancholy and endless emotion captured the heart of the Israelis, and her songs, both in Hebrew (with perfect pronunciation) and Greek became all-time classics. She became a "household" name in Israel, an "honorary citizen", a platinum and gold albums seller, and the favorite of Israel's top leaders and celebrities. Her deep connection to Israel culminated in 1998 when she was the only foreign artist to be invited to sing in the special memorial event for Yitzhak Rabin, the beloved leader who was assassinated three years before. With tears in her eyes she sang and wailed in front of 200,000 people in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. In the summer of 1999 she was invited to perform with The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. Also in 2006 during The Israel–Lebanon conflict she came to Israel with her son and met Ehud Olmert and sang for the soldiers at the borders.
She is currently collaborating with world renowned composer Mikis Theodorakis on a two-disc album composed of songs written by the famed composer. Set to release in September 2008, Glykeria has already begun touring to promote the album.
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