Marios Tokas

Marios Tokas (Μάριος Τόκας)
Bust of Marios Tokas, in Nicosia Cyprus
Background information
Born	June 8, 1954(1954-06-08) Limassol, Cyprus
Origin	Limassol, Cyprus
Died	April 27, 2008(2008-04-27) (aged 53) Athens, Greece
Occupations	Composer
Instruments	Vocals,Piano,Guitar
Years active	1978–2008
Associated acts	Dimitris Mitropanos,Yiannis Parios,Charis Alexiou, Dimitra Galani, Manolis Mitsias, Manos Loizos

Marios Tokas (Μάριος Τόκας) (8 June 1954 – 27 April 2008) Greek composer of traditional music born in Limassol, Cyprus. In the 1974 invasion, he fought as a soldier against the Turkish invadors. In 1975 he went to Athens in order to study in the philosophical school.^[1] At the same time, he studied in the Ethniko Odio because he wanted to start a career as a musician. In 2004, Tokas and his six-member orchestra gave a concert in Vienna. The concert was co-organised by the Greek Society of Austria and the Athens Sports Association "Pantalkis" with the support of the General Secretariat of Hellenism Abroad of the Greek Foreign Ministry, under the auspices of the Cypriot ambassador to Austria.

Musical career

Marios Tokas has worked with some of the most famous Greek singers.Dimitris Mitropanos, Constantina, Yiannis Parios, Aleka Kanellidou, Charis Alexiou, Dimitra Galani, Dionisis Theodosis, Katerina Kouka, Antonis Kalogiannis and Manolis Mitsias are just a few of them. He always offered free of charge concerts every summer in his native Cyprus, for all the 18year olds that were going for their 26 month compulsory service in the National Guard. Marios Tokas was a superb composer and his work includes religious albums, folk albums, soundtracks to television shows, and pure Greek music.

His last work was the official anthem of the Cyprus University of Technology.

Death

On 27 April 2008, Tokas died of cancer in Athens. Cypriot president Dimitris Christofias had visited him in the hospital towards the end of his life.^[2] He was buried in Athens' First cemetery.^[3]

He is regarded as the most prominent composer in Cyprus and one of the most important in Greece. M. Tokas will always be remembered for his passion for Cyprus and the connection of his music with Cyprus.

References

1. ^ "Cypriot composer to be buried Wednesday in Athens". Financial Mirror. 2008-04-29. http://www.financialmirror.com/more_news.php?id=10791&nt=Politics. Retrieved 2008-04-30. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Famagusta Gazette Online Edition Cyprus music star Marios Tokas dies at 54
3. ^ "Composer Tokas laid to rest". Athens News Agency. 2008-04-30. http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=6387054&maindocimg=6386656&service=95. Retrieved 2008-04-30. 

External links

• Vienna Performance

Persondata
Name	Tokas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1954-06-08
Place of birth
Date of death	2008-04-27
Place of death