Kalliopi

:"For the muse bearing the same name, see Calliope "

Kalliopi Saratsopoulou is a famous pop-rock singer/songwriter and Greek actress, who has collaborated with many famous Greek artists, producers and song writers.

Life

Kalliopi was born in Athens, Greece, and is known to her friends and family as Kelly and started singing and acting at the age of 6. After graduating from German School of Athens, she went on to the Arts Theatre of Karolos Koun to become an actress. She was also studying music at the National Conservatory and taking dance lessons at that time. In the second year of her studies in drama school, she was chosen to play a lead part - Toula - in a play by Pantelis Horn called Findanaki. This part gave her the first stage experience and a great boost in the theater profession, as she was fortunate to play next to well known actors and to meet great artists and personalities such as Manos Hatzidakis, Dimitris Horn, and G.Tsarouchis. She received praising reviews for her performance as a 'great new emerging talent', and was given a scholarship and graduated with honors from the Arts Theatre Drama School. She came to London to do a Shakespeare course at R.A.D.A and a one year course at the Arts Educational Schools - The Acting Company. Later on Kalliopi played Nina in the Seagull by A.Tchekov and Ismene in Antigone by J.Anouihl at the Theatre Museum. She is reviewed as an 'ardent, openhearted Nina' in Time Out and as 'the only actor of any flair or promise' cited from the What's On Magazine.

Having returned from London to Greece, Kalliopi appeared in numerous plays and shows, playing Phoebe in As You Like by William Shakespeare, Chorus leader in Trojan Women and Medea by Euripides at the Theatre of Epidaurus, Kalliopi in Temptation by Xenopoulos, and The Little Prince by A. de S. Exupery, which ran with great success for a long time. She also worked with actor /director George Michalakopoulos in The Lesson by E.Ionesko and director V.Nikolaidis in Maroula's good fortune by D.Koromila. Also, she acted in a couple of TV series episodes in Anatomy of A Crime and in two plays for TV called Perikiromeni by Menandros and Blind Men's Sticks by J.Ritsos.

Meanwhile, Kalliopi was singing and did various recording projects of electronic music, lsuchg as The Mixer of Lena Platonos with producer Coti K. and K.Parissis(FM Records), participated on the albums with bands Apontes and H3 that received favourable reviews from Pop & Rock Music Magazine. At that time music took over, as she felt that music more suited her personality, and she decided to dedicate herself exclusively to music.

Later she met some of the best musicians and formed a band called Minima. It was a five piece pop/rock band with Alkis Misirlis on drums, Theo Souris on keyboards, D. Sarabaras on guitar, G.Ketesidis on bass, and Kalliopi as singer/songwriter. They released an album "Minima" on the Lyra/MBI label and worked with the famous Pop singer Christos Dantis while touring Greece and while doing many live shows in Cyprus and Germany.

Kalliopi started writing pop songs in English and French with influences ranging from jazz to rock and dance music. She co-wrote "Yoo Hoo Hoo" with Stelios Vounidis, a friend musician and sound engineer, and 'Killing Me' with Theo Souris, the keyboard player from her band Minima. She spent a few months recording a CD with a producer friend in Athens, and decided to name the CD "Yoo Hoo Hoo", which she believed evokes a positive feeling of well-being and childlike happiness. The CD was released in 2003.

Kalliopi traveled all the way to London and has since been living in London to gain exposure and promote her music. She has played a few venues like The Pop Bar, West One Four, Betsew Trotwood and George and Dragon, and has been building up a line-up for the summer.

Influences

Kalliopi is influenced by a wide range of artists including The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Nirvana, Blur, The Cranberries, David Bowie, Gwen Stefani, Guns N' Roses, Led Zeppelin, and The White Stripes.

ee also

*Mononymous persons

External links

* [http://kalliopi.eu.com/ Official Kalliopi website]
* [http://myspace.com/kalliopimusic/ Official Myspace]