Classic (and) hip hop: element of an innovative creation
After a decade Katia Paschou and DJ Rico meet again in the artist field, this time on ADAF stage. The artists of the unique music collaboration called “The night of stars”(Νύχτα Αστεριών) this time accepted the ADAF challenge and invitation to experiment, using as a base compositions of Vagellis Sefiris (DJ Rico) with the technique of Sampling known to the public mainly from the hip hop genre with classical elements, in front of the audience in this special workshop. The audience will have the opportunity to follow step by step the procedure of creating a song.
Katia Paschou & DJ Rico (GR)
Katia Paschou is a lyric soprano, theatrical theorist at the University of Philosophy in Athens and a graduate of the Mannes College of Music in New York, has studied acting at Sande Shurin’s Transformational Acting Studio. She stood out from her first steps, still a student, in the role of Cinderella in Rossini’s opera of the same name in a production of the children’s stage of the National Opera. Shortly afterwards, with a scholarship from the Onassis Foundation, she continued her studies in New York. In 2008 she gave her official solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York as the winner of the Artists International Presentations competition. In 2010, with her repatriation, her active action as a soloist based in Athens in a wide repertoire and range of artistic activities is marked. She starred in the National Opera with roles such as: Musetta (La Bohème / Puccini), Adele (Strauss), Papagena (Magic Flute / Mozart), while her repertoire includes works such as church Stabat Mater by Pergolesi, Mozart’s Requiem. With her interest focused on Greek and contemporary creation, she has toured throughout Greece with works by Theodorakis and at the same time has interpreted works by W. Antoniou, Papadatou, Moraitis – Papageorgiou. Her main appearances abroad include the roles of Violetta in Verdi’s Traviata in Canada, as well as a series of concerts in Spain, New York and California. He has collaborated with the leading Greek orchestras: Athens State Orchestra, ERT Music Ensembles, Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens. He has participated in important international Greek festivals, Nafplio, Cyclades, Santorini etc. and has given a recital next to the great bass player Dimitris Kavrakos, with whom he has been studying technique since 2015. With a vision of expanding the opera audience, he created alternative performances of classical music, such as “Three Sopranos in My Tea”, educational programs at the Theocharakis Foundation, such as “Participatory Opera”, “The Katia Paschou Project”. In the same context, he has appeared in subversive collaborations such as “Night of Stars” with the hip-hop band NEVMA, but also as a Tedx Speaker-Performer at the international event Tedx Athens 2012 the ones who do, with the theme “How to see the opera more «cool». He teaches at the Kodály Conservatory.
Music Producer, Composer, Lyricist, Director, TV and radio producer are some of the professions of Serifis Vaggelis. He graduated from the Philosophical School of Athens and worked for 20 years as a professor, while his course in Greek music and media was advancing constantly. His love for music is a combination of his classical studies (piano and theory at Apolloneion Conservatory) and his contact with modern pop and urban music in the end of 80s. Initially a DJ, at various clubs at Chios and Athens, since 1997 he started experimenting with the idea of beatmaking, when he joined one of the most innovative hip hop bands of Greece, NEBMA. In 2004 he starts collaborating with Goin Through and in a period of 15 years, he has created albums with more than 1000 tracks in several genres, mainly hip hop, signing tens of hits as a composer, lyricist, orchesttrator: Kalimera Ellada, Ginaikes, Opos Ego (Goin Through), Emmoni, Min kaneis pos den thimasai (NEBMA), Imerologio, An mou ftanan ta lefta, Senario, and many more mainstream and underground landmarks in of Greek music production. In 2013, he founded the independent label 5th Season, with many significant artistic and commercial productions (Paidiko Tragoudi, Proto Traino). In the same year he signs the surprising collaboration of NEBMA with soprano Katia Paschou “Nixta Asterion” (Night of Stats) which was accepted both in mainstream and alternative platforms, combining hip hop with classical approach in orchestration and singing. He has been in the TV and Radio stations of Mad and Ant1, always collaborating with Nikos Vourliotis. He continues composing music, searching for new artists, signing hits and expressing himself through notes and images.
