The Elves of Tradition, hosted by Maria Koutsimpiri, welcomes cimbalom and santouri virtuoso Klearchos Korkovelos for a special tribute to his teacher, the distinguished folk musician Alekos Garavelis.
Alekos Garavelis was one of the foremost representatives of the older generation of Greek santouri and cimbalom performers. A folk instrumentalist, singer, teacher, and instrument maker, he was born in 1914 in Chaeronea, Boeotia, into a musical family. He was also the nephew of the region’s renowned clarinetist Nikitas Kotsopoulos (1880–1947).
He began performing professionally on the santouri at the age of ten. At seventeen, he moved to Athens to study under the Ayvalik-born Panagiotis Skopelitis, from whom he learned the cimbalom and music. He first apprenticed in the craft of building santouria and small cimbaloms with Kostas Konstantopoulos (“Kostakis”) and later with Giannis Zafeiropoulos (“Giannakis”).
For decades, Garavelis devoted himself to Greek folk music, performing on the cimbalom and singing at village festivals, community celebrations, and renowned music venues, including Elatos and Melissa. He collaborated with many of the leading musicians of the prewar and postwar eras, among them Nikitas Kotsopoulos, Kostas Karagiannis, Apostolos Stamelos, Kostas and Giorgos Yaouzos, Giorgos Michalopoulos, Thanasis Magkas, Odysseas Megas, Giorgos and Alekos Arapakis, and Giannis Dragatsis (“Ogdontakis”), as well as celebrated singers Dimitris Arapakis, Dimitris Atraidis, Giorgos Kavouras, Georgia Mittaki, Giorgos Papasideris, Kostas Roukounas, and Giorgos Zografos.
From the 1950s onward, he performed with the orchestra of musician and folklorist Pantelis Kavakopoulos, appearing in concerts throughout Greece and abroad. During the 1970s, he also took part in concerts by Giannis Markopoulos. His final professional appearance came in 1981 at the Sampani music venue in Agios Loukas, Patissia, in a program curated by Giorgos Papadakis.
The program will feature rare recordings Garavelis made at the ERT studios during the 1970s, alongside distinguished folk musicians and singers, including violinist Vangelis Andrias (“Naftis”) and Aristidis Vasilaris on clarinet and flute.
Alekos Garavelis passed away in 2001, leaving behind a remarkable legacy in Greek traditional music.