Honorary distinction for composer Giorgos Kouroupos.

On Tuesday 29 November 2016, composer Giorgos Kouroupos was honoured by the French Ambassador to Greece, Mr Christophe Chantepy, with the insignia of Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour.This distinction is a tribute to the popular composer’s successful career as a whole, as well as to his work in promoting contemporary French music to the Greek public.During the award ceremony, Giorgos Kouroupos spoke of the influence French culture had on him, the great reception his compositions have received in France, and how he strives to pass on to the Greeks the very best he has learnt from the French. Among other things, he said: ‘…I must have been nine years old when I first read Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, in a children’s edition we had at home. I think that, deep down, my French dream—the Parisian one, to be precise—began to take shape subconsciously within me through Les Misérables…’ ‘…Nine hyperactive but happy years in Paris, sometimes tiring, but always creative. The impressive success, however, is more than enough reward for my efforts. My music is played everywhere, in the great concert halls of Paris, at international festivals of contemporary music. Commissions for new works are constant—the most important ones come from the Avignon Festival. I am also offered administrative posts (initially at the Paris Conservatoire and later at the Cultural Centre in Créteil, a suburb of Paris.)““...I tried, during my life in Greece, to give others what the French had given me, what they had taught me, but also what they had indirectly taught me in terms of civic education. I don’t know if I always succeeded…’ Those present had the opportunity to hear some of the composer’s works. The evening was graced by the presence of many artists and musicians, as well as the Minister of Culture, Ms Lydia Koniordou.Recently, we had the honour of publishing the very special five-language anthology of poems and prose by Odysseas Elytis, “The Small World, the Great World!’ by Odysseas Elytis with music by Giorgos Kouroupos”, in which the lyricism, boldness and expressive power of Elytis’s writing are combined with the colour of his visual artworks and the original musical settings of his poems by Giorgos Kouroupos. Find out more about the book here.