NEW YORK – Greek, New York-based composer and performer Pericles Kanaris returns to live performance for the first time after the pandemic with a powerful message in a concert on June 8, 7 PM, at the Peter Norton Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 2537 Broadway in Manhattan. The title of the concert, Up for Air, signifies the vital need to reconnect with the community through music, after a long period of isolation.

As a composer and songwriter, Kanaris belongs to the Greek tradition of setting poetry to music which has its origins in the generation of mid-20th century Greece and the likes of composers Manos Hatzidakis and Mikis Theodorakis. His latest songs are composed with lyrics by a wide variety of poets from Constantine P. Cavafy and T.S Eliot to Manos Eleftheriou and the younger generation of Greek poets, as well as lyrics written by the composer himself in Greek, English, and French. The repertoire also includes songs from other Greek and international artists who have inspired the composer over the years and are presented in his own, signature orchestration.

Kanaris is joined by his band which features some of New York’s finest musicians including Gary Schreiner (accordion, harmonica, keys), Richard Hammond (bass), Peter Douskalis (guitars, laouto, bouzouki), and Giancarlo DeTrizio (drums/percussion).

The International New York Times has recognized in his music “a Greek identity with global sounds” while The National Herald has hailed the unique sound of Pericles Kanaris and his band, emphasizing “the ease with which they moved across different musical genres with the same mastery.”

Kanaris is dedicating this concert to the outgoing Consul General of Greece in New York Dr. Konstantinos Koutras and his tenure.

Kanaris will donate part of his ticket proceeds to Doctors Without Borders and their humanitarian support to the people of Ukraine.

The concert is presented under the aegis of the Consulate General of Greece in New York.

Tickets: https://bit.ly/3xIySgu.

More information about Pericles Kanaris is available on his website: http://www.pericleskanaris.com/.

Video of Pericles Kanaris performing live at the Summer Nostos Festival 2019 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2SuTJB1D7T8.