SONIC DEVIATIONS | ΧΩΜΑ (Homa) | The Solo of Giorgis Xylouris

Sonic Deviations

Curated by: Achilleas Stavrou

Sonic Deviations brings together a series of distinctive voices from the contemporary Greek music scene, artists who move at the intersection of tradition, experimentation and improvisation. From the modal intensity of Psarogiorgis to Babis Papadopoulos’s explorations of sound and timbre, Savina Yannatou’s vocal cosmologies and the nocturnal soundscapes of Kτίρια τη Νύχτα (Buildings at Night), the series unfolds as a constellation of distinct yet interconnected sonic journeys.

Rather than proposing a unified aesthetic, the programme embraces deviation as a method: each performance ventures beyond genre, expectations and fixed musical identities. In these intimate encounters, sound becomes a field of exploration where memory, place and experimentation intersect. Sonic Deviations invites audiences to listen differently, to inhabit the subtle tensions between structure and freedom, noise and silence, tradition and reinvention.

Giorgis Xylouris (Psarogiorgis) presents CHOMA — a solo performance

With Markos Pinakoulakis providing sound engineering and live sound interventions.

Through his lute and voice, Xylouris explores a path shaped within him by the lived experience of traditional Cretan folk music, alongside new elements and influences drawn from independent forms of expression. These diverse currents gradually converge into a deeply personal musical language.

“Life is an endless sequence within an immense journey. A concert is the same. It is a small life of its own. The impressions, sensations and emotions stirred by what is happening give birth, in the moment, to a world that is entirely music.

In those moments when I transcend myself, I discover the language that transforms the world I inhabit. It allows me to lose myself and be reborn, to become someone who lives and desires intensely within the very piece of music being played.

I am exhilarated by the idea that, when I lose a part of myself, I play so that the world may be reborn.”

Source: georgexylouris.com

Thursday, November 19, 2026 | 20:30

Tickets: €10, €9 (ThF_Friends)

Giorgis Xylouris was born in Anogeia, a village in Crete with a rich tradition of poetry, dance and music. He grew up there within the renowned Xylouris musical family. In an environment where music was a constant presence, it was only natural that Giorgis would be drawn to it. He began playing the mandolin, the Cretan lyra and the laouto, which would eventually become his primary instrument of expression. Informal gatherings, serenades, deep human connections and lived experiences laid the foundations for the sound that would later define his musical identity.

He was guided by his father, Psarantonis, a pioneering lyra player and composer of Cretan music. From the age of eleven, Giorgis accompanied him extensively, performing at village festivals, traditional celebrations and nightclubs across Crete and Athens, as well as at festivals and concerts throughout Europe and further afield, including the United States and Australia.

He was also influenced by his uncles: Psarogiannis, one of the foremost laouto players of his generation, and the legendary Nikos Xylouris. These familiar figures were shaping the future course of Cretan music at the time. As a child, Giorgis remembers the celebrations at which they played in the village, as well as Nikos’s historic performances in the bouats (small live music venues) of Plaka, during the final years of the military dictatorship in Greece.

At the age of seventeen, he began collaborating with Labyrinth, a musical organisation founded by Ross Daly and dedicated to the music of the Eastern Mediterranean. Today, Giorgis teaches the laouto, leads seminars, records music and performs as part of Labyrinth’s activities.

At eighteen, he was invited by the renowned lyra master Kostas Mountakis to record together for the Music Department of the University of Crete.

From 1989 to 1997, he lived in Melbourne, where he formed the Xylouris Ensemble, bringing together musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds. Together, they developed a distinctive sound that would become a source of inspiration for a younger generation of Cretan musicians. They recorded five albums and toured extensively throughout Australia and Europe. The ensemble performed on several occasions at Melbourne Concert Hall and the Recital Centre, as well as at the Sydney Opera House and the city’s music nightclubs, where members of Melbourne’s rock scene were often among the audience.

It was in Melbourne that Giorgis met the members of Dirty Three — Jim White, Warren Ellis and Mick Turner. He collaborated and recorded with them, an encounter that would eventually lead, much later, to the formation of Xylouris White. Throughout his years in Australia, he also continued to perform regularly at social gatherings organised by the Cretan and wider Greek communities.

Source: georgexylouris.com

Achilleas Stavrou is co-founder and head of Goodheart Productions, a creative production agency established in 2015 with a primary focus on music and cultural events. Over time, the agency expanded its activities to include theatre and dance, developing numerous collaborations with cultural organisations in Greece and across Europe.

With a sustained commitment to building networks and fostering collaborations with creative individuals and cultural institutions, he seeks to bring together their distinctive talents to generate new ideas and achieve the best possible results at every level of artistic creation, offering audiences high-quality cultural experiences.

In 2025, he conceived F Hill Sessions, a festival held at the Dora Stratou Theatre on Philopappos Hill in Athens, and has since served as its artistic director and organisational lead.

georgexylouris.com