Maria Callas - Greek Opera Singer and accomplished Soprano

In today's blog entry I would like to feature Maria Callas as an exemplary Greek women who is making her sisters proud across the world with her exceptional endeavors as a fellow Greek women

Maria Callas (Greek: Μαρία Κάλλας) (December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice, and great dramatic gifts. An extremely versatile singer, her repertoire ranged from classical opera seria to the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini; further, to the works of Verdi and Puccini; and, in her early career, to the music dramas of Wagner. Her remarkable musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as La Divina.

Born in New York City and raised by an overbearing mother, she received her musical education in Greece and established her career in Italy. Forced to deal with the exigencies of wartime poverty and with myopia that left her nearly blind on stage, she endured struggles and scandal over the course of her career. She turned herself from a heavy woman into a svelte and glamorous one after a mid-career weight loss, which might have contributed to her vocal decline and the premature end of her career. The press exulted in publicizing Callas's allegedly temperamental behavior, her supposed rivalry with Renata Tebaldi, and her love affair with Aristotle Onassis. Her dramatic life and personal tragedy have often overshadowed Callas the artist in the popular press. However, her artistic achievements were such that Leonard Bernstein called her "The Bible of opera",^[1] and her influence so enduring that, in 2006, Opera News wrote of her: "Nearly thirty years after her death, she's still the definition of the diva as artist—and still one of classical music's best-selling vocalists."^[2]

Family life, childhood and move to Greece

According to her birth certificate, Maria Callas was born Sophia Cecelia Kalos^[3] at Flower Hospital (now the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center), at 1249 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, on December 2, 1923^[4] to Greek parents George Kalogeropoulos and Evangelia "Litsa" (sometimes "Litza") Dimitriadou, though she was christened Maria Anna Sofia Cecilia Kalogeropoulou – the genitive of the patronymic Kalogeropoulos – (Greek: Μαρία Άννα Σοφία Καικιλία Καλογεροπούλου). Callas's father had shortened the surname Kalogeropoulos first to "Kalos" and subsequently to "Callas" in order to make it more manageable.^[3]

George and Evangelia were an ill-matched couple from the beginning; he was easy-going and unambitious, with no interest in the arts, while his wife was vivacious, socially ambitious, and had held dreams of a life in the arts for herself.^[3] The situation was aggravated by George's philandering and was improved neither by the birth of a daughter named Yakinthi (later called Jackie) in 1917 nor the birth of a son named Vassilis in 1920. Vassilis's death from meningitis in Summer 1922 dealt another blow to the marriage. In 1923, after realizing that Evangelia was pregnant again, George made the unilateral decision to move his family to America, a decision which Yakinthi recalled was greeted with Evangelia "shouting hysterically" followed by George "slamming doors".^[3] The family left for America in July 1923 and settled in the Astoria neighborhood in the borough of Queens.

Evangelia was convinced that her third child would be a boy; her disappointment at the birth of another daughter was so great that she refused to even look at her new baby for four days.^[3] Around age three, Maria's musical talents began to manifest themselves, and after Evangelia discovered that her youngest daughter also had a voice, she began pressuring "Mary" to sing. Callas would later recall, "I was made to sing when I was only five, and I hated it."^[3] George was unhappy with his wife favoring their elder daughter as well as the pressure put upon young Mary to sing and perform.^[5] The marriage continued to deteriorate and in 1937 Evangelia decided to return to Athens with her two daughters.^[3]

Callas received her musical education in Athens. Initially, her mother tried to enroll her at the prestigious Athens Conservatoire, without success. At the audition, her voice, still untrained, failed to impress, while the conservatoire's director Filoktitis Oikonomidis refused to accept her without her satisfying the theoretic prerequisites (solfege). In the summer of 1937, her mother visited Maria Trivella at the younger Greek National Conservatoire, asking her to take Mary as a student for a modest fee. In 1957, Trivella recalled her impression of "Mary, a very plump young girl, wearing big glasses for her myopia":

The tone of the voice was warm, lyrical, intense; it swirled and flared like a flame and filled the air with melodious reverberations like a carillon. It was by any standards an amazing phenomenon, or rather it was a great talent that needed control, technical training, and strict discipline in order to shine with all its brilliance.^[3]

Trivella agreed to tutor Callas completely, waiving her tuition fees, but no sooner had Callas started her formal lessons and vocal exercises than Trivella began to feel that Mary was not a contralto, as she had been told, but a dramatic soprano. Subsequently, they began working on raising the tessitura of Mary's voice and to lighten its timbre.^[3] Trivella recalled Mary as "A model student. Fanatical, uncompromising, dedicated to her studies heart and soul. Her progress was phenomenal. She studied five or six hours a day. ...Within six months, she was singing the most difficult arias in the international opera repertoire with the utmost musicality".^[3] On April 11, 1938, in her public debut, Callas ended the recital of Trivella's class at the Parnassos music hall with a duet from Tosca.^[3] Callas recalled that Trivella "had a French method, which was placing the voice in the nose, rather nasal... and I had the problem of not having low chest tones, which is essential in bel canto... And that's where I learned my chest tones."^[9] However, when interviewed by Pierre Desgraupes on the French program L'Invitee Du Dimanche, Callas attributed the development of her chest voice not to Trivella, but to her next teacher, the well-known Spanish coloratura soprano Elvira de Hidalgo.^[10]

Callas studied with Trivella for two years before her mother secured another audition at the Athens Conservatoire with de Hidalgo. Callas auditioned with "Ocean, Thou Mighty Monster." De Hidalgo recalled hearing "tempestuous, extravagant cascades of sounds, as yet uncontrolled but full of drama and emotion".^[3] She agreed to take her as a pupil immediately, but Callas's mother asked de Hidalgo to wait for a year, as Callas would be graduating from the National Conservatoire and could begin working. On April 2, 1939, Callas undertook the part of Santuzza in a student production of Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana at the Olympia Theater, and in the fall of the same year she enrolled at the Athens Conservatoire in Elvira de Hidalgo's class.^[3]

Loula Loi Alafoyiannis - Accomplished Greek Businesswoman and Cultural Role Model for all Greek Women

In today's blog entry I would like to feature Loula Loi Alafoyiannis as an exemplary Greek women who is making her sisters proud across the world with her exceptional endeavors as a fellow Greek women.

Loula Loi is the President of the Euro-American Women Council (EAWC) that has fostered relationship and development of business women across the world. She is also the former vice-president of Nasdaq International. In her role with EAWC , she has accomplished many accolades that makes her a perfect inspiration for all Greek women around the world.

We will not speak further about her accomplishments. Instead, we would let The Daily Kos speak of her great efforts that brings tears and make us wish her success as fellow Greeks.

Find below an article and image of Ms. Alafoyiannis from the Kos that reserves all the copyright for images and the content.

















Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/27/95834/606?new=true

The Euro-American Women Council's Infatigable Loula Loi Alafoyiannis

I first met the Euro-American Women’s Council’s (EAWC) founder, global president and C.E.O. when, following the Tsunami, she presented the organization I founded, Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW) a check for $42,000 for the children in Sri Lanka.

I was impressed by this strong woman, her inexhaustible energy, and her connectivity. She struck me as a thought leader and global citizen. Her name was Loula Loi Alafoyiannis.

The Euro-American Women’s Council’s mission is to strengthen the status of women in the global marketplace by building strategic alliances between women in business and prominent leaders across the United States, Europe, Latin America, and other places of the world.

Through EAWC, women of diverse backgrounds and accomplishments work together to advance women’s access to positions of leadership and to pave the way for the next generations of women business leaders.

Core to EAWC’s mission are:

Fostering bilateral cultural relations that lead to social and economic growth and development.

Promoting environmental protection through enhanced technology.

Celebrating women’s diversity and accomplishments, and promoting equality in the business arena.

Creating a platform of mutual respect, cooperation and shared goals between women of the United States and Europe.

Mentoring and educating the youth to successfully lead in a rapidly changing, technology-driven global society with respect to the universal values.

Founded in 1996, EAWC’s mission is to strengthen the status of women in the global marketplace by building strategic alliances between women in business and prominent leaders across the United States and Europe.

Through EAWC, women of diverse backgrounds and accomplishments work together to advance women’s access to positions of leadership and to pave the way for the next generation of women business leaders.

Prior to EAWC, Loula served as the Vice President of the United Hellenic American National Council, which she co-founded with Mr. John Alafoyiannis.

The Council’s goal was to build bridges between Greek and American entrepreneurial communities and to advance the cause of women’s rights in the arenas of business and education.

The Council has sponsored numerous White House luncheons for prominent and influential businesswomen throughout the United States and Greece.

In addition to her business activities, Loula, widely recognized for her strategic planning and interpersonal skills, has been highly active in public relations, event management and fundraising activities in the political arena.

She has served as an advisor to former U.S. Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy (MA) and supports Joe in fundraising and public relations activities for the Greek-American and other minority communities.

In November 1989, as a Board Member of the Finance Committee of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, Loula promoted the book, Robert F. Kennedy: In His Own Words, in Athens, Greece.

In 1991, she founded and organized the Best Buddies Foundation in Greece with Anthony Kennedy Shriver, its Global President and C.E.O.

In 2001, Loula became Coalition Partner (Greece/Europe) of the political organization Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP).

In 2000, she served as an ethnic group public relations team leader for Former First Lady and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. She was also instrumental in planning Hillary’s visit to Greece, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Olympic Games.

Loula also served as a special speaker at the National Foundation for Women Legislators in New Orleans. In the mid-80’s she served as a public relations and press spokesperson for Greek-Americans for the Democratic Party.

In 2002, Loula was instrumental in the production of the two documentaries Visions of Greece, made on behalf of WLIW21. She was in charge of pinpointing the prominent historical places and tourist attractions for the film.

Top business and government dignitaries have found her to be an invaluable resource of support and counsel, including former Governor of New York Mario Cuomo, U.S. Senators Paul Sarbanes and Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Congress member and President/Co-Founder of the Greek Caucus Committee Carolyn B. Maloney, Deputy Secretary of Education and Culture Patricia Harrison, and U.S. Congressman Gary Ackermann.

Other thought leaders and global citizens in Loula's circle include WIPP’s Terry Neese; Phyllis Hill-Slater, President, Chair of New York State Women Enterprises and member of the Bush-Cheney Transition Team; Jane Applegate, CNN Correspondent; Dr. Shirley Strum-Kenny, President of the State University of New York at Stony Brook; and Tina Knight, President of Knight Computer Cables, Inc.

Loula currently serves as a member of the Human Rights Advisory Council of New York. Other affiliations include the Daughters of Roumeli non-profit organization, which she co-founded and served as former president and the Hermes Athletic Club of New York.

Her notable background and accomplishments have granted her numerous accolades and awards. In recognition of being one of the most creative minds of leading women entrepreneurs of the world, Loula was awarded IBM’s prestigious Crown Award, which was presented by Ms. Cherie Piebes, Global Market Executive Director for Women Entrepreneurs.

She has earned the distinguished Honorary Citizen of Bacu (Azerbaijan Republic ) award as a result of her pioneering efforts to provide entrepreneurial training to citizens of the former Soviet Union.

For her tireless humanitarian efforts, she has received awards from AMMJE (Asociacion Mexicana de Mujeres Jefas de Empresa), the Village Reform Democratic Club of New York and from Congress for her human rights activities in Cyprus and the former U.S.S.R.

Loula was also named Woman of the Year by the Boys Club of Queens and was awarded the Teacher of the Year award by the Greek Orthodox Church’s former Archbishop of North and South America, Iakovos.

Additionally, Loula has appeared in the New York Daily News’ prestigious People’s Page and has been featured as a Four Career Woman in various Greek and Greek-American publications.

With high sensitivity to suffering people, as she tries hard to gain the bet of life Loula has devoted her life to assisting seriously ill and cancer-affected, especially, low-income children from Greece.

Collaborating with various hospitals in New York she helps the children to obtain the best medical care possible and to deal with the human dimensions of their illness as well.

Loula holds a degree in education and served as an elementary school director for two decades in New York. She is fluent in English, Greek, and Russian.

Loula is married to John and they have jewels: daughter Rania, son Constantine, daughter-in-law Nina, son John-Nicholas Jr., daughter-in-law Nadia and the crown jewel lovely granddaughter Isabella-Rania.

Elena Paparizou -Greek Celeberity

In today's blog entry I would like to feature Elena Paparizou as an exemplary Greek women who is making her sisters proud across the world with her exceptional endeavors as a fellow Greek women

Eleni "Elena" Paparizou^[1] (Greek: Έλενα Παπαρίζου, pronounced [ˈelena papaˈrizu]; born 31 January 1982) often known internationally as Helena Paparizou, is a Greek singer and occasional songwriter, who was born and raised in Sweden. She began her career in 1999 as a member of the duo Antique, while she also worked briefly as a model for a Swedish-Greek brand. After rising to recognition in Greece following their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, they witnessed commercial success until Paparizou embarked on a solo career in 2003 and released her debut album Protereotita (2004), with emphasis on more pop sounds in addition to the more traditional Greek laïko genre. Paparizou then won the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 for Greece for the first time in the contest's history, with the song "My Number One", something which significantly contributed to her career. Following the Eurovision success, her album was certified double Platinum and received two Arion Music Awards, while she also briefly attempted a career beyond Greece with English-language material to mild success. Her three subsequent albums Iparhi Logos (2006), The Game of Love (2006) and Vrisko To Logo Na Zo (2008) all reached Platinum sales and received some accolades, with the former receiving another Arion. Her fifth studio album, Giro Apo T'Oneiro was released in March 2010. In March 2010, Alpha TV ranked Paparizou at number 14 on their list of the "30 Most Successful Greek Female Artist of the Past 50 Years", based on the most certifications awarded by IFPI, totaling seven Platinum and four Gold records. She has been certified for the sales of at least 150 thousand albums and a further 50 thousand singles by IFPI Greece

Vocal style

Especially following the disbandment of Antique, Paparizou's voice was characterized as possessing a "deep, sensual" tone.^[85] Paparizou possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range; from her Antique years up until 2005, she performed in a vocal range of C₄ to B♭₆.^[86] Some critics have argued whether pop or laiko material best suits the artist vocally; both Mastorakis and Zervas of Music Corner maintained that she was passable in both,^[80][81] with Zervas being most commending of her vocal abilities in the dance-pop genre, adding that in her live covers of "Don't Speak" and "Just Walk Away" she gave her best vocal performance.^[81] Nitro criticized Paparizou's musical abilities overall, saying that if the world was fair, it would be widely acknowledged that she "has simply a pretty face, while the voice behind that belongs to a less pretty singer."^[87] In 2008, Evianna Nikoleri noticed an improvement in Paparizou's voice, suggesting that Vrisko To Logo Na Zo contained her best vocal performance on an album.^[77] Makis Kalamaris, who believed the album to be quite mediocre, saying it was based mostly on "beatless rock scratches and mellow ballads", said that Paparizou saved most of the material just with her interpretation of it.^[78] However, in a number of tracks, most notably from that album, Paparizou's vocals were criticized for oversinging in an attempt to show her full volume and yelling excessively as a result of pushing her range to reach high notes.^[77][78] This was most notably observed on the tracks "Eisai I Foni" and "Den Tha 'Mai 'Do", with Nikoleri saying that with the idea that yelling is synonymous with singing well she was doing her voice injustice.^[77]

Paparizou at one point during her youth she followed Buddhism, but eventually began following the Greek Orthodox religion once again as she believes it suits her better.^[20] She has been involved in a long term relationship with fellow Swedish-born Greek Toni Mavridis,^[105] whom she was introduced to as a musician by a friend of her sister's at a restaurant called Mykonos when she was only 17, while Mavridis is 11 years her senior.^[4][7] Mavridis became an impresario for Antique and has written songs on all of Paparizou's solo albums, while he also serves as her manager. Mavridis had approached Paparizou for only one month before their relationship commenced and she left her parents' home to live with him in Stockholm. The two had a traditional Greek engagement celebration with their relatives on December 24, 2000 and have been engaged since;^[4] however, Paparizou has said that Mavridis has never officially proposed to her and that she would prefer that he do this in the Western tradition of going down on one knee.^[106] They bought a home together in the Athens suburb of Glyfada in 2006.^[7][107] Mavridis has suggested the idea of the two getting married in Las Vegas, Nevada,^[108] while Paparizou has also already chosen a koumbara, her good friend Roxani.^[7] On many occasions, Paparizou has commented on starting a family with Mavridis; in Celebrity, Paparizou was quoted as saying "I believe that family is the most natural thing, the thing I want in my life. And what is my preference? To not have kids so I can continue my career? One day it will end. I cannot be on stage everyday, like I am now at 25,"^[109] while in Nitro she said "No [Mavridis is not my first relationship], but I think he is my last. He is the person I want to have kids with. I think he is the best father they could have. If I don't have kids with him, then I will adopt."^[7]

Melina Mercouri -Greek Soprano Singer

In today's blog entry I would like to feature Melina Mercouri as an exemplary Greek women who is making her sisters proud across the world with her exceptional endeavors as a fellow Greek women




Melina Mercouri (Greek: Μελίνα Μερκούρη), born as Maria Amalia Mercouris (October 18, 1920, Athens, Greece – March 6, 1994, New York City, New York) was a Greek actress, singer and politician.

As an actress she made her film debut in Stella (1955) and met international success with her performances in Never on Sunday, Phaedra, Topkapi and Promise at Dawn. She won the award for Best Actress at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, and she was also nominated for an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two BAFTA Awards.

A political activist during the Greek military junta of 1967–1974, she became a member of the Hellenic Parliament in 1977 and the first female Minister for Culture of Greece in 1981. Mercouri was the person who, in 1983, conceived and proposed the programme of the European Capital of Culture, which has been established by the European Union since 1985.
She was a strong advocate for the return of the Parthenon Marbles, that were removed from the Parthenon and are now displayed in the British Museum, to Athens.

Her Early Life

Maria Amalia Mercouris was born in Athens in 1920, the daughter of Stamatis Mercouris, a former cavalry officer, member of Parliament for the Democratic Socialist Party of Greece and former Minister for Public Order of Greece, and Eirini Lappa, originated from a prominent family of Athens. Spyridon Merkouris, her paternal grandfather, was one of the most successful Mayors of Athens and played a major role in her early life.

When she completed her secondary education, she was admitted to the National Theatre's Drama School after reciting a poem by Kostas Karyotakis. Dimitris Rontiris was her teacher and she graduated in 1944.

Aged 21, she married her first husband, Panos Harokopos, a wealthy landowner; they divorced in 1962.

Her International Success

Her first movie was the Greek language film Stella (1955), directed by Michael Cacoyannis (also the director of Zorba the Greek). The film received special praise at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival, where she met for first time the American film director Jules Dassin, with whom she would share her life, as they got married in 1966, and career. As a start, the next year she starred in the latter's He Who Must Die and other Dassin's film followed featuring Mercouri, such as The Law (1959). [citation needed]

She became well-known to international audiences when she starred in Never on Sunday (1960), in which Dassin was the director and co-star. For this film, Mercouri received the Best Actress Award at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. [citation needed]

After her first major international success, she went on to star in Phaedra (1962), for which she was nominated again for the BAFTA Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama. The recognition of her acting talent did not stop though, as her role in Topkapi (1964) granted her one more nomination, this time for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Mercouri worked with other famous directors as well, such as Joseph Losey, Vittorio De Sica, Ronald Neame, Carl Foreman, Norman Jewison, and starred in films like Spanish language The Uninhibited by Juan Antonio Bardem. She continued her stage career in the Greek production of Tennessee Williams's Sweet Bird of Youth (1960), under the direction of Karolos Koun. In 1967, she played the leading role in Illya Darling at Broadway, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, while her performance in Promise at Dawn (1970) gave her another Golden Globe Award nomination.

Melina Mercouri concentrated on her stage career for the following years, playing in the Greek productions of The Threepenny Opera and, for a second time, Sweet Bird of Youth, in addition to the ancient Greek tragedies Medea and Oresteia. She retired from film acting in 1978, when she played in her last film, A Dream of Passion, directed by her husband Jules Dassin. Her last performance on stage was in the opera Pylades at the Athens Concert Hall in 1992, portraying Clytemnestra.


Her Death

Melina Mercouri died in March 6, 1994, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, from lung cancer, aged 73. She was survived by her husband, Jules Dassin. She received a state funeral with Prime Minister's honors at the First Cemetery of Athens four days later. Thousands attended her funeral.