Kamos, Yearning (Single, 2023)
Music by Michalis Kouloumis
Lyrics by Michalis Terlikkas
Petros Kouloumis - voice, lute, Michalis Kouloumis - violin , Kyriakos Markoullis - lavta, Andreas Ioannou - kanun, Manos Stratis - doublebass, Christos Barbas - ney
Live Recording by Andreas Trachonitis (Studio Eleven63, Nicosia)
Mixing & Mastering by Giannis Baxevanis (Studio Sierra, Athens)
Music for Shepherds and Sultans (2023)
It was during a residence on the San Giorgio Maggiore Island of Venice, back in May 2013, that Cypriot violinist Michalis Kouloumis and Belgian oud player Tristan Driessens first played together. They have been working side by side ever since, increasingly exploring their common interest in modal music of the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond. With the recording of Music for Shepherds and Sultans, the duet embarks on what is just the beginning of a closer partnership, with Catalan multi-instrumentalist Miriam Encinas joining them on frame drums. The album organically fluctuates from original compositions in classical Ottoman style to anonymous rural dances of Cyprus. With this choice of repertoire and especially with their way of interpreting it, Michalis Kouloumis, Tristan Driessens and Miriam Encinas bridge a gap between classical and folk music. Compositions such as Isfahan Saz Semaisi or Köyde Sabah somehow reflect how classical music has always been deeply inspired by folk music legacies. Originally rooted in daily life’s rituals, folk traditions draw their expressiveness from a cyclical journey of constant transmission and renewal, which defines their actual legitimacy trough time and space.
Released May 6, 2023
Recorded 23 – 25 November 2022
Homerecords, Studio Sphères Sonores, Liège
Engineer: Jean-François Hustin
Assistant: Antoine Litt
Edited by Miriam Encinas Laffitte
Mixed and mastered by Jean-François Hustin
Cover photo: Manuel Baud-Bovy
Inside photo: Aristea Tzanou
Group photo: Laura Soriano
Cover design: Jan-Sebastiaan De Geyter
Displaced Dreams (2020)
The album is dedicated to all people who struggle for freedom and dignity after being displaced from their homelands and their dreams.
The composition Displaced Dreams was written on response to the trauma and injustice being experienced by refugees and victims of war, taking inspiration from recent images of people fleeing civil wars, oppression, poverty and unbearable hardship.
Displaced Dreams is Michalis Kouloumis' second album on his name with original works, spontaneous compositions and soundscapes creating a deeply personal musical language.
Violins: Michalis Kouloumis, Makis Baklatzis, Christos Dalianis, Giannis Zarias, Sakis Karakostas, Manos Skalidakis
Violas: Fotis Siotas, Stefanos Sekeroglou
Cellos: Vassilis Lemonias, Despina Spanou
Tarhu: Michalis Cholevas
Double Bass: Dine Doneff
Ney: Charis Lambrakis
Oud: Alexandros Papadimitrakis
Cretan lute: Maria Ploumi
Bağlamas: Stratis Psaradelis, Martha Mavroidi, Maria Melahrinou
Percussions: Vaggelis Karipis (frame drum), Ruven Ruppik (cajon, udu, cymbals)
Soil (2014)
"...I can think of few recent releases that have kept me as consistently engaged throughout "
(Jamie Renton, fRoots mag)
Michalis Kouloumis' debut album
The artist ought to express his own truth; both to himself and to others. Through a lonely but necessary journey of self-discovery he traces the unique elements that constitute his own personality and set him apart from everyone else: his personal experiences, his language, his place of origin, his identity. With this album, my debut album, I expose my own inner truth, my own 'soil'.
Ephemera (2017)
"...The power of expression of their repertoire is truly a lingua franca, a language that everyone understands and that moves them..."(Sonja Heimann, Evensi)
Just as a photograph captures images, Ephemera uses music to frame emotions that are normally condemned to fleeting transience. From the flash of amusement in a carefree child, to moments of longing due to separation, to the stages one passes from grief to acceptance, Ephemera unveils the power of these elusive emotions in our lives; emotions that pass unnoticed in an instant, but can leave a lasting trace over our conscious choices.
Michalis Cholevas: Tarhu, Ney (on Lahtara)
Michalis Kouloumis: Violin
Giannis Koutis: Oud, Guitar, Voice
Ruven Ruppik: Percussion, Marimba
Guests
Niti Ranjan Biswas: Tabla on Child
Kudsi Erguner: Ney on Inception
Αs a violin and viola player, Michalis Kouloumis has contributed to the following music albums, documentaries and films.
 SYNERGIA (2021) Alia Vox This program brings together the most beautiful songs and dances from the ancient Cypriot traditions, a rediscovery of forgotten repertoires performed by singers and instrumentalists of the island, along with musicians from Greece and Turkey. Music that has been maintained through ancient oral traditions, displaying the rich diversity of this ancient culture through a lively recreation that is faithful to both the traditions and modernity of the island. |  SOL AURORAE (2019) Vassilis Philippou For the composer, the dawn sun is a continuous reminder of vitality and of inquiry; it is contact and communication with our fundamental emotions. The album consists of compositions influenced by the musical traditions of the eastern Mediterranean, in which he has immersed himself both as a musician and as a devoted listener. The Cypriot dialect is central to these pieces, giving both meaning to the sound and shape to its expression. |  ENSTICTO (2019) Odysseas Toumazou Ensticto is the Greek word for “instinct”, the innate ability to respond to the given moment. It is an inner voice that serves as a guide to what comes natural and what belongs to each of us individually. To be instinctive musically is to truly listen to what is going on around you and to adapt to each situation respectively, to be able to express yourself each time according to what you are feeling in that moment... |
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 THE AWAKENING OF A TANBUR (To be Released) Kudsi Erguner - Murat Aydemir Live recording at Real World Studios May 2018 |  THE WHITE HELMETS (2016) Documentary Original music by Patrick Johnson The White Helmets is directed by Orlando von Einsiedel and centers on a small group of volunteer heroes, the White Helmets, as they defy death, dodging bombs and sniper fire, to rescue Syrians from the bombs that fall incessantly on their towns and cities. The documentary premiered at 2016 Toronto Film Festival and is now available to stream on Netflix. |  A THOUSAND CRANES (2016) Çiğdem Aslan "A Thousand Cranes" takes its name after tourna (crane), a migratory bird with strong symbolism in many cultures and mythologies. Mostly portrayed as messengers in songs, poems and stories, the cranes are the bearers of teachings, culture and tradition. Musicians: Cigdem Aslan - vocals Nikolaos Baimpas - kanun, santouri, mandolins, vocals Michalis Kouloumis - violin, vocals Vasilis Sarikis - percussion Colin Somervell - double bass |
 THIS IS EXILE - DIARIES OF CHILD REFUGEES (2015) Documentary Original Music by Marios Takoushis An extraordinary, intimate portrait of child refugees forced to flee from the violence of Syria's civil war to neighbouring Lebanon. Filmed over a year by the Emmy-award winning director Mani, the documentary tells the stories of the children's lives in their own words and captures the moving truth of how they deal with loss, hardship and the poignancy of dashed hopes. |  THE FACES OF PHLAMOUDΗΙ (2014) A film by Rupert Barclay Additional music by Michalis Kouloumis Cypriot refugees rediscover their past through long forgotten photographs. The story is both highly personal and a universal one - exploring the impact of photography on a collective conscience - restoring lost memories, connecting the past and present, and offering new hope for people displaced from their ancestral homeland. Awarded Best New Director at the London Greek Film Festival, 2014 |  THE PROPHET (2014) Movie by Roger Allers and Gaëtan Brizzi Music by Gabriel Yared Inspired by the classic book by Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet is an animated feature film, with "chapters" from animation directors from around the world. Exiled artist and poet Mustafa embarks on a journey home with his housekeeper and her daughter; together the trio must evade the authorities who fear that the truth in Mustafa's words will incite rebellion. |
 BALIK (2014) Movie by Dervis Zaim Original music by Marios Takoushis A movie that focuses on human-nature relationship. In the movie, the life of a fisher family who lives in a small and lovely village nearby lake changes its way after getting into war against nature. |  BLOCK 12 (2013) Movie by Kyriakos Tofarides Original music by Marios Takoushis Block 12 is based on the issue of how big powers manipulate the resources and people of the island of Cyprus. The film is a political, allegorical comedy with plenty of surrealism, social satire and magical realism. |  WHAT'S YOUR EMERGENCY Original Soundtrack (Series 2) Music by Marios Takoushis The series that reveals modern Britain through the eyes of our ambulance staff explores the effects of alcohol, from middle-class professionals to young drinkers and long-term alcoholics. |
 "ARMENIAN COMPOSERS OF OTTOMAN CLASSICAL MUSIC" (Birun Ensemble) This album was recorded in San Giorgio Maggiore-Venice (2013), from a concert that was given during the residency of Kudsi Erguner organised by the Cini Foundation. It includes songs and instrumental compositions from the Armenian composers of Classical music of Istanbul from the 17th to the 20th century, such as Tatyos Ekserciyan, Hamparsum Limonciyan, Serkis Efendi and others. |  SONGS FROM THE GREEK ISLANDS (2011) Nana Mouskouri and Friends The album "Songs from the Greek islands" is dedicated to the Greek traditional music and includes songs performed by Nana Mouskouri, together with Haris Alexiou, Manolis Mitsias, Natassa Theodoridou and Nikos Aliagas, amongst others. |  THIS ONE'S FOR THE PRESIDENT (2014) Zilla Project This is the debut album of Zilla Project, a blues-rock four-piece band, based in Cyprus. |
 DIMITRIS BASSIS LIVE A 3-cd album from live performances in Greece during 2009 - 2010. |  THE AMALGAMATION PROJECT This project by Vicky Anastasiou features three original compositions and one re-arranged traditional song. |  "FYSSA VORIA MOU" Christos Sikkis Michalis Kouloumis performs Greek and Cypriot traditional tunes, along with the Cypriot singer Christos Sikkis. |
 "T-P.A.K." Josué Amador T-P.A.K. explores contemporay improvisation by combining different theoretical approaches and aesthetics, from traditional Turkish music to Free Jazz and the harmonic concepts of Olivier Messian. |