Vangelis Vlahakis was born in Heraklion Crete in 1965. He began studying music when he was 15 years old studying the classical guitar with Nikos Froudarakis, in Heraklion, and later with Evangelos Assimakopoulos and Nikos Piperis, in Athens. In 1999 Vangelis was hit by an illness of the nerves called 'conduction block'. This left his left hand paralysed, so he could no longer play the guitar. For 3 years he couldn't even listen to music, knowing in his mind that he was once able to play.
Today, the passion for music and the ability to play has come back to Vangelis. Not only does he play the guitar, he also plays the piano, and harp. Why do I write about Vangelis in this blog? For me the main reason is the way he makes a bridge to all music. Vangelis does not only know the traditional Greek music we've all heard in tavernas and bars around Greece. This is a man that has studied the classics of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Villa-Lobos etc. His true passion for music is probably no different from the rest of us. If it sounds nice, it's nice.
I know Vangelis not only because of his music, but also because he and his wife make excellent jewellery, and even have a shop in Elounda, Crete. We even have his jewellery in our shop here in Symi, and has proven to be very, very popular with people from all over the world.
Visit his MySpace page, grab a drink of your choice, and play the songs he's uploaded. Below are the links, and I strongly recommend you check him out. There is also a link below to the full interview of Vangelis by myriad-online.com
Finally, I'll leave you with a quote from one of his friends:
-Do you play music ? I asked.
-No, but I love the souls of the ones that do
Vangelis Vlahakis Interview:
Vangelis Vlahakis on MySpace:
