caption death_date notable_instruments image_size article_title background birth_date image origin name occupation
alekos karavitis playing the lyra 1975 1904 lyra -lrb- cretan -rrb- 290 alekos karavitis
 solo_singer 1904 alekos_karavitis . jpg crete , greece alekos karavitis el Αλέκος Καραβίτης composer , singer
alekos karavitis

alekos karavitis -lrb- , 1904 -- 1975 -rrb- was born in aktounta , a small village in the region of aghios vasileios , prefecture of rethymnon in crete .
a talented child , he very early fell in love with and started learning to play the lyra , the heart instrument of cretan music , a descendant of the ancient string mini-harp of apollo .
at the age of 24 , he married chryssoula gartzolaki from the nearby village of yanniou and moved to athens .
they had three children , two girls and a boy .
he became a virtuoso of the lyra and developed the ambition of spreading his island 's music throughout the world .
he even composed his own melodies , which became widely known .
although he was self-employed in various businesses , every year in athens he staged the very successful `` festival of lyra . ''
his passion for cretan music also spurred him to coordinate international presentations of greek folk music and dance , bringing together famous societies of the time such as koula pratsika and dora stratou and other hellenic institutions with his own cretan group and others from all over greece .
in 1936 , the cretan group and `` koula pratsika folk music & dance society '' performed at the berlin olympics and were awarded the prize of an elaborate cruise through north sea fjords of norway and sweden aboard the renowned liner oceania .
then , later , karavitis and his cretan team proceeded to alexandria , egypt where they were enthusiastically welcomed by the large greek community .
in 1946 , in yet another triumph for cretan music , his group performed at the unesco/united nations headquarters in paris .
the zenith of his lifelong career promoting cretan and all greek folk music internationally was reached in the early 1950s when karavitis organized a venture with the dora stratou folk music & dance society to the united states , which included a tour of several states from maine to florida .
the climax came when his group performed at carnegie hall in new york .
in london , alekos karavitis appeared on bbc television , introduced by his close friend and war hero , major patrick leigh fermor and the internationally eminent pianist , gina bachauer .
honored and widely loved , the multi-talented karavitis helped as many people as he could .
he made a large contribution to the `` kritiki estia '' -lrb- cretan center -rrb- , and donated an apartment in central athens to the university of crete in rethymnon .
he died in 1975 , and certain of his works are still available in vinyl and also in cd format .
some of his many followers and talented lyra players who learned from him and his music are well known in cretan communities .
there is no true cretan over the age of forty unfamiliar with the famous music of alekos karavitis .
