Psarantonis (Antonis Xylouris)

Psarantonis (Antonis Xylouris, September 6, 1942) is a Greek musician and one of the most famous Cretan lyre players. Antonios Xilouris of George and Eleftheria, was born in 1942 in Anogia, Mylopotamos, Rethymno county, in Crete,and is the brother of Nikos Xylouris and Giannis Xylouris. He himself is a distinct representation of Cretan music, has a voice with a special tone and personal style in playing lyre and other traditional instruments. He learned music alongside his older brother, Nikos, from a very young age. He played music for the first time at a wedding at the age of 13 and soon gained a reputation playing in celebrations and feasts in various places and villages in Crete. In 1964, he recorded his first 45 record. To date, he has often represented Greece at festivals abroad. He first took part in a festival in 1982 in Cologne, West Germany, in an event organized by the WDR television channel. In 1984 he played in Berlin at the 750th anniversary of the city's founding, in 1989 at the "Journée des Cinq Continents" in Zurich and Amsterdam and in June 1999 again as the representative of Greece at the Festival of the Five Continents in Martini in Switzerland, gaining rave reviews. In 2005, he played for the 20 years of the World Music Institute at the New York Town Hall, in 2007 at the All Tomorrow's Parties" Music Festival in Maidenhead, England, the first Greek participation in this festival, and in 2009 for the second time at the same festival in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, curated by Nick Cave. The lyre of Psarantonis is being exhibited today at The World's First Global Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, where a video with Psarantonis playing the lyre is shown.