George Tossikian

"Music is not an expressway. It's an ocean, and everyone chooses the ship on which they want to travel. In any case you must like the effort, enjoy the study, and have some special colors, atmosphere and style in mind that will give identity to your sound''-
George Tossikian

He is one of the most active and talented guitarists of his generation. He was born in Piraeus and studied guitar with Iakovos Kolanian at the Contemporary Conservatory of Athens graduating with "Excellent Honored". At the same time, he attended seminars with M. Barrueco, R. Dyens, O. Ghiglia, E. Asimakopoulos and G. Hadjinikos. He has been repeatedly awarded at many festivals and competitions including the competition of the International Renaissance Music Festival in Armenia, where he received the 1st prize.

For 18 years he has been giving recitals and participating in festivals in Greece and abroad. His recording presence is also rich, as he has released six records to date, he has received rave reviews (Guitar Music by Greek Composers- 2010, Mosaic- 2013, Suite for guitar and string orchestra- 2015, Café Latino- 2018, La Plage- 2021, Cuatro Argentinas- 2023).

In recent years he has been a permanent partner and member of the orchestra of composer George Varsamakis, while since 2010 he has collaborated as a duo with the late Notis Mavroudis. He teaches classical guitar at the Conservatory of Contemporary Music Education and at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory.

‘’A burning new talent, certainly one of the finest of his generation, a restless mind’’- Kostas Grigoreas

“Excellent in all respects! Sound, clarity, interpretation and ethos!”- Evangelos Bountounis

Giota Eftaxia: Mr. Tossikian we welcome you to "Radio Art". It is a special pleasure for me and for the whole team to grant this interview. Thank you very much!

George Tossikian: I also thank you Ms. Eftaxia for the invitation to this discussion.

G.E.: I will begin our conversation with a reference to your last album. It is the album entitled Cuatro Argentinas released in 2022 under the Brilliant Classics label, dedicated to the music of the Argentine guitarist and composer Maximo Diego Pujol, who is also mentioned: "This is an excellent work by the virtuoso guitarist George Tossikian. In the discography of my works, he managed to move between the different musical genres of Argentina with remarkable fluency. He was able to give each of them the precise character, underlying emotion and expressiveness necessary to achieve the essence of a work of art. This is a work that I highly recommend." What is the story behind the creation of this album?

G.T.: Well, a year after my first collaboration with Brilliant Classics for the CD "Yann Tiersen, La Plage", I received from the artistic director Pieter van Winkel the proposal for a new record label dedicated to the music of the Argentine composer Maximo Diego Pujol, born in 1957, with works that until then had not been included in the rich catalog of this great label. I accepted with great pleasure, because I already had some works by M.D. Pujol in my repertoire and was eager to discover others that I did not yet know. I was especially pleased with the flattering comments the composer wrote after listening to the album. His music embraces the wonderful tradition of Argentina (folklore, tango, Latin American idioms and dances) and combines it with a deep knowledge of guitar techniques, possibilities and timbres. I would describe it with the lyrics of Nikos Kavvadias "Something that is always in eternal change, something that tears the blurred lines of horizons, and endlessly travels the endless earth."

G.E.: How did you start playing the guitar? When did you make the decision to base your life essentially on its six strings?

G.T.: When I was 8 years old, I heard a maternal uncle playing folk guitar at the family table. I immediately asked him to give me a guitar (!) and soon I started lessons. Later, at the age of 15 and as a student of Iakovos Kolanian, from whom I received knowledge, inspiration and support, I decided to burn the bridges for any other educational and professional path and dedicate myself to music. This decision led me, through my love for the guitar and the influence I received from other musicians, writers and directors that I admired at the time both as work and as a way of life.

G.E.: Let's imagine that we have a time machine that allows us to travel back in time. So, I would like to go back to the time when you were first asked to play the guitar in front of an audience. Can you describe your feelings for us?

G.T.: In those first performances the feeling of joy certainly prevailed and I try to bring this feeling back every time. I also try to pass that feeling on to my younger students. Of course, as the years go by, that becomes more and more difficult. Joy, excitement and comfort require countless hours of study and preparation. But it is important to always remember why we started making music.

G.E.: In addition to the solo career, but also the teaching activity in which you excel, your presence in recordings is also commendable, and I would like to elaborate on it. In 2010 you released your first recording under the title Guitar Music by Greek Composers featuring works by Greek composers for guitar. Since then, five more major recordings have followed, if I'm not mistaken. I wonder, what drives you, even though we're in a time where the discography has declined and adapted to the digital format.

G.T.: As a listener I was always interested in the complete discography of composers, musicians or bands that I appreciated. I belong to the last generation that stood in line outside the record stores. As a performer, I like to make programs that have a concept, an era, a geographical region, a composer, a style. Recording and releasing such a work justifies it and takes it on a journey. At the moment I am fortunate to have the support of a very important company with real international distribution and proven prestige, which allows me to continue to do this.

G.Ε.: We live in a time when there is again a tendency for young people to flee abroad. However, you have managed to create something and take off without leaving Greece. What advice would you give to a young person who wants to follow in your footsteps?

G.T.: Everyone has to take his own steps. I think a young person who knows what he wants to do doesn't need any special advice on how to do it. It takes a lot of passion. Choosing a country is a decision that weighs differently for everyone. To some degree " the world is a mess everywhere anyway", as Manos Eleftheriou had said. Another will look for a place is worth more. The concept of home, career, the path "to your own near America", according to Giannis Aggelakas, is a personal matter. I would simply say this: Music is not an expressway. It's an ocean, and everyone chooses the ship on which they want to travel. In any case you must like the effort, enjoy the study, and have some special colors, atmosphere and style in mind that will give identity to your sound.

G.E.: How do you choose the theme and title of your records?

G.T.: I think to a certain extent, everything is already there. I mean, most of the time an idea comes to me, kind of fleeting, I forget about it for a long time, and years later I’m working flat out to finish it and release it. So, I always have a title ready that describes the subject and then I eagerly set out to find the works that are going to be included.

G.E.: I would like to talk about your collaboration with composer George Varsamakis and the album titled Aurora (2015). This is an amazing body of work. It’s a work that honestly moved me, because it’s an otherworldly, atmospheric, celestial music that I would describe as taking the listener to a magical place. Tell us about your collaboration. How did this particular track come about?

G.T.: I'm glad you enjoyed it. My relationship with the composer George Varsamakis began about 15 years ago. I participated in his records and concerts on all the pieces in which the guitar played a role and I still do. Over the years, a relationship of deep friendship and artistic chemistry developed. The synthetic ideas of George Varsamakis met the sound of the classical guitar through me. So in 2014 he gave me a suite for guitar and string orchestra. I returned the favor with arrangements for two guitars of four of his older pieces and together with three original compositions for solo guitar, the material for the CD entitled ''Aurora'' was created. Aurora means dawn. Haravgi is the name of the district of Piraeus where I spent my childhood and youth.

Video from the concert of Giorgos Tosikian with a string orchestra at the Benaki Museum in compositions by Giorgos Varsamakis

G.E.: Aurora ... So, having traveled to an atmospheric, ethereal place, that any reader can imagine at will , I think this is proof that music and art in general are capable of calming the storm of the human soul. How do you perceive art? Does art hide in each of us or does man hide in art?

G.T.: I am very concerned with the influence of art in today's world and in real life. I jokingly think that one day an alien will ask us: "Did you listen to this music? Did you read these books? Did you see these paintings? And how do you justify your behavior?" I don't know what the role of art is. Where are the great masterpieces mirrored? "So, what are we doing here and when will the world change?", as Tasos Leivaditis had said. At least let's keep some candles burning that might be useful for future generations. It is certainly so hopeful that thousands of people continue to make music from one end of the planet to the other. Or also to dance, write, play theater. Light bursts in the dark.

G.E.: In 2021 you presented the album under the title La Plage. This is the first complete collection of Yann Tiersen's works transposed for the guitar. This record is very important for you, because it also marks the beginning of your collaboration with the record company Brilliant Classics. On the occasion of this album, I would like to talk about the question of arrangements. This is a subject that has always preoccupied the music world. How is it possible to arrange a work while remaining faithful to the composer’s original idea, without changing it and without ultimately appearing as a simple imitation?

G.T.: For many historical reasons, the development of the guitar is inseparable from transcriptions. The guitarist who has a polyphonic instrument in his hands can dare to arrange works written for piano or even small ensembles. The result is definitely better when you deal with music you know and love. The composer's original idea is probably no different from the original. The arranger's task is to illuminate a different sound that the composer may not have imagined. My goal was to make Yann Tiersen's compositions sound as if were written for the guitar. I was very happy when the French magazine Clic Musique wrote about it "the transcriptions he proposes expand Tiersen's world, or rather, they expand it.."

G.E.: From 2010 to 2022 you collaborated with the late Noti Mavroudis. The result of this loving collaboration was the CD-book Café Latino, which contains thirteen folk songs from Latin America arranged for two guitars. Tell us about your acquaintance with Notis Mavroudis, but also about the creation of Café Latino.

G.T.: I had the great fortune to play for almost 13 years in a duo with one of the most important Greek guitarists, an accomplished composer and intellectual. Notis Mavroudis belongs to the very rare category of artists who have spent many years as both soloist and creator. Every younger Greek guitarist owes a lot to Noti Mavroudis. He has built the reputation of the instrument and the public's love for the guitar over several decades, always with a high level of aesthetics. Personally, I have benefited a lot from my relationship with Notis, a relationship that developed into a kind of kinship early on. I appreciate his tireless passion for creating, his obsession with consistency and a rare ethos. We bonded as a duo, coordinating our fingers sometimes tenderly and sometimes explosively with his large and excellent repertoire of songs as a base. At the same time, we always presented some of our arrangements for the two guitars. In 2018, Café Latino was released in which the sound personality of Latin America dominates, through compositions by anonymous creators arranged by us.

G.E.: In the interpretation of the musical work, the musician is called to combine the "logic" of a perfect technique with the "sensitivity" of musical expression. How can this combination be achieved?

G.T.: I don't make this distinction. The musical text contains everything in one. The technique is the necessary tool to interpret a work as it deserves. I try not to have to work my technique on a score. I separate the study. I spend some time in exercises, studies, etc., so that I can then study the work as detached from its technical difficulties as possible.

G.E.: Do you think music should stand out from society or merge with it?

G.T.: The music or the musicians? I hope that one day music will be the illumination on the paths of the future. The great classics, the alternative of the 90s that define and guide people's thinking. So that "we make life a poem, and life an act", to quote a verse by Katerina Gogou. As for the musicians, they belong to a great society, coming from all eras, famous or infamous in all parts and width of the world. So, they never feel alone.

G.E.: As a guest of "Radio Art" I would like to talk about the eternal diptych of Music and Poetry. Do you think that the diptych contributes to the discovery of our subconscious?

G.T.: Is there anything more magical than losing yourself in a melody or some words? To connect with oneself and with others?

G.E.: Do you think that in a person's life the factor "luck" or his conscious decisions play a greater role?

G.T.: I think that the choices are crucial. But we need the opportunity for them to flourish. We need fertile soil and some light.

G.E.: Allow me to use a quote from the work of our great writer N. Kazantzakis Ascetics: "But as soon as we are born, the effort to create, to synthesize, to create material life begins; every moment we are born. This is the reason why many have preached: The purpose of perishable life is immortality". However, each of us, however, is aware of mortality, and every mortal is perishable. But does this awareness of mortality inspire the pursuit of immortality?

G.T.: The ancient peoples, aware of mortality but also of the uniqueness of life, taught us that one can live a rich life and at the same time leave behind valuable gifts.

G.E.: What ultimately determines the evolution of things both in society in general and in our own lives?

G.T.: Needs, culture and sensitivity.

G.E.: We close this beautiful conversation with a reference to the upcoming recital that will take place on November 10 at the Athens Conservatory. Tell us something about the program we will hear at this recital, but also about your future plans.

G.T.: At my recital at the Athens Conservatory, I will present excerpts from my two most recent CD releases on Brilliant Classics. Yann Tiersen–La plage (2020) and Maximo Diego Pujol: Cuatro Argentinas (2022). Also, for the first time, I’ll be playing music by the Greek-Armenian mystical philosopher George Gurdjieff, which I have arranged for the guitar. Recently, I have studied the musical work of Gurdjieff with much feeling and dedication, arranging a total of 14 pieces for solo guitar. I will soon begin recording them for a new CD. Finally, I would like to thank you again for the invitation.

G.E.: Mr. Tossikian thank you very much for the beautiful conversaton! I sincerely wish you continued success in your important work. Your contribution to the culture of our country is invaluable. Be strong!