People of the wind
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An explosive trio inspired largely by the ecstatic traditions of Sorna stretching from West Africa to the Far East
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The band
People of the Wind is an explosive trio inspired by the ecstatic traditions of “zourna” stretching from West Africa to the Far East. Of particular interest are the repertoires of Greek Macedonia where the trio is based, Western Turkey and Iran. Guided also by a fascination for the role music plays in traditional societies in these places, the group directly addresses the question of its own musical roots. Also, the nature of interpreting this music with a western instrument such as the saxophone also requires a great deal of technical and sonic innovation resulting in a wholly new and exciting group sound with rhythm and dance at its core.
Previous International performances
Conservatoire National de Paris, Errichetta Festival Rome, Axiothea Festival Cyprus, Dorcol Festival Belgrade, Hoschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin.
Who we are
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James Wylie
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Biography
(New-Zealand) grew up in Wellington, graduated from the New England Conservatory in Boston in 2010 and moved to Berlin in 2011. He has performed or recorded with Aynur Dogan, Anthony Coleman, Ziad Rajab, Gunther Schuller, Hayden...
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James Wylie
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He grew up in Wellington (New-Zealand), graduated from the New England Conservatory in Boston in 2010 and moved to Berlin in 2011.
He as performed or recorded with Aynur Dogan, Anthony Coleman, Ziad Rajab, Gunther Schuller, Hayden Chisholm, Max Andrzejewski, Thimios Atzakas, Antonis Anissegos, Michalis Siganidis, Siamak Jahangiri, Sam Rivers, Wayne Shorter, Jonathan Crayford, Bob Moses and Cecil McBee and many others in major concert halls all over the world.
Since 2012 he is based in Thessaloniki (Greece), where is active as a musician and composer as well as studying the music of Greece, Iran, Turkey and the near east and studies the Iranian Kamancheh with Sina Danesh. He leads and writes for his own ensembles «Lost Cities», «Alive and Well» and «People of the Wind».
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Fausto Sierakowski
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was born in 1988 in Paris and grew up in Rome, Italy. He graduated in classical saxophone from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory and obtained in 2012 a Masters Degree in Contemporary Improvisation from the New England Conservatory (Boston...
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Fausto Sierakowski
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was born in 1988 in Paris and grew up in Rome, Italy. He graduated in classical saxophone from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory and obtained in 2012 a Masters Degree in Contemporary Improvisation from the New England Conservatory (Boston, USA), under the direction of Anthony Coleman, Hankus Netsky and Frank Carlberg.
In 2016 he moved to Greece to study Ottoman Classical music with Evgenios Voulgaris.
He has performed in Europe, USA, Canada and India, with a vast array of international musicians: Evgenios Voulgaris, Harris Lambrakis, Hayden Chisholm, Axel Dörner, Frank London, Anthony Coleman, Joe Morris, Matt Moran, Thymios Atzakas, Yiannis Dionysiou, Slavic Soul Party.As an educator, he has taught at the CNSMDP (Paris), Hfm Hanns Eisler (Berlin) as well as giving workshops in Greece (Labyrinth, Music Village), Cyprus and
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Alexandros Rizopoulos
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Percussionist, composer and educator born in Giannena. He is pursuing a Ph.D in Ethnomusicology at the Ionian University, focusing on the “Rhythmic Plasticity” in the music traditions of northern Greece. He completed a MM in Composition...
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Alexandros Rizopoulos
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Alexandros Rizopoulos is a percussionist, composer and educator born in Giannena. He is pursuing a Ph.D in Ethnomusicology at the Ionian University, focusing on the “Rhythmic Plasticity” in the music traditions of northern Greece.
He completed a MM in Composition at the University of Macedonia and in parallel has studied with the reknown families of traditional musicians of Greek Macedonia with whom he performs today in most of the traditional events of the region.
He composes for his ensembles "Alenti Quintet" and "People of the Wind" and has written two operas:
“Aourekios, the Postman” (2016) and “Marigo & Yannos – infinite passage” (2021). He has performed in festivals in Greece, the Balkans and Western Europe and lead Percussion workshops in Greece and abroad.
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