NAME: Stefanos Synodinos (Stefanaki) of Nikitas and Polyxeni
PLACE OF BIRTH: Lagada, Amorgos
PLACE OF DEATH: Athens
PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Amorgos
SPOUSE / SIR: Polyxeni / Ioannis Dendrinou
PROFESSION: Shoemaker
INSTRUMENT: Violin, Singing
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Stefanos Synodinos (Stefanaki), of Nikitas and Polyxeni, was born in Lagada, Amorgos in 1924 and died in Athens in 2004. He was married to Polyxeni Dendrinou with whom he had three children.
He started playing the violin at the age of eight. At the age of twelve I had the opportunity to apprentice with violin teachers, mainly in Syros and Santorini, where he was learning the art of shoemaking at the same time. In Santorini he studied next to Marko Nomikos. Returning to Amorgos, he took over his father’s cobbler’s shop in Lagada, which he kept throughout his life.
At the same time, he participated as a musician in hundreds of social, religious and private events (celebrations, festivals, weddings, baptisms, etc.), in collaboration with almost all the luthiers of Amorgos. For many years he played mainly with his fellow luthiers Michael Vlavianos (Souhalis or Proestos).
Stefanos Synodinos is considered one of the most important violinists of Amorgos. Many other, older and younger, violinists such as Nicolas Stephanopoulos (Dirlas) and Antonis Synodinos from Tholaria, Antonis Kovaeos and Nikitas Synodinos from Lagada, Antonis Giannakos (Kastanis) from Chora, and others, studied with him.
In the 1970s he participated in the historical recordings of Simon Karas and in 2003, together with Michalis Vlavianos, they travelled to the USA where they participated in a festival of Greek traditional music together with other bands from all over Greece, winning the first prize.
The violin of Stefanos Synodinos was made before 1870 and is now in Athens in his family’s house.