NAME: Nikitas Synodinos (Mastro-Nikitas or Nikitas of Thiraeus or Nikitas of Georgoula) of Mihael and Georgia
PLACE OF BIRTH: Lagada, Amorgos
PLACE OF DEATH:
PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Amorgos, Athens
SPOUSE/MAIDEN NAME: Maroussa (born in Schinousa) of Nikolaos Kovaios / Kovaiou
PROFESSION: Sailor, Musician
INSTRUMENT: Violin, Lute
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Nikitas Synodinos was born on 4 August 1931 in Lagada, Amorgos. His father, Michael, was a builder and his mother, Georgia, a farmer. Nikitas completed his studies at the Primary School of Amorgos and later married Marousa Kovaiou from Schinousa, with whom he had one child.
At the age of ten, he listened for the first time to the violinist Stamatis Bardanis (Stamatomanolis) from Naxos, who was the teacher of almost all the violinists of Amorgos. This initial contact was decisive for the young Nikitas, who, full of enthusiasm, built a homemade violin from plywood, strings of electric cable and a bow made from the plant ” athanatos”. Later, he studied with Stefanos Synodinos (Stefanaki), from whom he learned not only the violin but also the art of cobbling.
At the age of 15, Nikitas moved to Athens, where he started working as a shoemaker. There he met Dimitris Skopelitis (Captain Mitsos) and Antonis Vazaios, with whom he started playing the lute in restaurants and events, while improving his violinistic mastery.
In the early 1970s, Nikitas met Mathios Ventouris, who was working with Dora Stratou, the well-known actress, choreographer and founder of the Greek Dances Theater. When Dora Stratou first heard Nikitas play the violin, she was moved to tears and immediately hired him to join her ensemble.
Nikitas remained in Dora Stratou’s group for twenty years, expanding his repertoire with tunes and songs from all over Greece. He travelled with her all over the country, but also in many foreign countries, and participated in numerous recordings. Some of these recordings are available in the Digital Audiovisual Folk Music Archive of Amorgos and its Islands.
In 1976, Nikitas participated in a musical event held in Washington, D.C. (USA), as part of the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which featured musicians from all over the world. The festival, which lasted 12 weeks, was under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution.