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Iconic Greek clarinet virtuoso Petros-Loukas Chalkias, renowned to fans of Greek folk music worldwide, passed away on Sunday at the age of 90.
Born into a family of folk musicians in Epirus, northwestern Greece, in 1934, he first performed in public at the age of 11 before moving to Athens, where he played music alongside his clarinet-playing father and violin-playing brother.
Petros-Loukas immigrated to the United States in the 1960s, where he stayed for two decades, promoting Greek folk music to new audiences and the diaspora.
“Petros-Loukas Chalkias passed away, but [his sound] didn’t go silent, and [it] never will,” the President of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Tasoulas, said in a statement.
In her farewell message, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni praised Petros-Loukas Chalkias as the top representative of traditional music from Epirus, an unparalleled clarinetist and master performer.
“His loss is not merely the loss of a great musician, but of a devoted guardian of our musical heritage and cultural identity. He leaves behind an irreplaceable void in traditional music and in the heart of Epirus,” Mendoni noted. “He did not limit himself to performing traditional music but renewed it, enriched it, making it speak to the hearts of his audience.”
Also known as the “patriarch” of the clarinet, Petros-Loukas Chalkias was “a Dorian performer, modest and approachable, unwaveringly devoted to his art and always a helper and valuable teacher of younger artists.”
Petros-Loukas Chalkias enjoyed a long and successful career spanning over seven decades.
He was honored with an award from US President Ronald Reagan at the White House, among other accolades.
Besides the United States, the Greek virtuoso performed in concerts worldwide, from Europe to Australia and South Africa.
Upon his return to Greece in 1979, he was in high demand for live performances, ranging from nightclubs to the Athens and Thessaloniki Concert Halls. Additionally, he made TV and film appearances and participated in recordings with popular Greek artists, often blending his distinctive sound on the clarinet with rock, jazz, blues, and ethnic musicians.
Petros-Loukas Chalkias recorded albums and performed in concerts with Indian, Senegalese, Arab, Turkish, and Armenian musicians.
In recent years, he experienced the loss of his beloved wife, Maria, in a car crash; the untimely passing of one of their three children, Mpampis; and the death of his younger brother and fellow musician, Achilles.
Nonetheless, he stayed strong enough to cast his sorrows out by playing the clarinet and sharing his music with the crowds, young and old.
After all, the Moirologia, the traditional laments of Epirus with their redemptive power, were always part of his soul-touching art.
