George Sapounidis is a Greek Canadian who in his day job is a statistician for the Canadian government. He has a PhD in Mathematics and in general is a very clever man. At night time his musical persona comes out. He admits to being a folk singer, a troubadour, a romantic who sings in anything up to eight languages including Hebrew, Persian, Greek, French and oddly enough Chinese.
He has made somewhat of a name for himself in China, where he performs in various festivals often at the invitation of the Chinese government. He immerses himself into the local cultures as a result of having learned the Chinese language, and people relate to him easily and are drawn to him by his music, which in many ways is their music as interpreted by a foreigner.
George can possibly claim to be the only Greek singer in the world who can readily and confidently sing in Chinese. I haven't heard of too many others who can do this though remain open to correction.
George also had a dream, a dream which involved singing before the world when the Olympic flag was handed over by Athens in 2004 to Beijing in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. This dream was captured in a documentary entitled Chairman George which has been shown on a number of occasions in Canada to great acclaim and recognition.
I interviewed George Sapounidis at length this week about his being the only Greek singer who also sings in Chinese, as well as the amazing documentary Chairman George.
Most of tomorrow night's program will focus on George, a very likable man whose energy is boundless and inspirational. The music will be a little different but we feel listeners will enjoy listening to the man they call Chairman George.
For more information I urge you to go to www.chairmangeorge.com
The interview will be available as an mp3 download in the next few days.
