Thanos Mikroutsikos, acclaimed Greek music composer, dies at 72

One of Greece's most prominent music composers of the last decades, Thanos Mikroutsikos, has died on Saturday at the age of 72 after a brave battle with cancer. 

He was born on the 13 April 1947 in Patra. He studied piano at the Philharmonic Society of Patras and in the Hellenic Conservatory. He also studied Mathematics at the University of Athens.

He began his music career in 1975, with the release of the album Politika Tragoudia (‘Political Songs’). He continued on this compositional path, setting to music the poems of Yiannis Ritsos, Nazim Hikmet, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Manos Eleftheriou, Bertolt Brecht and others. 

KKE: Former General Secretary Aleka Papariga placed head of the nationwide candidates' list

Aleka Papariga, the former General Secretary of the Party's Central Committee, has been placed first in the Communist Party of Greece's (KKE) nationwide list of candidates for the upcoming general elections of July 7th.

Born in 1945, Papariga has served as General Secretary from 1991 to 2013, thus being the first woman to head a major political party in Greece. Born in a family of National Resistance fighters and Communist Party members, Aleka Papariga became active in the peace and women's movements during the 1960s and 70s. 

Composer Thanos Mikroutsikos to perform three concerts for KKE's 100th anniversary

One of Greece's most renowned contemporary composers, Thanos Mikroutsikos, will dedicate three concerts to the 100 years of the Communist Party of Greece. The concerts will take place in the country's three largest cities, Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras and will contain compositions from Mikroutsikos' 50 years career span. 

The first concert will take place on Sunday 11th March at the indoor Olympic Hall in Galatsi, Athens, where the General Secretary of the CC of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas will deliver a keynote speech. Thanos Mikroutsikos will be accompanied by singers Miltos Paschalidis, Rita Antonopoulou and Kostas Thomaidis.