Nikos Souroullas
Nikos Souroullas, who hails from a family of musicians and church cantors, was born in the currently occupied village of Lysi, where he lived until the Turkish invasion of 1974. He currently lives in Larnaca.
He plays the tamboutsiá (frame drum) and other percussion instruments, while he also studied Byzantine music under his late uncle Yiangos Souroullas. His upbringing among musicians, as well as his participation in SY.KA.LY. (Artists’ Group of Lysi) and the Yiangos Souroullas choir provided him with plenty of exposure to Cypriot traditional music. His close collaboration with Michalis Terlikkas as a member of the Mousa music troupe since 1994 strengthened his contact with traditional music even further. As part of this collaboration, Souroullas has taken part in international festivals, radio and television programmes, and many concerts both in Cyprus and abroad. Souroullas played the tamboutsiá on Terlikkas’s albums Ton Gennon tzai tis Lambris (Christmas and Easter Songs; 1998), Kypraia Foni – St’ Agnarka ton Tzairon (Cypriot Voice – Tracing Back Through the Years; 2002), and Kypraia Foni – Kalos Irtan Oi Xenoi Mas (Cypriot Voice – A Welcome to Our Guests; 2008).