Acoustic Project
Apostolos Leventopoulos – Acoustic and Nylon string guitar
with special guests
The Acoustic Project is the artistic home of Apostolos Leventopoulos’ long-standing devotion to the acoustic and nylon-string guitar. It is a space dedicated to pure, unprocessed sound, to the intimacy of wood and strings, and to presenting the music that has grown from this relationship.
The journey began with “Songs for Acoustic Guitar” (2022), an album shaped by time spent in the countryside and the mountain forests of the Olympus National Park area. The pieces reflect the stillness, detail, and natural clarity of those landscapes, and were presented live through collaborations with selected Greek guitarists and other guest musicians.
In 2024, the project expanded with “The Hidden Beauty,” a second album that delves even deeper into the subtleties of acoustic expression, uncovering small, overlooked moments of melody, texture, and emotion. This release also features the dynamic contributions of percussionist Giannis Papagiannoulis, adding a new rhythmic depth and tonal color to the acoustic palette.
Together, these releases form a growing body of acoustic music that highlights the character, versatility, and quiet power of the guitar. The Acoustic Project is both a presentation of these albums and an ongoing exploration of the instrument’s expressive world.
GUESTS
Yiorgos Limakis is one of the most active acoustic guitarists and session musicians in Greece. He holds a classical guitar and composition Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from Middlesex University, and has decades of experience as a performing musician in various genres of music. He has collaborated with musicians such as Giotis Kiourtzoglou, Eleni Karaindrou, David Lynch, Stavros Xarchakos, Haig Yazdjian, and many others, and has an extensive discography both as a session player and as a leader/group member.
Konstantinos Mitropoulos is a Greek guitarist known for his gypsy-jazz and manouche style performance. A graduate of the Philippos Nakas Conservatory, he studied jazz guitar with Kostas Baltazanis and continued his training through scholarships at Berklee College of Music and a Fender-sponsored guitar program. In 2009 he co-founded Gadjo Dilo, the band that introduced the “Manouche de Grec” sound—blending Django-inspired swing with classic Greek melodies . He also leads his own Gypsy Jazz Trio, dedicated to the legacy of Django Reinhardt . As a solo artist he has released the albums Contemplation (2016) and Instinct (2022) , and he has composed music for theatre, film, and commercial projects .
Giannis Papagiannoulis studied percussion at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory, where he trained on a broad range of percussion styles — from traditional Greek and Mediterranean frame-drums to Afro-Cuban and Latin percussion. Over his career he has collaborated with many notable Greek artists, and contributed to numerous recordings both as a sideman and as a leader. In 2013 he co-founded the flamenco & percussion school Taconeo (together with dancer/choreographer Elektra Chrysanthou), combining his rhythmic expertise with flamenco-dance practice. His first personal album — Parenthesis — was released in 2017.
Lola Giannopoulou is a Greek singer, pianist, composer and vocal teacher. She comes from a musical family and studied piano, singing, composition and music theory both in Athens and in Paris. Her first personal record is titled “6 Self-contained Stories”, the album features six songs that explore different aspects and moods of everyday life. In addition to her own work, she has composed music for short films, theatre and documentary projects, and she performs regularly — often blending jazz, soul, neo-soul, Latin and Greek musical elements. She’s known for her expressive vocal style and her versatility, both as an interpreter and as a composer, and also works as a vocal instructor, sharing her musical knowledge with students across Athens.
Leonidas Sarantopoulos is a graduate of the Music Department of the Ionian University, where he studied jazz flute under Professors Dimos Dimitriadis and Ria Georgiadou. Since then he has been active in Athens’s jazz scene, collaborating with many prominent Greek musicians and performing in festivals and clubs. As a leader, he has released at least two albums: Black Mamba (2013) and Paflax (2017).
REVIEWS
DAVID ADLER (JazzTimes, The Village Voice, Down Beat)
“Songs for Acoustic Guitar”, is a collection of music that evokes memories of songs, despite being instrumental music. Songs with lyrical and minimalistic sounds, simplicity and silence. This is the beauty, the substance of the sound of acoustic guitar.
ILAN SOLOMON
Leventopoulos presents an enchanting, almost dreamy album, with eight moving compositions that take the listener on a journey with their lyricism. A music beyond categorization, full of melodies, images and emotions, an album that is to be heard from beginning to end. Forty minutes of enjoyable and elegantly beautiful music, that seems to spring out of nature scenery, near and far, captivating and pristine.