ECM Records Showcase
Sokratis Sinopoulos &
Yann Keerim Duo
Presenting their new duo album "Topos" — Released by ECM Records.
Gallery
Photography & Press Assets
The "Topos" Project
Sokratis and Yann, through their longstanding collaboration in the “Sokratis Sinopoulos Quartet”, have created common codes of musical communication based on their shared aesthetic for the re-approach of musical traditions. Their duet is characterized both by a rare and innovative combination of musical instruments, the lyra and the piano, and by a creative combination of different musical cultures.
The medieval musical traditions of the Mediterranean and Europe, Byzantine music, classical, jazz and contemporary music are intertwined and assimilated in the diversity of Sokratis Sinopoulos’s and Yann Keerim’s compositions, as well as in the interactive improvisations of the two musicians, which form the special acoustic character of this duo. In the project “Topos”, the two musicians present a new interpretation of Béla Bartók’s “Six Romanian Folk Dances”.
They deconstruct and recompose the musical material, illuminate the melodic, rhythmic and harmonic patterns that constitute it, and develop them through improvisation, creating connections with the musical traditions of the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as contemporary music. Through this process, Sokratis Sinopoulos and Yann Keerim are led to the creation of a complete work of full concert length, which also includes musical themes composed by the two musicians, echoing Béla Bartók’s Romanian dances. The “Topos” album was released in October 2025 by ECM Records (ECM 2847).
Live Performance
Line Up
Sokratis Sinopoulos — Lyra
Greek musician Sokratis Sinopoulos is a contemporary master of the lyra, a bowed instrument that dates back to the Byzantine era. His playing is delicate and nuanced yet highly expressive, and his proficiency on the instrument has been widely acclaimed. Sinopoulos has collaborated with numerous musicians throughout the world. He is equally comfortable crossing genre boundaries into jazz and classical music as he is staying true to the folk traditions of Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2010, he formed the Sokratis Sinopoulos Quartet with pianist Yann Keerim, bassist Dimitris Tsekouras and drummer Dimitris Emmanouil. The quartet’s two albums, “Eight Winds” and “Metamodal”, were produced by Manfred Eicher for ECM Records and received excellent reviews globally. Sinopoulos is a professor in the Department of Music Science and Art at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Yann Keerim — Piano
Greek pianist Yann Keerim has developed a musical language that moves between classical tradition, Mediterranean folk idioms, and contemporary improvisation.
Born in Ioannina, in northwest Greece, Keerim began piano studies at the age of four, later drawing inspiration from Alexander Scriabin’s harmonic innovations. At the same time, he learned by ear at village festivals, where the sounds of regional music shaped his sense of rhythm and improvisation.
His most recent release, Topos (ECM, 2025), is his first duo recording with lyra player Sokratis Sinopoulos, produced by Manfred Eicher. The album reimagines Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances and introduces original pieces, creating a shared sound world where folk memory and contemporary expression meet. Topos is the latest step in their long collaboration, which also includes Keerim’s role as pianist in the Sokratis Sinopoulos Quartet on the ECM albums Eight Winds (2013) and Metamodal (2019).
Yann is also a member of the Oceania Trio, presenting original compositions in a European jazz context, and the JAK Trio, where the music of Epirus meets classical forms.
Critical Acclaim
“In the flow of their playing and the shifting moods between exuberance and melancholy, a highly sensitive chamber music emerges, capable of both inspiring and deeply moving the listener.”
— Bert Noglik, Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik
“The effects are entrancing: the piano offers terra firma, while the lyra comes over like a soul joyfully unchained.”
— BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
“This is completely original and unlike anything else you have experienced before. Treat yourself to some quality time.”
— Tor Hammerø, Nettavisen ★★★★★
Read
Full Review
“When you hear Topos, it is easy to recall that melancholy and nostalgia are Greek words.”
— Sten Wistrand, Kulturdelen ★★★★½
Read Full
Review
“The new recording is a small jewel... which opens windows on black-and-white imaginaries.”
— Helmut Failoni, Corriere della Sera
“What Sokratis Sinopoulos and Yann Keerim present on Topos can hardly be put into common categories... It is a work you experience.”
— Jacek Brun, Jazz-fun
Read Full
Review
“One becomes very small and modest before this differentiation of human-aesthetic statements.”
— Martin Hufner, Neue
Musikzeitung
Read Full
Review
“Both artists exude absolute expressivity... moodscaping album of the month.”
— DownBeat Magazine ★★★½
“A stunning, unbroken beauty… magic that feels both ancient and vividly new.”
— Mike Gates, UK Vibe
“These two genre-bridging artists offer resonance and poetic clarity.”
— Michael Tucker, Jazz Journal
Read Full
Review
“ Braids together warm Greek folk roots and elegant chamber-jazz interplay.”
— Tyler Bennet, Worldmusic Central
“Topos is less a location than a living field, a place where listening becomes composition.”
— Tyran Grillo, Between Sound and Space