Panayiotis Peter Levis

Early Years
Panayiotis Peter Levis (Born November 10, 1974) was born in Brooklyn, New York. He began piano lessons with the late Helen Durakis at the age of 7. He was the only male and boy soprano of The Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church Choir in Brooklyn New York. With Mrs. Durakis, Peter learned the basics and then advanced levels of classical piano. On many occassions, Peter would perform in recitals and concerts, covering many of the classical composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, and Grieg. He would also sing solo as boy soprano over a number of years at many events under the tutelage of Mrs. Helen Durakis.
Teen Years
During his early teen years, Peter tired of classical music and discovered heavy metal and rock. He performed in many cover bands, singing and playing music from classic rock favorites such as Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin. During this period, Peter met future guitarist Josh Keller. Josh inquired as to whether Peter would like to join his band "Pipedream." He decided to join and then began a long and flourishing writing and performing relationship with Josh.
Pipedream and Restless Spirit
In 1991 "Pipedream" was formed. Within months, Peter replaced the rhythm guitarist and bassist and brought his friend Bill Guido into the band to play bass. Together with drummer Mike Sutera, the band started to practice during weekends at 7 hour drills to master their abilities and song structure. At the end of 1991, "Pipedream" played its first show in CBGB to a full audience. This began a touring schedule which lasted more than five years. "Pipedream" recorded several demos and continued to tour New York and various states on the East Coast of the United States. In 1994 Peter decided to change the name of the band to "Restless Spirit" which was in reference to the real aspect of spiritual human life. After several showcases and tours, in 1995 Restless Spirit started to have internal tensions. On the verge of international success, the band suddenly broke up. Devastated at this, Panayiotis decided to continue in music as a solo artist.
Classical Training
In 1997, Peter remixed and remastered some of the Restless Spirit tracks and released a small demo package of them. Due to the chance reference of a college professor, Peter met voice teacher Janet Pranschke in 1997. During preparation for his solo album, Janet suggested that he cease singing in rock and concentrate on classical music. Peter decided to concentrate on a career in classical music due to this suggestion. With Janet as a mentor, Peter trained his voice in a classical direction for two years. Peter and Janet had a sudden falling out due to disagreements about his voice training and how quickly he should progress. He quickly resumed his solo rock career and entered the recording studio again.
PANAYIOTIS: Turn To The Lord
Due to feeling stifled in "Restless Spirit" and not being able to express himself spiritually in the band, Panayiotis Peter Levis decided to record a solo CD about his spiritual path the God. Searching for two years for musicians to record with him, he quickly discovered that none of the rock personel he knew were interested in doing any music concerning religion or Christianity. This is how the decision was made to perform all of the keyboards, symphonic parts, bass, guitar, drums himself. During a trip to Greece in 1997, Peter wrote many of the lyrics for his upcoming solo album. After this, a long grueling time of recording and tracking sequences for the ten songs began. By 1999 this and the vocal arrangements were done and Peter entered PERSIA Studios with engineer Chris Vollor to record his solo CD. Spending days in the studio, Peter and Chris completed the recording and mixing of Panayiotis: Turn To The Lord which consisted of ten tracks each in reference to a specific event or events in Peter's life. PANAYIOTIS: TURN TO THE LORD was distributed independently throughout the United States and in various contries throughout the world. From 2000- 2002 Peter joined various bands such as "Rhadika" and "Higher Ground" as lead vocalist and keyboardist. In 2000, Peter begain voice training with famed 1950s tenor Giovanni Consiglio. Ultimately, Peter formed a solo band that played the songs on the CD, however the band never toured, and Peter returned to his solo classical music.
The Arcadian Chorale, Richmond Choral Society, and The Metropolitan Greek Chorale.
In 2004, through his local church choir, Peter found Conductor, College Professor of Music, Composer, and Music Director Marina Alexander. After a small discussion with Marina and discovering that they were colleagues at The College of Staten Island, Peter decided to join the three groups that Marina directs. From 2004-2009 Peter has been tenor and soloist in these groups and he presently continues to sing there. Panayiotis Peter Levis presently teaches History and Sociology at The College of Staten Island.
Discography
Pipedream (1992)
Pipedream (1992
Restless Spirit (1995)
Restless Spirit - Remixed and Remastered (1997)
Panayiotis Peter Levis - The Opera Demos (1997)
Panayiotis Peter Levis (1997)
Rhadika (2000)
Panayiotis - Turn To The Lord (2000)

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