POLIS Ensemble
The Polis Ensemble was founded in December 2011 (originally as the "Polis" Oriental Music Orchestra) in Athens. The word "polis" refers to the cities of the Eastern Mediterranean, whose musical tradition has never ceased to inspire the members of the ensemble. From the first months of 2012 until now, the ensemble has performed in important concert halls (Athens Concert Hall, Thessaloniki Concert Hall, "Stavros Niarchos" Hall of the National Opera, "Parnassos" Philological Association, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University of Piraeus, Athens Conservatory), it has presented its work on the Greek radio and television, while it has participated in the Folk Music Spring and Easter Project 2021 of the EBU. The sextet has collaborated - both in recordings and on stage - with great composers, soloists, singers, actors, the ERT Contemporary Music Orchestra and various choral ensembles; it has taken part in many Greek festivals and has performed in Brussels at the invitation of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Belgium and the European Parliament. In addition, in 2021, the sextet participated in the multifaceted program of actions entitled "200 years of folk song", which was overseen by the internationally renowned composer and conductor, Stavros Xarchakos. In 2017, the ensemble released its first album of original compositions and atmospheric improvisations of its members, in which the melodiousness, as well as the expressiveness of the musical instruments of the East, such as the ney, the lyra, the kanun and the politiko laouto (lavta) were supported by the dynamics and the subtle presence of the double bass and percussion.
The POLIS Ensemble consists of:
Stefanos Dorbarakis (kanun), Alexandros Kapsokavadis (politiko laouto/lavta), Manousos Klapakis (percussion), Giorgos Kontogiannis (cretan lyra), Theodoros Kouelis (double bass) & Nikos Paraoulakis (ney).
Notio Toxo / Aegean Arc
A musical tour through a "tumultuous" zone based on Greek traditional music. The group's repertoire includes traditional songs -original and/or arranged- from the regions of the Hellenic Arc. The Hellenic Arc or Aegean Arc is a region with common linguistic and musical characteristics, stretching from Cyprus to Southern Italy, passing through the southern coasts of Asia Minor, the Dodecanese, Crete, the Southern Peloponnese and the Cyclades. The medieval voices of Cyprus, the tabachaniotika of Crete, and the Sephardic songs of Rhodes blend with the "hammock song" of Naxos, a night patinada from the Peloponnese and the Greek songs of Southern Italy in a program of artistic excellence and high aesthetics.
The Aegean Arc consists of:
Katerina Papadopoulou (programme director, singing), Stefanos Dorbarakis (kanun, vocals), Kyriakos Tapakis (oud, spanish lute/laúd) & Giorgos Kontogiannis (cretan lyra, percussion).
Anastatica Project
"Anastatica" is the rose of resurrection. It is the miraculous flourishing of the apparently dead. The wanderings of the life-bringing womb until the moment of birth and the continuation of life. The journey of the Anastatica Project is a melodic wandering from place to place and from era to era. Old Greek music, authentic, with elements of neighbouring traditions at times, which comes unadulterated over the centuries, it is received with respect and presented without barriers. Fresh sound, special, old and new at the same time, from five skilled musicians, with a mature knowledge of the subject, who come together motivated by love for this music and by the mood of a new approach. Dance as an integral element creatively intervenes in a primordial coexistence.
The Anastatica Project consists of:
Katerina Papadopoulou (voice, programme director), Stefanos Dorbarakis (kanun), Kyriakos Tapakis (oud, spanish lute/laúd), Giorgos Kontogiannis (cretan lyra), Theodoros Kouelis (double bass), Manousos Klapakis (percussion) & Charitona Charitonidis (tsampouna, bagpipes, dance).
Maria Simoglou Ensemble
The Maria Simoglou Ensemble consists of:
Maria Simoglou (voice, percussion, programme director), Stratis Psaradellis (politiki lyra), Harris Lambrakis (ney), Stefanos Dorbarakis (kanun), Periklis Papapetropoulos (politiko laouto/lavta, sazi) & Kostas Meretakis (percussion).