The Bows of the East

Three distinguished virtuosos, Yorgos Psaltis, Sofia Efkleidou, and Yannis Poulios, will attempt to connect the music of the Mevlevi Dervishes with the Byzantine tradition. The maqams - the scales - of Ottoman music will meet the sounds of Holy Week through instrumental and vocal improvisations - taqsims and ghazals, respectively - but also through ecclesiastical troparia.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Yannis Poulios violin

Born in Bruchsal, Germany, he grew up in Katerini, where he finished the local music school. He studied at the Department of Folk and Traditional Music (Arta) with Giorgos Psaltis and Makis Baklatzis, as well as at the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul (Erasmus program), with Özer Özel, Nedim Nalbantoğlu and Murat Sakaryalı. He is musically active in Greece and abroad. He has collaborated with various musical ensembles such as Tasos Poulios Quartet, Σummation and Hane by Apostolos Sideris, Heliodromio, Lappino by Dimitris Lappas, Ali Perret's DU.DU (Istanbul), Soul & Body with Matthaios & Kostas Tsachouridis (Athens Concert Hall), Loxandra and with artists such as Eleni Tsaligopoulou, Nena Venetsanou, Haik Giazitzian, Irini Tornesaki, Periklis Papapetropoulos, Areti Ketime, Lizetta Kalimeri, Antonis Apergis, Manos Achalinotopoulos, Fotis Siotas, Nikos Paraoulakis, Konstantinos Plousios, etc. For the last two years he has been working in the field of education as a substitute professor of traditional violin at the Experimental Music High School of Pallini.

Sofia Efkleidou cello

She began her studies in cello at the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki, which she continued at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki, from where she obtained her diploma with first-class honours. She continued her studies at the Cologne Academy of Music [Hochschule für Musik Köln] and the Trinity College of Music. She received a scholarship from the State Scholarship Foundation for three years and from the "Friends of Music" Association for two years. She has performed in concerts and recitals in Greece, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, America, Australia, Israel and England and has collaborated with numerous songwriters. She has participated in many musical ensembles of various musical genres such as: chamber, baroque, renaissance and traditional music, concerts of contemporary and aleatoric music, as well as in numerous theatrical and dance performances. She often makes recordings. She has been a collaborator of the Athens Camerata (Friends of Music Orchestra) for many years.

Yorgos Psaltis violin, voice

Born and raised in Komotini, in a family environment where both Greek and Turkish were spoken. He studied at the Department of Electrical Engineering (AUTH) and has since devoted himself to the violin and the study of traditional repertoire from Greece and neighbouring countries. He has collaborated with some of the most important representatives of traditional music of the Eastern Mediterranean in numerous concerts, musical and folk events. In 2015, he released his first album “Hearings”, in which Greek and Turkish traditional songs were presented, some of them for the first time in Greek discography. Since then, he has collaborated with cultural associations, unions, and Municipalities in Greece and Cyprus on many independent productions. He has taught traditional violin, ney and singing at the Folk Music Workshop in Kavala, the “Romanos Melodos” Music Association, the “Galaxias” Conservatory, the “En Chordais” school, as well as in seminars in Greece and Turkey. Between 2009-2013 he taught at the Department of Music Studies of the University of Ioannina.