Berklee Greek Music Ensemble: Tribute to Rembetiko
In this concert, the Berklee Greek Music Ensemble will trace the long history of rembetiko, a world music genre, from the 1900s through the end of the 20th century. Rembetiko is a term used to designate originally disparate kinds of urban Greek folk music. Although today it is treated as a single genre, rembetiko is a synthesis of elements of European music; the music of various areas of the Greek mainland and the Greek islands; Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical chant (often referred to as Byzantine music); and the modal traditions of Ottoman art music and cafe music.
The concert will include popular songs of rembetiko’s main representatives: Giannis Papaioannou, Mikhalis Genitsaris, Roza Eskenazi, Stratos Pagioumdzis, and Spyros Peristeris, among others. The instrumentation will include a combination of modern and traditional Instruments. The performance also will include multimedia interactive moments, where live sound will be blended with recorded speech, movie clips, and other resources related to the genre.