Episode 11: Rebetiko: Now & Then
Meletios Pouliopoulos
Meletios Pouliopoulos, is a Greek music historian and archivist, and founder of Greek Cultural Resources, a non-profit that preserves and documents Greek Music in America. He is an author, researcher, and lecturer, and regularly consults on Greek Music. He is the host of the weekly radio show, "Mondays with Meleti" on Grecian Echoes, WNTN 1550AM in Boston.
Makis Emmanouilidis
Makis Emmanouilidis, made his debut in the Boston music scene in 1997 as one of the founding members of the group JOURNEY TO ITHACA and performed in many venues such as The Tsai Performance Center the Kresge Auditorium of MIT, the Maliotis Cultural Center and many other venues around New England. He writes verses and poetry and has composed a number of original songs which were included in the two CDs produced by Journey To Ithaca, “A Stroll Through Our Dreams” and “A Taste Of Chocolate”. “Secret Life” is his latest work which includes verses and melodies inspired by the novels of Angelos Terzakis, a notable Greek writer.
Recently, Makis founded the group Mia Anasa in order to perform many of his new original songs and to build bridges with a wider audience to include friends of Greek music and others that may not be as familiar yet are curious to share in the richness of the Greek culture.
Recently, Makis founded the group Mia Anasa in order to perform many of his new original songs and to build bridges with a wider audience to include friends of Greek music and others that may not be as familiar yet are curious to share in the richness of the Greek culture.
Yanni Mitaras
Yanni Mitaras, started playing bouzouki at the age of 14 and took formal lessons from Kosta Gourgoumi and from the renown bouzouki player Harry Lemonopoulos. He was a founding member of the Greek bands Asteria and Glentzedes. While living in Colorado, Yanni played at the National Folk Festival and at a musical with choreographer Sunny Newman. Back in Massachusetts he started the Skorpios Orchestra and worked as a performer at the Averof Restaurant for 12 years. During the same period he toured with George Abdo, a famous Arab singer. For the last 12 years Yanni has performed with Rebetoparea and is a big fan of the rebetiko music genre. He has collaborated with Makis Emmanouilidis for the last 15 years on a number of projects and is a founding member of Mia Anasa.
