Greek Rebetiko Takes the Stage in Istanbul
Greek folk and rebetiko music drew a strong crowd at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul recently, in a concert organized by musician Ivi Ntermantzi, who has spent years building cultural ties between Greece and Turkey through music.
Grigoris Vasilas and Giorgos Nikopoulos, both close collaborators of composer Stavros Xarchakos, performed a program dedicated to Greek folk and rebetiko music. The Istanbul appearance grew out of a collaboration stretching nearly 25 years between Vasilas and Turkish musician and composer Cengiz Onural.
Vasilas told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency that the Greek bouzouki has become a genuine draw for Turkish musicians, largely because of its distinct technique and its sharper, more forceful sound compared to similar Turkish instruments. The turnout reflected what organizers described as a growing fascination with rebetiko across Turkey.
The Istanbul concert is part of a broader cultural exchange anchored by annual week-long seminars held in Assos, the historic coastal town across from Lesbos. Those seminars, curated by Ntermantzi and featuring Vasilas and Nikopoulos, have attracted participants from Turkey, France, and other countries, with sessions increasingly focused on the works of composers like Papaioannou and Tsitsanis.
A portion of the festival's proceeds will go to SOS Children's Villages and the Panhellenic Musicians' Solidarity Fund, with free entry offered to socially vulnerable groups.
