Stelios Vamvakaris and Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand) will celebrate the music of Markos Vamvakaris on June 11, 2015 at Barbican Hall, 7:30pm
Despite his humble beginnings, the sometime dock worker, miner and shoeshine boy Markos Vamvakaris followed his dream to become a musician. Such was the influence of his songwriting that he is now widely acknowledged as ‘the Patriarch of Rebetiko’ – the underground, urban folk music of the 1920s and 30s that has come to symbolize so much of Greece, both to itself and to the rest of the world.
Premiered in 2012 as part of the Hellenic Festival in Athens, on the 40th anniversary of Vamvakaris’ death, this multimedia concert is curated by Lina Nikolakopoulou, one of Greece’s best-known lyricists, and is accompanied by specially created film footage. It features a stellar line-up of Greek musicians: bouzouki player Stelios Vamvakaris – the son of Markos – as well as Yannis Kotsiras, Sofia Papazoglou and Evelina Aggelou accompanied by a 7-piece orchestra.
The music will be interspersed with readings from Vamvakaris’ diary, recited by Franz Ferdinand frontman of Greek descent Alex Kapranos.
Produced by the Barbican in association with Kazum
The Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, Greater London EC2Y 8DS United Kingdom
Box office: 0845 120 7511
Author: World Music Central News Room
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