Athens, Sofia, Istanbul: a trans-Balkan musical collaboration

One day before the Tinos World Music Festival begins, six musicians meet to explore the common musical ground of Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. Three countries, three musical traditions with a lot of shared elements in a concert which takes a contemporary look at traditional music.

Three Greek virtuosi —the lutenist and singer Martha Mavroidi, the double bassist Giorgos Ventouris and the percussionist Vagelis Karipis— join forces in search of the shared musical terrain of three Balkan nations, in folk compositions and new pieces written in traditional musical idioms.

Invited to play alongside them, three singular, internationally-feted musicians: Nedyalko Nedyalkov from Bulgaria, whose dazzling technique has earned him a reputation as one of the greatest kaval players in the world; the lutenist, Yurdal Tokcan of Turkey, who is renowned worldwide for his innovative approach to the oud and his unique and profoundly moving improvisations; and Harris Lambrakis, perhaps the only Greek musician equipped to initiate us into the centuries-old art and history of the ney, a musical instrument which emulates the human voice and strikes the perfect balance between religious, art and traditional music.