Ekon Festival 2009

Saturday 13 June

The Festival revolved around the theme of Greek blues, the voice of the socially marginalised. It kicked off with a unique performance of ‘Rebetika: Songs of the Greek Underworld’ – the Greek urban blues – featuring the renowned Greek rebetiko band Tzivaeri and offering a musical journey across different periods and generations. The programme also presented original explorations and interpretations of rebetiko music on the harp by young artist Maria-Christina Papadopoulou accompanied by double bassist Alan Gibson.

Sunday 14 June

Then followed by a day event which included drama & music workshops for children inspired by Greek stories, and performances of popular music by talented youth art groups, featuring Yiannis Polykandriotis and his School ‘The New Generation of the Greek Diaspora’. The event concluded with a spectacular show of Greek folk music and dance from Northern Greece, Asia Minor & Cappadocia with vocalist Konstantinos Tsahourides, joined by the acclaimed Pazarentsis folk music group. In performance were the London Lykeion ton Ellinidon, Lyra Greek Dancers and youth folk dance groups. The Festival also hosted an exhibition of 'Ruby Ginner: Classical Greek Dance' organised by the National Resource Centre for Dance in association with the University of Surrey.

Monday 15 June

The third day of the Festival saw a line-up of distinguished artists in performances of predominantly contemporary chamber works that represented the new generation of composers from the UK, Greece and Cyprus. The programme featured the world premieres of In the Mirror of Narcissus by Greek composer Nickos Harizanos and Song of Demodocus by British composer Benjamin Wolf. The guitar recitals by two prominent young Greek guitarists, George Tossikian and Dimitris Kotronakis, which concluded the programme bridged the classical and jazz worlds with a selection of works by Latin composers.

Tuesday 16 June

The Festival ended with electric performances of jazz and blues headlined by top Greek saxophonist/ composer Dimitris Vassilakis and his ‘Greek Gang’, featuring guitarist Apostolos Leventopoulos and producing fresh original music with a distinctively Mediterranean/ Balkan intonation. Also participating were London-based bass guitarist Theo Tsoumanis and ‘The Nighthawks’ performing a mix of jazz, blues and innovative improvisation.