Change of venue from what was printed in the FSGW Newsletter:
Program moved to Glen Echo Town Hall!
Women of Rebtika:
A Musical Tribute to the Greek Songs and Stories of the 1930s and ?40s
Co-sponsored by the Hellenic Society Prometheas
A surprising number of celebrated Greek Jewish female vocalists flourished within early 20th Century Greek caf? life and on this side of the Atlantic. Exotic. Dramatic. Unforgettable. Renowned for their contribution to urban Greek caf? music and the recorded history of Sephardic music in America, these women sang with profound emotion and depth, using exotic scales, rhythms and intricate embellishments that, for generations, have earned them a place in the hearts of Greeks and non-Greeks alike. This music is known as Rebetika and Ianniotika, and the women who sang it are honored in this tribute tonight.
Acclaimed vocalist Carol Freeman will present the songs of these glorious women, in their languages of Greek and Judeo-Espanol, interweaving the music with the fascinating history of their lives. Listen to Carol and you will feel you know these songbirds; Roza Eskenazi and Amalia Baka, Stella Haskil and Victoria Hazan, all of whom found center stage here in the immigrant Greek nightclubs and community celebrations of major urban centers, and within the American ethnic recording industry. Carol will be accompanied by Beth Bahia Cohen on violin and Haig Manoukian on the oud.
A celebrated performer, researcher, and teacher of various Balkan and Judaic vocal traditions, Carol began her love affair with Rebetika in the late 1970s. She studied Greek and spent countless hours listening to vintage recordings and conducting extensive research with the few surviving singers of the era, then deepened her understanding by traveling to Greece to understand the culture from which it originated. Carol has performed as lead vocalist for the Smyrneiki Kompania since 1986 and has appeared live and on radio and television throughout North America and Europe. Her last appearance for FSGW was more than 30 years ago, in 1979!
Haig is a master of the oud. Raised as a child on Turkish and Middle Eastern music, he taught himself the oud as a teen. He began his professional career in New York in 1970, and has performed as a featured soloist at prestigious venues all over the globe, including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He and Carol have worked together in the Smyrne?ki Kompania for more than 20 years.
Beth, of Syrian Jewish and Russian Jewish heritage, was inspired early by the sounds she heard at family gatherings. She has studied with master musicians world-wide and plays the violin, various Greek lyras, and more. She is on the World Music faculty of Tufts University and performs and teaches throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Come join us at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Founders Hall, 7701 Bradley Blvd, 20817 Glen Echo Town Hall, 6106 Harvard Avenue, in Glen Echo, Maryland, 20812. Free to members; non-members $25. Reservations strongly recommended. Tickets at www.fsgw.org or contact Betsy at 301.717.4641 or (Betsy's email) .
