A VOYAGE IN THE ORIGINAL MUSIC SOUNDS OF THRACE- NORTH GREECE

The music group under the name “Rodopi Ensemble” began working since the 1990s in Thrace and Macedonia; areas of Greece where the people live forming a unique cultural movement.

The mountains of Rodopi, the biggest mountain range of Thrace, comprise an interface and musically link the people of the countries that cross them. In the year 2000 occasioned by a tour in Holland and Germany, they recorded their first demo in Komotini, with three distinctive melodies of the surrounding area. In 2016, with new members, they actively started working on their new record production, “The paths of Dionysus / Asia Minor – Thrace – Macedonia”, released by ARC MUSIC – London in January 2019. Its melodies (chasapiko, tsifteteli, karsilamas, zeibekiko and other dances) compose a multi-coloured mosaic of sounds.

To date, they continue performing in events, celebrations, weddings and fairs always hanging on to our special music colour. Clarinet, violin, kanun, lute, toubeleki are the musical instruments of their ensemble which, together with the singing, entertain the people at every opportunity.

In addition to the performance there is the possibility of traditional Greek dance lessons, taught by our group members, either just before the concert, or at any other time suitable.

Musicians:
Lute and singing: Drosos Koutsokostas
Violin: Kyriakos Petras
Clarinet: Nikos Angousis
Kanun: Alkis Zopoglou
Percussion: Yorgos Pagozidis

Rodopi Ensemble in collaboration with London based “Arc Music Productions” – a leading record label and publisher in the field of world and folk music – released their latest album “Thrace The Paths of Dionysus” on January 25th 2019.

Reviews
5* Amazon review
https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B07KH1TNPL/ref=acr_search_hist_5?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=five_star&showViewpoints=0

Charts
World Music Charts Europe
https://www.wmce.de/?fbclid=IwAR32880vVRJxDqvG9tgTQpduFIlt6iys2GIzS4LDePRUkzawKQ6xEheFvxM