BRIDGES
A musical performance dedicated to the many different lyra traditions in different Greek-inhabited areas, with authentic folk musicians and dance groups.
Out of the large family of bowed folk instruments, the different versions of the lyra have a life of their own: a special balance between the Apollonian measure and Apollonian light and the explosive Dionysiac energy. They represent the primeval sound, the prestige of tradition, and the ritual in country fairs and festivals, weddings and balls. In many areas, the lyras are still resisting, to this day, the dominance of the fiddle.
Every region has its own version of the lyra, of particular shape, manufacture, tuning, playing techniques, and virtuosity. In this big event of the BRIDGES CYCLE, the lyras of the Aegean Sea (from Crete, the Dodecanese, Icaria, and Lemnos), the lyras of Macedonia (from the town of Drama), the lyras of Thrace (from the Anastenarides cult), the Pontic kemenche, the kemane of Cappadocia, as well as the Politiki and Asia Minor lyra, meet at a sweeping stroke of the bow, revealing the vast acoustic universe of this small yet miraculous instrument!
Research–Artistic Supervision–Presentation Lambros Liavas
In collaboration with the ‘Fivos Anoyanakis’ Centre for Ethnomusicology
Co-produced by the Phorminx Concert Society and the Athens Concert Hall
