About the event

The panel discussion and live performance explores the relationship of popular music with politics and identities in Greece and in Greek diasporic settings. The panel consists of a team of scholars, researchers and performers active in the field of popular music and also members of the Popular Music in Greece: International Research Collective [PMGIRC]: Eleni Kallimopoulou, Nick Poulakis, Yona Stamatis, and Sissie Theodosiou, and musicians Katia Mari, accordion, voice; Ioannis Logothetis, bouzouki; Spyros Pratilas, piano. PMGIRC was founded two years ago as an initiative of Yona Stamatis.

The panel will consider the fundamental question: “What is Greek popular music?” and in discussion format, apply to popular music the theoretical lenses of diaspora/migration/transnational flows and heritage studies. The event will be punctuated by performances of songs in diverse popular styles. Audience members are warmly encouraged to participate in the discussion.

In Greek and English.

 

About the panel participants

Eleni Kallimopoulou is an ethnomusicologist and Associate Professor at the Department of Music Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She researches Greek popular music with an emphasis on the ethnographic and historical study of musical identities, the politics of culture, acoustic culture and urban space, the epistemology and critical pedagogy of ethnomusicology. Her current ethnographic research focuses on artistic labour in the Greek popular music scene. She is a founding member of the research team sonorCities, and a member of the International Advisory Board of Ethnomusicology Forum.

 

 

 


Nick Poulakis is a member of the Laboratory of Ethnomusicology and Cultural Anthropology at the Department of Music Studies and a Visiting Professor at the Department of Digital Arts and Cinema at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He additionally holds an adjunct faculty position at the Hellenic Open University in the “Studies in Greek Culture” program. His areas of specialization include ethnographic film, film music, applied ethnomusicology, the organization and management of ethnomusicological archives, and the anthropology of audiovisual media. His academic profile and research interests lie in the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies, with particular emphasis on popular music, media, identity, and representation.

 

 

Yona Stamatis is Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Chair of the Department of Art, Music, and Theatre at the University of Illinois Springfield. Her research interests include Greek popular song with an emphasis on cultural politics and identity studies. Her research has been supported by the Fulbright Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Constantine Tsangadas Fellowship for Hellenic Studies. Stamatis is music editor for the journal Ergon: Greek/American and Diaspora Arts and Letters. She is a special arts reporter for NPR Illinois.

 

 

Aspasia (Sissie) Theodosiou is Associate Professor at the Dept. of Music Studies at the University of Ioannina. She has conducted long term field research with musicians in Epirus, and more specifically with Gypsy/Roma musicians on the Greek –Albanian border where she focused on issues related to musical performances and practices, the politics of place/location and culture, ethnic and national identities, the politics of tradition, borders, as well as questions related to embodiment. In her other ethnographic research projects she has been concerned with communities of practice and learning practices in technologically enhanced environments, as well as with the interconnections between national sovereignty and border-ness in cyberspace, and the implications of recent economic recession on social cohesion in Greece. More recently she has been interested in the issue of artistic labour, the politics of culture and affect around popular music, fan cultures, cultural racism and legacies of national purity. Her theoretical perspective includes questions related to the pertinence of post-colonial critique for Romani Studies, as well as for the understanding of Mizrahi subjectivities in the israeli State. Her two current ethnographic projects focus on politics and practices related to Greek popular music in contemporary Israel and affective artistic labour among popular female musicians/singers.

 

Ioannis Logothetis is a musician, guitarist, bouzouki player, composer, and lyricist. He has been actively involved in music from a young age, initially as a self-taught musician. He later earned a degree from Spyros Goumas’ bouzouki school (National Conservatory) as well as a degree in Byzantine Music from Spyridon Pavlakis’ school in Schimatari. Since 1993, he has maintained a steady professional presence in music venues, establishments, and concerts. He is a founding member of the band “Anakorda.” He collaborated with the theater group “The Shoe Theatre on the Tree” in the production Cinnamon and Sweet Basil (2003–2006). Since 2007, he has served in the Fire Department. Since 2009, he has been a member of the Fire Department’s band, where he has played saxophone, clarinet, and trumpet. He also holds a degree in Graphic Design from the OAED Vocational Training Institutes (IEK).

 

Aikaterini (Katia) Mari is a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology and Cultural Anthropology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, focusing on UNESCO’s policies and the safeguarding of music as intangible cultural heritage. Since 2023, she has been a research associate at the UNESCO Chair “Anthropology of Traditional Music” and the scientific coordinator of the European programs of MUSE-NGO. She holds diplomas in piano and classical harmony from the Nea Techni Conservatory. She has received scholarships from the Hedley Foundation, the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY), and the University of Athens. She has worked in cultural institutions such as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, the Center for Greek Music, and the Tropos Research Center, as well as in primary education. Since 2015, she has been artistically active in the field of urban popular music (accordion, voice), participating in various musical ensembles. She speaks Greek, English, and German.

 

 


Spyros Pratilas is a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology at the Department of Music Studies. He holds a Master's degree in Social Anthropology from Panteion University and a Bachelor's degree in Music Studies with a specialization in Ethnomusicology and Cultural Anthropology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). He also holds a Piano Degree and Diploma, as well as a Composition Diploma from the "Musical Society of Athens" Conservatory. Since 2003, he has been working as a permanent educator in public primary education. He has performed in numerous musical and theatrical productions as a musician, pianist, or composer, both in Athens and in the provinces, participating in various musical ensembles and artistic groups.