Concert: “Selanik Duo” with Rebetiko and Traditional Music of the Eastern Mediterranean

Concert: “Selanik Duo” with Rebetiko and Traditional Music of the Eastern Mediterranean
Asteris Varveris – laouto, lafta
Eirini Zogali – oud, bouzouki

Saturday, 31 May 2025

20:30

Vitsentzos Kornaros Cultural Centre (97 V. Kornarou St., Sitia)

Free admission

✳︎ Asteris Varveris and Eirini Zogali have been performing together as a duo for six years. Their collaboration began with a purely rebetiko repertoire and gradually expanded to explore various musical traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean using different instruments. From guitar to laouto and from bouzouki to oud, Asteris and Eirini have found a shared musical language through which they interpret sounds that resonate with them—always returning to rebetiko as their most important starting point.

✳︎ ASTERIS VARVERIS was born in Naousa, Imathia. He began his musical journey at the age of 8 by learning the guitar. He later turned to classical guitar, studying under the renowned guitarist and teacher Thanos Mitsalas. Alongside this, he studied modern harmony and played electric guitar and blues rock. His dedication to music led him to complete a degree in Greek Traditional Music at the University of Macedonia, focusing on guitar and laouto performance. He has participated in numerous concerts and music performances with various bands and ensembles both in Greece and abroad. He continued his postgraduate studies at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam.

✳︎ EIRINI ZOGALI was born in 1997 in Corinth. Her relationship with music began at the age of 7 with classical guitar. This early exposure led her to take entrance exams and enroll in her city’s music school, from which she graduated in 2015 having picked up a new instrument—the bouzouki. The bouzouki became a musical bridge that helped her connect with Greek traditional music, especially rebetiko. In 2016, she pursued further music studies in Thessaloniki, graduating with a specialization in the trichordo bouzouki. Her move to Thessaloniki was pivotal for her musical career due to the city’s rich and diverse music scene. During her studies there, she discovered the oud, which quickly became an important instrument in her life. In 2019, she was accepted into the Erasmus program at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam, where she studied the oud in depth and experimented further with the bouzouki. After completing her undergraduate studies, she continued at Codarts and graduated in 2023 with a specialization in oud. Over the years, she has participated in various music projects and concerts in both Greece and abroad.