Music and songs from Macedonia and Thrace are "landing" in Australia

Greek performer Katerina Douka. Source: Arte Di tre studio / Efharis Leontopoulou

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Musicians from Sydney and Melbourne are hosting an online singing workshop with renowned Greek vocalist Katerina Douka. Ms Douka talked to SBS Greek.

The workshop is titled "Songs from Northern Greece" and Greek vocalist and performer Katerina Douka will take the participants to a musical journey in Greece's towns and areas of Thessaloniki, Halkidiki, Serres, Drama, Evros, North and East Thrace.

As she told SBS Greek, "the way I usually teach traditional songs is through dance".

For years, she has been working as a traditional Greek dance teacher and she believed that traditional music and dance should go always together.

FURTHER READING IN GREEK

Μια «Μικρή Ελλάδα» φέρνει κοντά Έλληνες από Αυστραλία, Ευρώπη, Αμερική

"It is important to consider the folklore culture of each area every time you are listening to its traditional music. Then, you will have a better understanding of how these songs “fit” into a particular community".

Ms Douka was born, raised, and is based in Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki. She has a versatile repertoire from popular-culture songs through to rebetika, but her roots and upbringing make her an expert on traditional music from Northern Greece.

In 2018, she traveled to Australia with the music group "Pliri Ntaxei" ("Πλήρη ντάξει") for a number of performances. She regularly performs in traditional and rebetiko music festivals throughout the globe and continues to teach traditional Greek songs in Greece and abroad.