This year’s Refugee Week London, in the 2025 iteration of Rebetiko Carnival Festival, violonist Kyriakos Gouventas and a group of brilliant musicians present the work of master violinists Dimitris Semsis (Salonikios) and Ioannis Dragatsis (Ogdontakis). Reviving the precious music of Santourovioli, the combination of violin, santur and guitar, this evening will introduce you to the early rebetiko music of Asia Minor.
During the great population movement in the southern Balkans in the early 20th century, seminal artists from Constantinople, Smyrna and the coasts of Asia Minor settled on the Greek islands and ports. Among them, great music masters such as Dimitris Semsis (Salonikios) and Ioannis Dragatsis (Ogdontakis) came to Greece, bringing along their sound and becoming leading figures in the local music scene.
Their captivating performances and recordings made them legendary figures in the history of world music. The main instruments in Early Rebetika are violin, santur, guitar, kanun, oud and tampoura. Santurovioli is a minimal combination of violin, santur and guitar. These three form an impressively functional musical system where the microtonal use of the violin shines brightly in the rich harmonics of the santur over a solid bass-guitar rhythmical background. Today, there are only a few grand masters in the genre and Kyriakos Gouventas is considered the leading figure worldwide.
Tickets
£16/12 concession or £20 at the door
Booking via Ticket Tailor or 020 7487 5060
Co–organised with The Hellenic Centre and Rebetiko Carnival Festival 2025.
Part of London Refugee Week Festival 2025.
Counterpoints Arts is proud to continue its collaboration with The Hellenic Centre and be part of the Rebetiko Carnival, a community organisation dedicated to widening access to music and supporting people in need.
Additional information
Kyriakos Gouventas
Kyriakos Gouventas records hundreds of performances from China to America, Africa and Australia, as well as collaborations with world famous artists from all over the world. Gouventas, the “Genius of the violin” has been teaching modes and maqams to international top-class musicians creating a musical scene of his own and a great following worldwide.
Having studied violin at the State Conservatory he then worked with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki and in various chamber music ensembles. At the same time, he was active in Greek music (dimotiko, rebetiko, smyrnaiko, etc) and recently decided to turn his attentions entirely to traditional music. He is a member of the Ensemble of Traditional Music of the municipality of Thessaloniki. He has participated in over 100 recordings/CDs of traditional Greek music and modern ‘entechno’ (a genre of Greek music). He frequently collaborates with the most acknowledged traditional Greek dance groups, such as the Lykeion Ellinidon, and plays in regional traditional festivals all over Greece. He is a founding-member of the group Primavera en Salonico, the group which since 1996 has played with the well-known Greek singer Savina Yannatou all over the world. He is the preferred violinist of the best Greek singers and musicians, for concerts, recordings and world tours. Last year seminars in Weimar, Granada, London (SOAS), Ydra rebetiko conference. He teaches in Thessaloniki at Macedonia University of Popular Music Department and in Athens, at Athens Conservatoire.
