How Do You Still a Heart That Finds No Solace

People and Places in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East

A group of musicians from Cyprus, Pontus, Kurdistan and Afghanistan – carriers of a singular identity, having grown up in families where music tradition is being handed down from one generation to the next, will meet onstage for a musical journey to the places and traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean and the broader Middle East.
What brings them together is the forced migration and displacement, which either they themselves or their parents and grandparents experienced in their lives.

Cypriot tradition founded on the expressiveness of the human voice and infused by a longing to return to one’s native lands – an essential feature of the musical and poetic culture of Cyprus over the last decades – will approach the Pontic, Kurdish and Afghan traditions, building a creative bridge between cultures. As a token of respect and appreciation to the older generation of musicians who were forced to leave their homeland, the concert will be complemented by documentary footage featuring Cypriot refugees who, despite the circumstances, managed to preserve the tradition and hand it over the younger generations.

Featuring

Matthaios Tsachouridis: Pontic lyra, Afghan rubab, fiddle
Yusuf Mahmood: tabla
Hussein Zahawy: percussion
Konstantinos Tsachouridis: voice
Special appearance
Michalis Tterlikkas: voice
Pantelis Ionas: oud, lute

Event coordinator
Angelina Sotiriou

The footage featuring poet Charalambos Dimosthenous from Kondea has been taken from the documentary In the Footsteps of Aphrodite by Panikos Chrysanthou and was kindly provided by the director.