“Sound Portraits,” presented by Stavroula Karali, takes listeners on a journey through the unforgotten homelands.
Beginning in Smyrna, we follow the musical paths of the Greeks of Asia Minor through Ayvalik, Vourla, Constantinople and Pontus, before continuing to the rock-carved towns of Cappadocia.
Songs of romance, love, exile and everyday life intertwine with the stories of the places and people who created them. From Smyrna’s café-aman venues and amane songs to the Pontic lyra and the distinctive musical traditions of Cappadocia, a world unfolds in which different peoples, languages and cultures met and interacted.
Through music both old and new, “Sound Portraits” traces the legacy of a great musical tradition and a culture carried to Greece by refugees after the Asia Minor Catastrophe.
Produced and presented by Stavroula Karali