Pre-war Rebetiko Singing

Bouzouki workshop with Fotis Vergopoulos

Sunday 15th June 2025 @ St James Church Islington

In this workshop, we will explore pre-war rebetiko songs, focusing on their melismata (ornamentation), phrasing, and the musical modes they follow.

At the same time, we will dedicate time to how our modern speech and voice can adapt to the old recordings.

Avgerini was born in Athens in 1989. She ﬁrst started piano lessons at the age of eight. She studied at Pallini music high school where she was taught both the theory and practical side of Byzantine and European music,ney,saz,ud and piano. After high school she was admitted at the University of Athens (UOA), and in parallel studied Eastern music theory at the Athens conservatory.

She has taken part in seminars at the Labirynth workshop in Crete with Omer Erdogdular (ney), Yurdal Tokcan (oud), Zohar Fresco (rhythm), Mercan Erzincan (Turkish Chalke song), Ross Daly (composition-makam) and Socrates Sinopoulos (makam), and other vocal workshops with Spyros Sakkas.

Since 2012 she teaches both Greek folk and rebetiko singing at choirs in Athens, Crete and at musical workshops in Greece and Europe. She has cooperated with several musicians and groups including Alexandros Papadimitrakis, Michalis Kouloumis, Manousos Klapakis, Evgenios Voulgaris, Thimios Atzakas, James Wylie, Latinitas Nostra, String Theory Ensemble, etc.

Workshop Details

Arrival time: 12:45
Start: 13:00
Finish: 16:00
Learning level: open to all levels