Polis Efraimidis & Natasa Tsakiridou

A Greek and a Greek-Armenian musician in duo bring the music of the Pontus from Greece to Ghent. In two voices and with one kemenche – another word for the Pontic lyra – they tell the old stories of the south of the Black Sea region in an almost extinct dialect. Here tradition mixes with contemporary melodies to create a sound that is at once nostalgic and progressive.

Natasa Tsakiridou studied Greek Traditional Singing at the University of Macedonia and Turkish traditional singing and kaval at the State Conservatory of Turkish Music in Izmir. She now teaches Traditional Singing at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki. She is a founding member of the bands Leftokaria (music of Pontus), Dilgeroudi (music of Thrace) and Tanzimat project (kafe aman and music of Anatolia) and holds workshops and seminars of traditional singing and music-kinetic education.

Polis Efraimidis was born in Yerevan, Armenia and studied Classical Guitar at the Thessaloniki Conservatory of Music. He has been playing kemenche since the age of 14 and earned his stripes in Thessaloniki’s music scene. He regularly tours Greek clubs in Germany, Switzerland and Cyprus and teaches kemenche himself.