TUNIS, Tunisia – Notes drawn from Greek folk and traditional music, produced by voices bearing memories, stories, and emotions, echo along the shores of Tunisia, weaving a unique cultural bridge between the two peoples.
Through the power of choral expression, music has become a common language, conveying the spirit of Greek heritage and demonstrating Hellenism’s timeless ability to unite people, places, and hearts across borders and distances.
The creation of a Greek choir in Tunisia was a long-held dream of Hélène Catzaras, a well-known actress of Greek descent born in Tunisia. The dream of Le Chœur de chants grecs de Tunis became a reality in 2022 with the support of the Greek Community of Tunisia.
The establishment of a Greek choir in Tunisia was a dream of Greek-Tunisian community member Hélène Catzaras. (Photo: Facebook/Association Diar El Amel)
Zied Ben Amor, a talented Tunisian artist who returned to Tunisia from Canada in recent years, serves as the choir’s conductor. A violinist, oud player, and guitarist, he has also performed extensively on the Greek-Canadian music scene. Since 2024, the choir has also included local bassist Ibrahim Zammal.
“The choir’s goal is to promote the hidden gems of the rich Greek repertoire, whose existence is often unknown to non-Greeks but fascinates them once they discover it,” Ben Amor told The National Herald. “To date, our repertoire includes more than 40 songs, ranging from light popular music and folk-pop to laïko, rebetiko, and traditional songs, including island music, Smyrneika, and regional folk songs.”
According to Catzaras, the choir’s approximately fifteen members, representing different nationalities and backgrounds, gather once a week at the Greek Community center in downtown Tunis to rehearse and learn the songs.
“Two or three times a year we give performances in beautiful traditional venues around Tunis,” Catzaras said. “At the end of each year we dedicate a concert to an organization that needs financial support.”
“This year we thought of the small orphaned children cared for by Diar El Amel (‘House of Hope’),” she added, referring to the choir’s recent charity concert held on June 2 at Mad’Art Carthage – the renowned ancient city of Carthage is about 10 miles from modern Tunis.
The establishment of a Greek choir in Tunisia was a dream of Greek-Tunisian community member Hélène Catzaras. (Photo: Facebook/Association Diar El Amel)
The program featured fifteen Greek songs, including:
- ‘Tou Paradeisou Lemonia’ (The Lemon Tree of Paradise)
- ‘Vracho Vracho’ (Rock by Rock’)
- ‘Tis Dikaiosynis Ilie Noite’ (O Intellectual Sun of Justice)
- ‘Mes Stou Aigaiou’ (In the Aegean)
- ‘Dyo Palikaria Ap’ T’Aivali’ (Two Young Men from Ayvalik)
- ‘Vrechei Sti Ftochogeitonia’ (Rain Falls on the Poor Neighborhood)
- ‘Pou ‘Nai Ta Chronia’ (Where Have the Years Gone)
Responding to a question from The National Herald, Catzaras emphasized that “Tunisians love Greek culture very much. The two peoples have many similarities.”
For his part, Ben Amor explained: “Audiences in Tunisia have a long tradition of discovering new music and musical styles from around the world thanks to internationally renowned festivals such as the Carthage International Festival and the El Jem Festival. Greek music, despite sharing common roots with Tunisian music, remains largely unknown to the average Tunisian listener, whose knowledge is often limited to internationally famous Greek songs such as ‘Zorba’ and similar works. However, Tunisian audiences are surprised to discover such beautiful music in the Greek repertoire, music that has so much in common with Tunisian traditions. In general, they fall in love with Greek music as soon as they discover it.”
