The distinctive sound of the bouzouki echoed through the Ancient Theatre of Heraclea Lyncestis in Bitola, North Macedonia, as a Greek ensemble from Thessaloniki brought songs spanning generations of Greek musical history to an audience of more than 1,000 people.
The recent concert featured “10 Bouzoukis of Domna,” an ensemble built around one of Greece’s most recognizable musical instruments. Ten bouzoukis, accompanied by guitar and double bass, performed works ranging from early rebetiko to laiko and entechno, while vocalists Andreas Karakotas, Vangelis Antoniou and Sissy Iliadou joined the musicians on stage.
The program included songs associated with some of the most influential figures in modern Greek music, including Markos Vamvakaris, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Christos Nikolopoulos, Manolis Chiotis, Apostolos Kaldaras, Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, Stavros Xarchakos, Yiannis Markopoulos and Dimos Moutsis.
The concert had a distinctly cross-border character. According to organizers, two buses carrying audience members traveled from Florina, northern Greece, to Bitola specifically for the performance, joining local music lovers at the ancient theater.
The bouzouki as a cultural bridge
The choice of the bouzouki gave the concert particular symbolic weight. Closely associated with rebetiko and the evolution of modern Greek popular music, the instrument carried the audience through different eras and styles, from songs rooted in the early 20th century to works that became part of Greece’s modern musical canon.
For one evening, the ancient setting of Heraclea Lyncestis became the meeting point for musicians and audiences from both sides of the border.
The performance demonstrated how music can move more easily than politics, bringing together different generations and communities through songs that have shaped Greek cultural identity for decades.
