The musicians of the Kombos Collective present music of Greece and the Greek diaspora in recital and recordings.
This weekend, three members of the collective will be in Traverse City to present a recital called “Out of Place, Out of Time.”
IPR spoke with two of the three musicians from the Kombos Collective who will be in northern Michigan this weekend.
Flutist Ellie Falaris Ganelin is the director of the Kombos Collective.
Pianist and composer Michael Malis wrote the original song cycle “Another Shore, Another Country” which is at the center of the program.
Based on poetry of C.P. Cavafy, the song cycle is a representation of what it means to be part of the Greek diaspora, Malis said.
“In a way, it’s not a precisely Greek song cycle,” Malis said. “It’s a Greek diasporic song cycle.”
Both Malis and Ganelin see their music as an extension of and representation of their Greek diasporic identities.
Malis is third-generation Greek, and Ganelin is first-generation.
“For a long time, I struggled with a sense of belonging,” Ganelin said. “Being American-born and having this Greek identity, and not feeling fully inside either, but over time I’ve come to own my identity as being a diaspora Greek. That is its own identity.”
Ganelin and Malis, along with baritone Constantine Novotny will perform Saturday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the Alluvion in Traverse City. Their recital is part of the Alluvion’s World Music Series.
The program also includes songs of love and longing by 20th-century Greek composers Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjidakis.
