Onassis Stegi is heading to the town of Konitsa, together with Grammy Award-winning music producer Christopher King. “Why the Mountains Are Black” is a three-day music festival fusing the traditional sounds of the Balkans with trap/hip hop improvisations and ethnographic cinema.

What connects traditional Balkan music, ethnographic cinema, and trap/hip hop improvisations? This summer kicks off with a three-day music event of ritualistic power, where a specific locale and tradition is linked with music heritage to forge an interesting outsider story.

From the shellac 78s featuring demotic songs in the collection of Christopher King, to musicians and dancers from both sides of Greece’s northern border, to screenings of rare films by John Cohen and the Manaki brothers, “Why the Mountains Are Black” is being proffered as a spiritual experience utterly unlike a traditional Greek panigíri (folk festivity). Proof of this can be found in the explosive music coupling of Negros TouMoria and Odydoze – two daring artists breaching various fluid musical frontiers to present “trapbetiko”: a bold, all-new blend of trap and hip hop within the rebetiko genre. A project that effortlessly shows how fusing old with new can lay the ground for new forms, new rules, and new departures.

Musical groups and singers have been invited from both sides of the Greek border to perform and present their music along with dancers who will accompany the musicians. Special outreach has been made to dance organizations of Epirus to collaborate. For each day of the event, Christopher King will give a short presentation based on commercial recordings made between 1913-1958 and taken from his personal archive. During the first two evenings of the event (Friday and Saturday), there will be a screening of a film relevant to both the region and the music. These screenings will be placed into context by both Christopher King as well as AtanasChuposki, Senior filmologist of Cinematheque of Republic of North Macedonia.

Christopher King envisions a public program that will illuminate and deepen our understanding of the musical cultures along the northern Greek border. He believes that music is not a static, homogeneous thing but rather a complex human phenomenon that has no borders. And that culture and history can be understood through the lens of music.

PROGRAM

Friday, June 9 | 20:30-23:30

Christopher King will introduce “Why the Mountains Are Black: The Musical Cultures of the Southern Balkans” by playing 78s from Albania and describing the context of the music.

1st Act – Isokratisses (Seven female polyphonic singers from southern Albania and northern Greece)

2nd Act – Kostas Karapanos&AurelQirjo (violin duets of Epirus instrumentals that informed the contemporary clarinet music of the region)

3rd Act – Screening of “Pericles in America” by American John Cohen (a documentary on Pericles Halkias, father of Petroloukas, made in 1988)

Saturday, June 10 | 20:30-23:30

Christopher King continues the narrative of “Why the Mountains Are Black” by playing 78s from Epirus and Macedonia.

1st Act – Negros TouMoria&Odydoze (Greek hip-hop trap featuring samples of 78s from the southern Balkans)

2nd Act – Vasil Ziu&The Soul of Myzeqe (Central Albanian [Lushnje] saz with clarinet, accordions, tambourine, and singing)

3rd Act – Screening of Manaki Brothers Silent Films (pioneering filmmakers of the southern Balkans, 1905-1912) with a live orchestra pit (musicians will collaborate and play an improvised “score” for each short film). The screening will be introduced by byAtanasChuposki.

Sunday, June 11 | 20:30-23:30

Christopher King closes the narrative of “Why the Mountains Are Black: The Musical Cultures of the Southern Balkans” by playing 78s from Macedonia and Thrace.

1st Act – BajsaArifovska Folk Group (North Macedonian Roma musician BajsaArifovska, from Berovo, will lead her group performing chalgia (city style) & village style music of North Macedonia.

2nd Act – EvritikiZygia (traditional dance music from Thrace)

WORKSHOP

Saturday 10 June | Duration: 90-120 min

Polyphonic workshop with Isokratisses

Through the workshop, the audience and participants will be able to grasp and conceptualize the elements and format of polyphonic singing, specifically its phonetic structure. They will experience the primary tonal role, the drone or “iso”, and therefore will learn to determine the differences compared to other polyphonies. They will also experiment with the other vocal and tonal roles and sing in smaller groups led by members of Isokratisses.

Structure of the workshop:

General description of polyphonic singing from Epirus.

Live performance of an example.

Introduction to the vocal and tonal roles one by one, divided into parts.

Participants sing a pentatonic melody all together (song and lyrics will be provided).

Working with the drone: explaining its role and interacting with the participants.

Introduction to other main roles: presenting them one by one and exploring the relationship between the voices.

Participants sing in smaller groups, assisted by the members of Isokratisses.

The House of Hamko, Konitsa

PHOTO: RILEY KING

THE HOUSE OF HAMKO, KONITSA

THE HOUSE OF HAMKO

Surrounded by imposing mountains, myths and legends, the house of Hamko—mother of Ali Pasha of Ioannina—is a well-hidden time machine in the plain of Konitsa. A historic and protected monument that was once enclosed by high walls with embrasures and secret passages, the set of buildings that comprised Hamko’s manor house transports the visitor back to the 18th and 19th century; a meeting point of people and traditions from the Balkans, and not least a fertile and solid ground upon which the foundation of here and now could be laid. Nowadays, only few parts of the archaeological site remain intact: the impressive arched gate, the high tower, some annex buildings, as well as sections of the surrounding walls.

CURATORIAL NOTE

“The current national borders in the southern Balkans emerged out of the collapse of the multiethnic Ottoman Empire during the early 20th century. Musical traditions in the regions of the southern Balkans reflected a mosaic of various ethnic and religious groups that inhabited the broader area. However, music in these regions has taken on national characteristics, as opposed to ethnic ones, as borders become consolidated and populations shift. Nonetheless, the common origins of these different musical traditions continue to be apparent to this day as they evolve into their contemporary forms.

Why the Mountains Are Black: The Musical Cultures of the Southern Balkans explores how these traditions have developed, changed, absorbed, and manifested themselves in the 21st century. These three days of music, dance, and rarely seen cinema from both sides of the northern Greek border are curated by Grammy Award-winning producer and writer Christopher King.The events are fully produced by Onassis Stegi and hosted at Hamko’s house in Konitsa, a literal and spiritual center of southern Balkan music. To fully appreciate the rich cultural asset of Greek demotic music, we must understand all the parts that contribute to the whole.”

— Christopher King, ethnomusicologist, writer, producer, and advocate of traditional music