Greece developed a rich array of traditional, popular, and art music, which diasporic Greeks took with them. In Greek American communities, music has been an essential component – linking the past to the present, the distant to the near, and bonding members with an embrace of memories and narratives. Between 1896 and 1942, an estimated 2,000 recordings were made in America, and thousands have since appeared. They encompass traditional music from all regions, and emerging urban genres, stylistic changes, and songs of social commentary. This talk profiles the scope, practice, and development of Greek music in America with attention to its relationship to ethnic identity.

BIO

Dr Tina Bucuvalas is Director of Florida Cultural Resources, Inc., the President of the Greektown Preservation & Heritage Association and has held various curator roles over the years in Florida.

Dr Bucuvalas is the author, co-author, or editor of Greek Music in America (2019), Greeks in Tarpon Springs (2016), The Florida Folklife Reader (2011), Just Above the Water: Florida Folk Art (2004), and South Florida Folklife (1994). She is currently working on an ethnohistorical book about the largely Greek-led international sponge trade. She also has published dozens of essays and curated many exhibits.  Bucuvalas conducted extensive fieldwork over several decades with most groups in Florida, as well as with Native Americans in Arizona; ranchers in Wyoming; various groups in Maine, California, New Jersey; Isthmus Zapotec in Mexico; and sponge workers in Cuba, the Bahamas, Greece, Australia, and Turkey. She holds a PhD in Folklore from Indiana University and an MA in Folklore & Mythology from UCLA.

Event Details:

When: Thursday 10 April 2025, 7pm (8am UK time, 10am Athens time, 4am New York time)

Speaker: Dr Tina Bucuvalas

Seminar: Greek Music in America

Where: Online – Facebook/YouTube
Language: English