Music of Macedonia and Thrace – An attempt to approach the familiar and the foreign, Thanos Stavridis

Music of Macedonia and Thrace

An attempt to approach the familiar and the foreign.

This year, at VOLAX, we dedicate the seminar to the music of Macedonia and Thrace. We will explore the different styles and repertoires of these regions, highlighting both their similarities and differences. At the same time, we’ll examine how the musical material of these areas connects with neighboring countries, shedding light on their shared roots and mutual interactions.

The seminar is primarily intended for accordionists but also welcomes anyone who wishes to delve deeper into this musical tradition. We will focus on modes, harmony, accompaniment, and improvisation, approaching the music not only theoretically, but also experientially, through hands-on practice and collective playing.

Come join us in discovering the richness of this tradition and bringing it to life through experience!

Thanos Stavridis is one of the most recognized musicians in the field of the accordion, with collaborations both in performances and in the discography, with some of the biggest and best-known singers as well as composers and musicians, both in Greece and in the Balkans.

Examples include: Evanthia Reboutsika, Alkistis Protopsalti, Sokratis Malamas, Thanasis Papakonstantinou, Elli Paspala, Panagiotis Kalantzopoulos, Matoula Zamani, Makis Seviloglou, Estoudiantina, Gerasimos Andreatos, Manolis Mitsias, Theodosii Spassov (BG), Petar Ralchev (BG), Vlatko Stefanovski (NMK), Saso Popovski (NMK), Vasko Atanasovski (SLO), Kostas Theodorou, Floros Floridis and many others.

He is also one of the pioneers of the Balkan scene in the country, having been a founding member of historical formations such as “Northern Partners”, “Cabaret Balkan” and now “Drom” and “Tales from the Box”.

He has participated in over 100 CD recordings both as a soloist and as an arranger. His two personal albums “a Suitcase full of Dreams” (2016) and “Spicy Margarita” (2021) have received accolades and very good reviews both at home and abroad, having airplay on stations in Australia, Argentina, and throughout Europe. “a Suitcase full of dreams” has been voted among the 10 best world music records at the rutes del so station in Barcelona, while it was nominated in the “world music” category of the association of German critics. Accordingly, “Spicy Margarita” has been voted in the 20 best albums by the World Music Charts Europe for March 2021, having come out at No. 129 for the whole year among about 900 records from around the world, while it has been voted 3rd in the category “Best World Music Album” at the 9th Annual UK OWMR Awards.

His research-musicological activity is on the folk musics of the Balkans. Since 2000, he has made presentations at seminars and conferences both in Greece and abroad, while he has written relevant articles participating in various publications, most recently his participation in the volume “Issues in the Teaching of Musical Instruments: Bridging Theory and Practice” ( ed. DiSIGMA). For the last 13 years he has been teaching at the Department of Music Studies of the University of Ioannina (former Department of Folk and Traditional Music of TEI Artas).

The magazine Accordion Stars Illustrated of Times Square Press, based in New York, includes him among the 100 most famous accordionists in the world for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021.