By Scott Marcoux
Arts and Entertainment Editor
Greek blues returns to USM this week when DEPTAM, the Municipal Ensemble of Mytilene, Greece performs Saturday in the Corthell Concert Hall.
The event, “Rembetika: The Greek Blues,” is another part of this year’s USM Convocation, “Diaspora: Meanings of Home.” The performance is also one part of a decade-long art exchange between USM and Mytilene, capital city of the island of Lesvos.
This evening of music is supported by USM’s Cultural Affairs and Convocation Committees, the Maine Humanities Council, Hellenic Society Paideia of Maine, and the Federation of Societies of Lesvos in America. Proceeds will benefit the USM/Aegean Arts and Cultural Exchange, which was founded by Mary Snell, arts promotions director for the University.
Snell said she found great similarities between Maine and Lesvos during her visits to the island.
“Lesvos has primarily a tourist economy,” she said. The island’s people, Snell said, also depend on their olive trees much the same way that Maine depends on its forests. Fishing and shipping are also important to both areas.
Such similarities encouraged Snell to organize the arts exchange. Since the early ’90s, various artists and faculty have participated. The program has also provided the seeds for a summer study program in Greece and the addition of a Greek language course to the fall of 2002 class schedule. Snell hopes to eventually form a sister-city relationship between Portland and Mytilene.
Saturday’s event will feature a lecture on the rembetika music style by Dr. Gail Holst-Warhaft, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Classics/Comparative Literature at Cornell University. Holst-Warhaft is a world authority on rembetika and author of “Road to Rembetika,” written during her seven-year stay in Greece in the early ’70s when the genre underwent a revival. The book remains the only English language introduction to this style.
A concert will follow by the seven-member ensemble, conducted by Nikos Tsirigotis. Songs from different regions will include examples of famous early musicians and some from Mytilene. DEPTAM performed in the United States last November and recently completed a tour in the Balkan countries.
The music they play, rembetika, is influenced by both Turkish and Greek cultures. It evolved in the Athenian slums during the early decades of the 20th century, fueled by immigration from Asia Minor and ethnic Greeks fleeing Turkish rule. It has many parallels with American blues.
Events kick off at 7 p.m., Saturday, March 9, in Corthell Concert Hall, with the lecture. The concert follows at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10/$7/$5. A special patron category at $25 includes a private afternoon reception with the Greek guests. Call 780-5555 for reservations.
Arts and Entertainment Editor Scott Marcoux can be contacted at: [email protected]