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Concert trio features Greek cabaret singer
GORHAM – Greek cabaret vocalist Sophia Bilides will return to the University of Southern Maine’s School of Music with her trio to perform the haunting Greek music of a style called “Smyrneika.” The concert will be at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17, in Corthell Concert Hall on the USM Gorham Campus.
Bilides has been called “the foremost practitioner” of this singing style by the Boston Globe. She’ll accompany herself on santouri (a form of hammered dulcimer) and zilia (finger cymbals). She will be joined by Mike Gregian on doumbeleki (drum) and Tom Babbin on kythara (guitar).
Her CD, “Sophia Bilides: Greek Legacy,” is a collection of songs from the Smyrneika, Rebetika and Mikrasiatika traditions. Bilides has performed the songs of her Asia Minor Greek heritage for 20 years at concert halls, clubs, and festivals throughout North America. She is the recipient of an Individual Artist Folklore Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and was featured in a Singing Traditions Tour by the National Endowment for the Arts.
A second-generation Greek-Italian American, she was raised in New Haven, Conn., and lives in the Boston area. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, with a lifelong interest in the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook, she also performs American cabaret shows.
Tickets are $15 for general admission; $10 for seniors, faculty and staff; and $5 for students. People can call 780-5555 for reservations.
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