Sound connection of Greek and Macedonian musicians in a joint project

The concert was held in the sound environment of "Audiokultura" / Photo: Stefan Reichl

On March 29, the home of refined sound "Audioculture" at "Teoharov Audio" offered the perfect setting for a joint performance of Greek and Macedonian musicians united in the "Tales from the box" project.

The Greek musicians Tanos Stavridis and Stella Tempreli, in search of a Macedonian musical partner in their project, meet the pianist Boban Mirkovski and after the initial "feeling of the pulse" they are already thinking about a permanent and wider collaboration.

The result of their musical connection are two concerts, one in Kavala and one in Skopje. The one-hour program of the concert in Skopje contained works created in a span of about 300 years, starting from Bach all the way to contemporary original compositions.

Some of the themes that were performed belong to popular music, such as songs from the groups "The Beatles" and "Queen", and there was also a performance of film music from famous achievements, such as James Bond films and the "Muppet Show" series.

At the concert, the piece "Pilion" (named after a mountain near Volos) by the Macedonian composer Ljupco Mirkovski was premiered.

- In the last 4-5 years, we have been performing with Stella Tempreli as a duo with a project called "Tales from the box". The idea of ​​using the term "box" in the title of the project appeared as an inspiration from the shape of our instruments (accordion and cello), which is associated with a box from which sound comes out. Last year we wanted to find a musician from Macedonia who would perform with us at a classical music festival in Kavala. I got in touch with Mande from Bagi Komunikacii, who referred me to Boban Mirkovski, who plays the piano. After we met Boban, I realized that he is the son of Ljupco Mirkovski, who was the conductor of a concert on the occasion of July 26, the day of the Skopje earthquake, a few years ago, when I was also part of the Big Band orchestra. That's how I realized that Boban and I were connected even before we even met - explained Thanos Stavridis.

Stella Tempreli and Thanos Stavridis / Photography: Stefan Reichl

The collaboration between the musicians started very spontaneously and despite all the political problems between the two countries, which happened years ago, they thought that culture should be the one that would bring them together as artists.

- In a musical sense, they needed a pianist who doesn't just stick to the classical repertoire, but is interested in delving into several different genres. Although I am a classical pianist by education, I like to explore new directions and that's how our collaboration began - reveals Boban Mirkovski.

Their first joint performance was at the "Cosmopolis" festival in Kavala, Greece in November 2022, and after the performance on March 29 at "Audiokultura" in Skopje, they plan to deepen their cooperation and expand it beyond the borders of the two countries.

– The beautiful thing is that art and music unite. We have so much in common and we want to keep in touch and try to expand the field of cooperation. Stella and I have the same way of thinking in terms of music, while Boban is a classical musician who likes to explore the universal language of music, and this fits nicely into our common ideas for cooperation - concluded Thanos Stavridis.

(The text was published in "Cultural Press" number 173, in the printed edition of the newspaper "Sloboden Pechat" on 1-2.4.2023)

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