Proving that music brings people closer— despite politics and even social distancing— one Turkish band wanted to share their musical ode to Greece on March 25th.
An orchestra called Agora Minor teamed up with the Municipality of Izmir (Smyrna) to share an hour’s worth of live Greek music via Facebook live.
The band specializes in Greek Rebetika and Asia Minor music and has a huge following and fan base.
The concert streamed live via the Municipality of Izmir’s Facebook page and took place within an empty theater in the historic city which once housed a thriving Greek population.
Throughout the performance the musicians remained socially-distanced — several feet away from each other.
There was no applause in between songs and no dancing in the aisles when the rhythms picked up. But there were thousands of “hearts” and “likes” and comments of praise from the virtual audience which has already exceeded 50,000 people.
Greeks may not understand the song descriptions offered by the band’s lead singer which she endearingly offers in her native Turkish.
But occasionally you’ll hear words you recognize — familiar song titles such as “Tha Spaso Koupes” and “Gel Gel O Kaiksis” and familiar names of composers who wrote these timeless songs that transcend nationality and ethnicity.
Agora Minor posts regularly on their Instagram and Facebook pages.
Editor’s note: A special thank you to Chrysovalantis Stamelos, a Greek-American resident of Izmir and Pappas Post reader who shared this wonderful video with us.
Watch the entire concert by Agora Minor
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