The music group Sounds of Cyprus has taken to the streets of New York City to perform traditional Cypriot music in the heart of one of the most heavily trafficked tourist sites worldwide.

Musicians Elena Chris, Peter Douskalis, and Alex Tasopoulos performed a concert for thousands of New Yorkers and tourists strolling around the center of the Big Apple — Times Square.

Passersby had the opportunity to stop and watch the musicians while sightseeing and hear the traditional sounds of laouto, violin and the Cypriot Greek dialect.

Sounds of Cyprus is a New York-based Cypriot orchestra co-founded by Elena Chris and Peter Douskalis. The group has been active in the United States, promoting the traditional music of Cyprus to American audiences as well as Greek and Cypriot communities.

The group performs traditional music from Cyprus in varying orchestrations and styles that honor the time period of composition and instruments while incorporating modern approaches.

Elena Chris, vocalist and front lady, sings in the Cypriot dialect of Greek and in Turkish for songs that contain lyrics in both languages.

Peter Douskalis, music director, plays the laouto, oud, mandolin and guitar, switching between the proper instrument as needed for the authentic and modern orchestration of the pieces. Alex Tasopoulos plays the violin and viola.

The videos were recorded by Alex Agisilaou and audio recorded by Stephanos Charalambides.

Click here to watch the performance of “Chrysoprasino Fyllo.”

Click here to watch the performance of “Triantafyllia.”