Trio Efraimidis-Nerantzakis-Kieckens

Polis Efraimidis (kemanche, vocals) and Nikos Nerantzakis (laouto) are Pontic musicians from Northern Greece. They play music that refers to the Black Sea region in Turkey (Pontos), the area from which their ancestors were expelled because they spoke the “wrong” language and practiced the “wrong” religion.

It is dance music with the intensity of a proud, grieving people — music that can only be learned within a close-knit community, during long nights sustained by drink and emotion, when no one quite remembers who they are and only being together matters.

They are accompanied by Robbe Kieckens on percussion, who visited them several times in Thessaloniki and was immediately moved by the power and intensity of their music.

As a special guest, they welcome violinist Wouter Vandenabeele, without whom their meeting would never have taken place.