Song in Crete has been and remains the main form of expression for the people. It is the language of the heart, as through the "mantinades" (traditional Cretan rhymed couplets), one can tell a story or convey any kind of emotion. How does music embrace the mantinades, and how do they travel and exchange, crossing the shores of Asia Minor, the Dodecanese, and Cyprus? Starting from the shared musical and linguistic characteristics of these regions — and accompanied by their wonderful stylistic differences — we embark on our summer musical journey. In Hamezi — and a warm reunion awaits us!
Eirini Dereempei _ Singing Seminar
Type of Seminar: Open - Vocal
Level of Participants: Open to all levels
Reading Music: Not required
Teaching Hours: 5-6 hours/day
BIOGRAPHY
She was born and raised in Athens, where she studied advanced theory and vocal performance under the soprano Marina Krilovits. She graduated from the Athens Conservatory, in the class of Meni Charalambidou, earning a diploma in singing with honors. She is also a graduate of the Music School of Pallini.
She has been involved with traditional, Byzantine, and Western music and plays the tambura, traditional wind instruments, and the polythese lute. Her musical character was shaped by various musical influences, cultivating a unique sound and technique, into which she incorporated different musical styles.
She first appeared in the music scene at a young age, collaborating with the Archive of Greek Music and Chronics Aidonidis. In 1993, together with Karolos Koukakis and Zacharias Spyridakis, she founded the musical ensemble "Palaiana Seferia", with which she released two albums and performed concerts both in Greece and abroad. She has participated in numerous recordings and collaborated with prominent traditional musicians and composers in Greece and abroad, such as Chronics Aidonidis, Ross Daly, Nikos Mamangakis, Vangelis Papathanassiou, Christos Leontidis, Giannis Markopoulos, Nikos Xydakis, Giorgos Koumentakis, Kyriakos Kalaitzidis (En Chordais), Haig Yazdjian, George Tsontakis, Jordi Savall, and more.
She is a member of the vocal quartet "Yasemi" and since 2008 has been collaborating with Karolos Koukakis, reapproaching the music of Crete with a fresh perspective, performing concerts in Greece and abroad. Their collaboration resulted in the album "Wherever you are, greetings!!!"
In 1993, she won the interpretation award at the 2nd Cretan Music Festival "Kostas Moundakis." Online, there are recordings of concerts featuring her.
Since the 1999-2000 academic year, she has taught tambura and traditional wind instruments at the Experimental Music School of Pallini, and since the 2018 academic year, she has been teaching traditional song within the framework of the postgraduate program of the Department of Music Studies at the University of Athens (EKPA).