PHAROS CLOSES LECTURE SEASON WITH MUSICAL EVENING
Pharos, the Canadian Hellenic Cultural Society celebrated the end of its 2006/2007 season with a lecture-concert on the evening of Monday, April 30th. The upper hall of the Hellenic Community Centre in Vancouver was full of people eager to listen to Vancouver’s bouzouki player and singer George Yioldassis and his new band, Selinouda, and friends.
Before the lecture-concert could get underway other business of the society had to be attended to. It was announced that the annual meeting which was traditionally held in April, at the last lecture of the season would be postponed until October, the start of the 2007/2008 lecture series. Also announced were several other events taking place in the next few months that people were encouraged to attend. May 21 & 28th CBC Radio One will be featuring documentaries on Byzantine. The kick-off to the Hellenic Cultural month is at noon on June 2nd at the promenade of the Vancouver Public Library. Many events are planned throughout the month, culminating in Greek Day on Broadway on June 24, 2007. One of those events, a gala musical dinner-dance featuring Selinouda would take place on June 15th at the Hellenic Community Centre
George Yioldassis of Selinounda then presented a brief introduction of the instruments and the art of the Greek rembetiko music. Assisting him in the evenings presentation were Thomas Makris, Tim Koutsoandreas, Vasilis Vlahos, Dan Dittrick, Evie Katevatis, and Laura Blumenthal. Missing that evening was George Mavrogeorge. The group presented a sweeping overview of the styles of rembetika, the music and the lyrics.
Rembetika is a blend of Turkish and Greek music that was brought to Greece when many ethnic Greeks of Asia Minor fled to Greece during the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). It is the music of these refugee urban poor. Groups of men gathered in hashish dens (a Turkish tradition) where men would sit in circles and smoke hashish from a hookah and improvise music. They sang about drug abuse, prison and violence, usually accompanied by the bouzouki. The hashish dens and bouzouki were soon banned and the music repressed because of the lyrics but it did not die out. It just went underground. Many songs were composed in the prison where musicians made their own instruments from scavenged equipment. After World War 2 the music evolved to a calmer form and was popularized by music stars of the time. Rembetika underwent oppression again during the coup of 1967-1974 but came back stronger than ever into the mainstream music.
The traditional instrument of rembetiko music is the trichordo bouzouki. The baglama is a half size version that could be easily hidden during the times of oppression. The tonbak, a goblet drum is also often used in rembetiko. The guitar which was also used during the presentation also fits in well with the style of music.
The presentation was so well received that the group was asked to provide several encores. Greek dance instructor Dimitri Kontogiannis was also encouraged to join in with a short display of dance. It has become a tradition over the years that guest speakers be presented with framed Greek scenes taken by Linda Spratley. However this time the group was presented with a bottle of ouzo but the two ladies of the group were presented with some of Linda’s work.
The next lecture of Pharos is set for the last Monday of October, when the new season begins.
BATTLE OF CRETE REMEMBERED
On Sunday. May 20th members of the Cretan Association of BC gathered at St. George cathedral in Vancouver to commemorate the 66th anniversary of the invasion of Crete. On May 20, 1941 the Nazi Germans launched an airborne attack on Crete but were met with heavy resistance, not only from the Allied forces but from the civilian population. The casualties were heavy on all sides.
CRETAN DINNER & DANCE
The Cretan Association of BC held a dinner and dance at the Hellenic Community Centre of Vancouver on Sunday, April 22, 2007. The evening featured live Cretan music with Andreas Lilikakis, a lyra player straight from Greece.
NOT EVEN MY NAME
On Thursday, May 10th the BC Association of Hellenes from Constantinople and Asia Minor together with AHEPA Golden District #26, Alexander the Great Association of Northern Greece (Macedonia & Thraki) of BC and the Hellenic Community of Vancouver presented a lecture in the main hall of the Hellenic Community Centre. Author Thea Halo spoke on her book Not Even My Name which is the story of her mother Sano Themia Halo’s survival of the destruction of her family and village in Pontos during the Genocide of the Pontic and other Asia Minor Greeks.
Not Even My Name follows Sano’s survival of the death march at age 10, her arranged married, her move to America where she raised ten children and the pilgrimage 70 years after her exile for the search of her home, a mountain village near the Black Sea.
Since the publication of Thea Halo’s book in 2000 numerous states in the USA have issued proclamations recognizing the Genocide between 1914-23 of the Pontiac and other Asia Minor Greeks, Assyrians and Armenians. Many Americans were aware of the Armenian Genocide but the genocide of the Assyrians and the Greeks of Asia Minor was not as well known. These three Christian groups all were part of her mother’s life and therefore for the first time the genocide of these three ethnic people of Asia Minor were included in one book.
The book has been published in English in the US and in Australia. It has also been translated into Greek, Dutch and Icelandic. Thea Halo has lectured extensively around the US on her book which has been used in schools not only in relation to the Genocide history but also for its child refugee story, teenage arranged marriage and mother-daughter bond issues. Thea Halo won the American AHEPA 2002 Homer Award for her excellent portrayal of her mother’s story.
In 2001 at age 91 Sano Themia Halo was awarded the New York State Governor George E. Patraki’s 2001 Award for Excellence in honour of Women’s History Month. In 2002 she was also awarded the American AHEPA Freedom Award.
A few days before the free public presentation at the Hellenic Community Centre Thea Halo had also presented her book at the Vancouver Public Library.
HELLENIC STUDIES CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY
The Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC presented a special tribute dinner to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Hellenic Studies Chair at Simon Fraser University. The dinner was held on Friday, April 27th at the Lord Stanley Ballroom in Stanley Park, Vancouver.
The doors were opened at 6:30 when people started to congregate in the reception area for cocktails. At 7:30 people were welcomed into the main ballroom for the dinner. Master of Ceremonies Mr. Peter Douzenis, 2nd Vice President of the Hellenic Congress of BC welcomed and introduced the distinguished guests. People enjoyed a well prepared dinner before the main speeches of the evening commenced.
The welcoming address was presented by the newly elected president of the Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC, Mr. Alexander P. Tsakumis. Peter Capadouca, a past president of the HCC of BC presented a plaque of appreciation to the Consul of Greece, Mr. George Aravositas for his support for the Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University. The Consul has been instrumental in securing funding from the Republics of Greece and Cyprus for the program at SFU. Mr. Nick Panos, a past president of the HCC (BC & Canada) who has worked tirelessly over the years for the HCC and the Hellenic Studies went on to present a plaque to Dr. John Pierce, Dean of Arts & Social Sciences of Simon Fraser University. Mr. Harry Katevatis, past president of the HCC (BC) presented to Dr.Andre Gerolymatos, the holder of the Chair of Hellenic Studies, SFU.
Dr. Gerolymatos gave an overview of the Hellenic Studies program, its early history and its expansion over the years to where it is now the largest of its kind in North and South America, offering Greek language courses internationally through a program developed at Simon Fraser University. Courses are now available through the Universities of Peking, Nan King, Missouri and Yale as well as in the province of Quebec. As well Hellenic Studies has a well-established field school on the Greek island of Kefalonia with excursions into Cyprus. As well as Dr. Gerolymatos who specializes in modern Greek history and the program director Maria Hamilton the department now also includes Professor Panagiotis Pappas, Linguistics and Professor Dimitri Krallis, Byzantine Studies. Prof. Pappas was not able to attend the dinner though as he was in Cyprus doing research.
During the conclusion of the speeches the president announced that the next objective of the Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC was to establish a scholarship fund for students of the Hellenic Studies Programme. For that purpose the HCC of BC was sponsoring “The Nine Muses” Gala Dinner & Auction Fundraiser on Friday, October 26th at the Hellenic Community Center of Vancouver. The Congress goal is to raise $50,000 to be matched by SFU for a $100,000 endowed scholarship fund. The fundraising got off to a good start as nearly $10,000 was raised before the evening concluded
