Based on traditional material – mainly from the Mediterranean and Balkan areas – Savina Yannatou and the group Primavera en Salonico offer an open sound without borders or labels, from simple songs extending to contemporary music forms.
Insisting on acoustic instruments – half of which have their origin in the East – they attempt to exploit each instrument's specific sound, oftentimes also exploring them to the limits of their possibilities. In addition to her exquisite interpretive capacity, Savina Yannatou gives special emphasis to the expression of the "music" of each different language, without letting that stop her from often using her voice as one more instrument.
With a background that combines classical studies and "authentic" traditional music with improvised music and jazz, Savina Yannatou and the musicians of Primavera en Salonico find themselves like rope-dancers on the chord which connects the modal music of the East with the equivalent music of Western Europe, music of the Middle Ages and the popular polyphonies of the Mediterranean. Beginning from the melismatic riches and charming irregular rhythms of the Eastern Maqam, they explore the territory of collective free improvisation, bringing elements of modern jazz into the mix as well.
Savina Yannatou and Primavera en Salonico have been giving concerts all over the world since 1996. They've toured the whole of Europe, the United States, Australia, Israel, South Korea, China and Taiwan, in venues like the Queen Elizabeth Hall (selling out a number of shows), the Barbican in London, UCLA in Los Angeles, the Melbourne Concert Hall, BELEN Cultural Centre in Lisbon and various WOMAD festivals in different parts of the world, as well as numerous other world music and jazz festivals.
More info: www.thethornburytheatre.com and tickets can be purchased here: http://thornburytheatre.oztix.com.au/?eventId=58447
