THE GOAL
We are the Pharos Ensemble, a Boston based collective of musicians from Greece and Cyprus, all Berklee College of Music alumni. The ensemble is named after “φάρος”, from the Greek word “lighthouse”. Our goal is to present and preserve Greek traditional music in the United States, mainly focusing on the Greek musical heritage of the refugees from Anatolia.
This is a fundraising campaign for our debut album, which we are planning to release in the Fall of 2020.
This album will be the vehicle for us to showcase this music to a variety of concert halls and educational institutions throughout the United States and abroad.
The creation of this album is the outcome of the immense support that our ensemble has received from people within the Greek and non-Greek communities around the world. It is outstanding how much this musical tradition is appreciated and considered as a cultural treasure worth to be preserved.
Our first video single “Menexedes kai Zoumpoulia” reached over 1 million views on Facebook and Pharos Ensemble appeared on the National Television of Greece (ERT) for a live interview.
THE STORY
Our story begins in 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts where our members met through the Berklee College of Music community, with a common love and passion for our traditional music. Being immigrants ourselves, living in the United States, we found the need to keep these traditions alive while being away from home.
That’s when our journey began, a journey of revisiting our musical tradition with a creative approach.
THE MEMBERS
Eirini Tornesaki – Voice
Vasilis Kostas – Laouto
Panos Aivazidis – Kanun
George Lernis – Percussion
The ensemble’s members have a long list of credentials that include performances with, Petroloukas Halkias, Christos Zotos, Glykeria, Cirque Du Soleil, Danilo Perez, Dave Liebman, Anat Cohen, to name a few and appearances in prestigious venues such as: the Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Princeton University, MIT, Harvard University, Cornell University, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Megaron – Athens Concert Hall and WOMEX and the 2018 Annual Archon Weekend event in New York City.
We are committed as a team in completing this recording and we are currently concentrating all of our efforts and energy towards that goal. Our only real obstacle is the financial aspect. That’s why we are asking for your support. Thank you for your time and for considering to help us.