“MYRRA” is the new album of the greek duo: lute player Tasos Kofodimos and violinist. Yvonne Melissa.
Tasos Kofodimos and Yvonne Melissa first met in Athens during the autumn of 2020, when the director Panagiotis Kalivitis and Jenny Vangopoulou approached them to compose music for a dance performance based on Sophocles’ Antigone.The compositions were presented live at the "Roes" theater in November 2022, as a soundrtack of the performance, titled "AnTI." Most of the music was created during the rehearsal period through improvisation, interaction with the
choreography, and influences from cinema, literature, and psychoanalysis.
Initially written for a violin and a lute, they decided to enrich the music with three more instruments (violin, clarinet, double bass) and record it as a complete work independently. The resulting album,
titled "Myrra" after the tree that produces myrrh, consists of 11 instrumental compositions that flow
naturally into one another.
The resulting music would be classified as World music; it features a classical structure and
arrangement based on the natural sounds of the instruments. The addition of the lute, the anatolian
elements/techniques in strings and the gypsy bass lines introduce a traditional-folk Greek element.
The album was released in December 2023 and was first presented at the Goethe Institut in Athens.
It was subsequently showcased in March at the Labyrinth Seminar in Catalunya and during the
summer at various world music festivals in Greece.
"Myrra" is only the beginning of their musical journey. They share their musical roots in rebetiko
and Greek traditional background, with influences from Turkish-Ottoman elements, classical, and
experimental folk.
In this concert, they aim to present a significant portion of their album, as well as new compositions
for upcoming works (both instrumental and vocal). They will also perform compositions that have
influenced them in their work (such as pieces by Dine Doneff, Ross Daly, and Socratis Sinopoulos),
as well as traditional songs arranged for their duet (such as Armenian Suite, Cretan Tabahaniotikos
Skopos, etc.).
“Myrra” – Presentation in Goethe (Draft): https://youtu.be/cQfssNXnQWI
“Fones” – Original composition: T.Kofodimos, Arrangement: Y. Melissa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptnQNL7X4tM
Album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnYLKBm0zgg
Laia Escartin: viola
Yvonni Melissa: violin
Tasos Kofodimos: lute, vocals
