Kideria is a musical group whose primary goal is to create a festive atmosphere. Based in Athens—a melting pot of traditions from all over Greece, traditions that live on in each person’s musical experience depending on their ancestral roots— the group performs and sings traditional pieces ranging from Epirus to Thrace and from Macedonia to the Dodecanese. Their guiding principle is respect for and the revival of traditional Greek music and the “ritual” of celebration and dance in the modern era.
In the wider region of Thessaly and Epirus, suffering is referred to as “Kidéria” or “Gidéria.” The word derives from the Turkish “keder,” which means sorrow or grief. A well-known song from Thessaly is “Osa kideria sto dounia,” which lists the “kinteria” that people face: illness, death, and separation (whether due to love or living far from home). The choice, therefore, of this specific word for the band’s name was based on the fact that “kinteria” constitute, if not the primary, then certainly one of the central themes in the lyrics of folk songs.
The members of the band:
Myrto Pontikopoulou-Venieri: violin
Vangelis Pappas: clarinet
Andreas Drakopoulos: percussion
George Christodoulou: lute
