About Carmelo Siciliano

I am Carmelo Siciliano — Greek music specialist, author and educator, born in Catania, Sicily, in 1980. For over thirty years I have been studying, performing, teaching and writing about Greek music and the musical traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2003 I graduated with honors in classical guitar, and since then I devoted my life entirely to the music, instruments and traditions of Greece.

I have studied with some of the most distinguished Greek musicians, including Christos Tsiamoulis, Christos Zotos, Nikos Ikonomidis, Kyriakos Gkouventas, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Periklis Papapetropoulos and many others. I have also attended numerous courses at the Labyrinth Musical Workshop in Crete, the Center for Research and Promotion of Greek Music Tradition “Simon Karas”, and the Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments “Fivos Anogianakis” in Athens. For a decade I lived between Sicily and Greece.

I am the author of several books on Greek music, the most significant of which is The Theory of Rebetiko — the first comprehensive English-language guide to the modal system of rebetiko. I have performed in over fifteen countries, collaborated with Italian, Greek and international artists, and have appeared as a guest on Greek television and radio broadcasts more than once.

In 2010 I was awarded the Insignia de oro musical (Gold Musical Insignia) by the Curso de Temas Sevillanos in Seville, Spain — a UNESCO-recognised institution — for my ongoing work in studying, researching and promoting Greek music. In 2016 I founded Filellenia — Centre for the Study, Documentation and Education on Greek Music, Dance and Traditions, of which I remain president. Today I teach Greek instruments and the modal and rhythmic theory of Greek music online, in four languages. I give talks and workshops for cultural institutions and organizations, and I continue to write — always with the same goal: to make people fall in love with Greece and its extraordinary musical culture.