Greek Music & Beyond
Greek Music Ensembles & Live Performances
Beyond teaching and writing, I am an active performer of Greek traditional music. This page presents my current and past live Greek music performances and projects — ensembles and collaborations rooted in the folk, island, and rebetiko traditions of Greece.
Current Projects
Kýmata
Greek folk music · Islands
Kýmata — “Waves” — is a duo founded in Athens in 2019, bringing together Carmelo Siciliano on laouto and Violette Boulanger on violin and voice. I am Italian, Violette is French: two different paths, united by a shared passion for Greece and its music.
Like the waves that give the duo its name, our repertoire flows from island to island across the Aegean and into the wider Hellenic world, moving through rhythms, melodies, and styles shaped by the sea, by travel, and by memory.
Kýmata is available for concerts, festivals, cultural events, and private celebrations in Italy and abroad. For availability and programme, get in touch through the contact page.
LauTarèa
Plucked lutes · Mediterranean · Balkans
A concert and educational project dedicated to the traditional plucked lutes of the Mediterranean — oud, laouto, bouzouki, baglamas, lavta, saz, and mandolin.
Founded by Sergio Pugnalin, LauTarèa explores the shared musical heritage of the Eastern Mediterranean through solo and ensemble performance, workshops, and instrument exhibitions.
I collaborate as duo partner, bringing laouto, oud, and bouzouki to a repertoire that spans Greek, Turkish, Balkan, and Arab traditions.
Past Projects
These are ensembles and collaborations that are no longer active, but which shaped my musical path and remain an important part of my artistic history.
MediTerra
Greek folk music · Aegean · Asia Minor
A quartet based in Athens, active from 2013 to 2019. MediTerra brought together Evdokia Moraiti on voice, Konstantia Douka on voice and oud, Spyros Kontolouris on violin, and Carmelo Siciliano on laouto.
Our repertoire drew from the traditional music of the Aegean islands and the Asia Minor coast: a world of modal melodies, dance rhythms, and songs that carry centuries of cultural layering in every phrase.
Café Aman
Greek folk music · Rebetiko
An ensemble founded by Carmelo Siciliano in Italy in 2009 and active until 2018. Café Aman brought together Vaggelis Merkouris on voice and oud, Sergio Pugnalin on baglamas and guitar, and Carmelo Siciliano on oud, bouzouki, and kanun.
Their repertoire spanned Greek folk music and rebetiko. Café Aman performed at festivals, cultural centres, and theatres across Italy, and was among the first Italian ensembles to present rebetiko as serious concert repertoire rather than background music.
Collaborations
Nektaria Karantzi
Greek folk music
Between 2017 and 2019, Carmelo Siciliano collaborated with Nektaria Karantzi — one of Greece’s most acclaimed voices in Byzantine chant and traditional music, internationally recognized for her deep roots in the Greek oral tradition.
Performing alongside a variable ensemble of musicians, the collaboration centred on Greek traditional music and included concerts and appearances on the television programme To Avli ton Chromaton.
