What happens when musicians from various countries around the Mediterranean Sea take each other on journeys in through their respective centuries-old musical traditions? The Dutch Flamenco Biennial and the Cello Biennial Amsterdam will be bringing together three phenomenal musicians from the Mediterranean. Sicilian cellist Giovanni Sollima joins up with Cretan lyra player Stelios Petrakis and Spanish flamenco guitarist Alfredo Lagos for an adventurous musical journey.

This amazing trio will be accompanied by the classical strings of the acclaimed Dutch Ragazze Quartet and the rhythms of Greek & Cretan folk dancer Thanasis Mavrakostas and Spanish feet from Spanish classical (flamenco) dancer Valeriano Paños. Agustin Diassera unites their worlds with his subtle percussion.

What do the Mediterranean countries all have in common? For starters, the sea, harbours, merchant ships, centuries-old folk melodies, virtuosity and musicality. But they’re all different! Apollo and Dionysus unite in an unique Greek-Italian-Spanish tour de force through the Mediterranean where the Spanish guitar, classical cello meet the ‘lyra’ – a pear-shaped Cretan ‘knee fiddle’ that evolved from the classical Byzantine lyra. Southern strings stir up in pulsing rhythms, their melodies tell us timeless musical stories.

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This concert is organised in collaboration with Cello Biënnale Amsterdam