Marika Frantzeskopoulou was one of the greatest vocalists of rebetiko music. She was Born in Istanbul in the end of 19th century and died in Athens, Greece. She has worked with great musicians of the time, such as the violinist Giannis Ogdontakis. She has recorded plenty of songs and improvisations and she also appears in discography as a composer. Marika Frantzeskopoulou handles her voice with great virtuosity and emotion and seems to have great knowledge both on technique and in musicality.
In this workshop we will study two pieces of Marika Frantzeskopoulou and we will enter her world of singing. The workshop applies to vocalists and to everyone who likes rebetiko or modal music and would like to deepen their knowledge about it.
The workshop will be taught by the vocalist Vanessa Kourtesi.
Vanessa Kourtesi is a vocalist born in Athens, Greece. She is based in Rotterdam since 2017. In 2021 she graduated from the world Music Department of Codarts, University of the Arts(Rotterdam), specialized in singing and with Education as a side subject. Her thesis was about vocal improvisation in makam music and had the opportunity to analyse vocal improvisations of the style and also the singing of Marika Frantzeskopoulou. Vanessa is an active performer since 2010 and she has performed with various rebetiko ensembles in Αthens and participated in many projects(The Circle Orchestra, Serenade Ensemble, November quintet, kiriakatikes afigiseis and others). Since 2017 that she is based in Rotterdam, she has been performing, teaching and touring in Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Vanessa loves to sing in different languages and so she sings in Greek, Turkish, Portuguese, English and she is currently preparing her first album with her own compositions that will be released in January 2022.

https://www.schoolofmusic.nl/docent/vanessa-kourtesi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-FvAyVkXq4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwGr1F8o0oM

Samples and videos