For the fourth year, a vocal workshop about Rebetiko in Art Base. We are going to learn from the greater vocalists and composers of Rebetiko. We will experience the diversity and richness of the style and we will investigate the vocal lines, ornamentation, style and technique as developed in each song.

We will discuss and analyze the style of each composer and singer, talk about the theoretical background in Greek modal music and understand the principles of melodic improvisation in this musical style. In the end of each workshop the students will be able to understand musical characteristics of each song, stylistic patterns of the vocal lines as well as technical information.

During the year, we will have the chance to experience group singing and explore voice in relation to our body as well.

The workshop includes

•        warm up
•         technical vocal exercises
•         vocal group practice
•        technical and performance guidance
•        repertoire
•        theoretical/technical/stylistic information related to the repertoire

Each student will also receive individual advice about technique and interpretation during the lesson.

About Vanessa:

Vanessa Kourtesi  is a musician, vocalist, composer, and vocal educator based in Rotterdam. Born and raised in Athens, one of her first musical influences is Rebetiko and Greek traditional music. She has performed in many Athenian music scenes and collaborated with great musicians of the genre. She focuses on the music of Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean, exploring compositional, lyrical, and vocal ways to express herself.  As a songwriter she uses narrative, poetry, and engages Greek modal music with jazz and experimental/improvised music, inspired by her experiences and imagination.
In 2022, she released her first EP titled "Spending time with Esther," composed and produced by herself. Currently, she is working on her next personal album, which will be realized in 2025. Beyond her personal projects, Vanessa is a vocalist and composer in various formations and ensembles such as "Merem," (founding member), "The Circle Orchestra" (founding member) and others. She also participates in music groups that focus on the musical traditions of Greece and urban folk and improvised/experimental music performing in venues and festivals around Greece, Turkey, France, Belgium and the Netherlands (North Sea Jazz festival, Ano Polis world music festival, Athens Festival, Music Village festival and others).
She teaches individually and conducts group seminars about voice, performance and rebetiko in Greece, France, Belgium, and she is a visitor teacher in Modern music School in Frankfurt, Germany.
She is a graduate of the Codarts-University of the Arts in Rotterdam and a postgraduate student at the Voice Study Center of the University of Wales. Her research and educational interests revolve around performance anxiety in singing.

Saturday: 65E
Sunday: 45E
Saturday and Sunday in one weekend: 100E

Payment in cash please.

Minimum participation: 5 pp

Registration at the latest one week before, so we can know we have enough participants and book the necessary tickets.

Art Base, Sunday 11/5/25 11-14h,
29 rue des Sables Zandstraat, 1000 Bruxelles. For reservations & more info to www.art-base.be and send to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it