24-03-23 West Den Haag: VASILARAPS (GR) - live concert

The Greek duo 'Vasilaraps’ consists of classical/contemporary guitarist Themis Vasiliou and jazz/avant-garde guitarist Giannis Arapis, both extremely skilled musicians constantly exploring the possibilities and potential of their instrument and the music it can produce. Their shared interest in combining many different techniques and musical styles to create original and unique music has led them to the deep exploration of the work of 'Vasilaraps'. Vasiliou and Arapis claim Vasilaraps was a Greek composer of the twentieth century who created a peculiar fusion of guitar music based on his interest in Greek Rembetiko music, contemporary Russian composition, and avant-garde experimentation. Not much is known of him, other than that he started playing the guitar inspired by the Rebetiko scene of Athens that he became a part of in 1920, and that his musical interest led him to study composition in Moscow starting from 1935. Little else is known of his biography, though fortunately, his notated music and a few recordings were recently discovered, from which Vasiliou and Arapis bring this obscure composer back to life.