Music from Greece and Turkey: Voice, Rhythm & Accompaniment with Our Instrument
Description
This workshop is intended for musicians who play the kanun or another instrument and are interested in exploring Greek and Turkish musical styles through their instrument and voice.
Special emphasis will be placed on self-accompaniment: we will work with songs and instrumental pieces, with the goal of enabling each participant to support their own voice or melody with their instrument and to experiment with different roles within the ensemble. We will focus less on the technical execution of the instrument and more on how we can feel and support the music through rhythm, phrasing, and our role within the ensemble.
Asineth Fotini Kokkala
Asineth Fotini Kokkala was born in Athens in 1989. She graduated from the Experimental Music Junior High and High School of Pallini (2006) and from the Department of Folk and Traditional Music at the Technological Educational Institute of Epirus (2013). She has attended seminars at “Labyrinth” with Ömer Erdoğdular, Göksel Baktagir, Halil Karaduman, Evgenios Voulgaris, Haris Lambrakis, Erkan Oğur, Giorgos Xylouris, Uğur Işık, Ross Daly, Derya Türkan, and Socrates Sinopoulos. Since 2010, she has been living in Istanbul, where she initially settled as an Erasmus student at Yıldız Technical University. The main instruments she plays are the kanun and the cello. She holds a master’s degree in Turkish Music from the State Conservatory of Kocaeli University in Nicomedia (2026). She is a member of the Sinafi Trio (since 2014), NikoTeini (since 2020), and Apo Tzaki (since 2026). She is primarily active in Turkey, performing in concerts and recording with musicians from diverse musical genres and scenes, such as Ara Dinkjian, Melike Şahin, Kardeş Türküler, Sanaa Moussa, Evgenios Voulgaris, Lamia Yared, Nikos Andrikos, Solon Lekkas, Apostolos Sideris, Selin Yücesoy, Rewşan, Gazapizm, and others. In 2017, he founded the Istos Choir (istos korosu) of the eponymous Greek-language publishing house in Istanbul. The choir consists mainly of Turkish-speaking amateur singers from across Turkey’s ethnic spectrum (Turks, Alevis, Kurds, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, Levantines) and has developed a Greek-language repertoire, giving concerts and participating in festivals in Greece and Turkey. Teaching: Since 2012, she has been teaching music at the Zografio High School as an external collaborator. With the Sinafi Trio, she has conducted workshops in Cyprus (2018–2019) and at the Music Village (2018). During the pandemic, beginning in 2020, she taught online seminars on Greek musical styles for the kanun on the “Istos” and “Labyrinth Online” platforms. She has also taught at Caravan workshops (Haifa–Weimar, 2023), in Adelaide (Australia, 2024), in Gelsenkirchen (Germany, 2024), in Vatousa (Lesbos, 2025), and at the Music Jackies (Ikaria, 2026). Discography (featured on): • Nikos Andrikos, *Motivasyon* (2014), *Sedef* (Z Müzik, 2017), *Amygdalia* (Kalan, 2023) • Fulya Özlem and Akustik Kabare, *Manidar Boşluk* (Z Müzik, 2018)• Sinafi Trio, İho (Z Müzik, 2019)• Melike Şahin, Kara Orman (2019) • Igorrr, Spirituality and Distortion (Metal Blade Records, 2020) • Apostolos Sideris, Hane (2021) • Medz Bazaar, Insanistan (2022) • Zaharyas – 18th-Century Compositions (2022)• Aslı Aker, Where You See Two Cypress Trees (2023)• Hanende Zaharia of Nichori (2023) • Giorgos Kounatidis, Memory (2024)• Electrohafız, Style is Prison (2024) • Çağlar Fidan, Intra Muros İstanbul (2024)• Selin Yücesoy, There Is a Well in Isfahan (2025)• Çağlar Fidan, Ezgi Köker & NikoTeini, Ada, Island (2025)