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CAROL FREEMANCarol Freeman is well-known as a performer, researcher, and teacher of a variety of Greek, Balkan and Judaic vocal traditions. She has performed extensively at festivals, museums, universities, concert halls, and music clubs throughout the United States and Canada since 1970 as vocalist for a number of acclaimed musical groups, including The Smyrneiki Kompania, and The Sevda Balkan Music Ensemble, and as a solo interpreter of traditional song. Her extensive and unusual repertoire has been learned from comprehensive fieldwork done with traditional singers both here and abroad, and from studying vintage recordings. An expert teacher, Carol has conducted ongoing singing classes in New York for close to thirty years, given specialized vocal workshops and lectures at numerous folklore and music camps, conferences, and universities, and has worked with scores of Greek and Balkan music and dance performance groups, choirs, and theater ensembles throughout North America. She has also taught classes in Greek singing, vocal technique, and other types of Balkan singing at the prestigious EEFC Balkan Music and Dance Workshops since their inception in 1977. GREEK VOCAL INSTRUCTION - Carol Freeman Classes in Greek singing are designed to accomplish primary goals. The
first is to teach students how to listen to. hear, learn, and reproduce
traditional Greek demotika (folk) and/or Rebetika/Smyrneika/Politika
(urban) songs. The second is to help students learn to sing these songs
with increased comfort, clarity, and control, in a manner that is
absolutely authentic both to the original style of the song and the
spirit of the individual singer. Beginning students learn how to find, control, and manipulate their
natural voices for the challenging vocal music of the Greek country side
or urban centers. They learn how to sing without dependence on air
support, so that they need not ever worry about breath control again.
Singers learn how to remediate some of the difficulties with sound
quality, stamina, breathing, comfort, fluidity, intonation, or
embellishment that may have crept into their singing over the years.
They are taught simple tricks for articulating perfect ornaments, for
hitting high or low notes without having to push or without falling
short of the note, and for shaping a song by understanding where to and
where not to place emphasis. Singers learn how to find the clearest and
strongest tone with the least amount of effort, which allows them to
sing for hours on end without tiring. Advanced instruction is offered to more experienced singers who are
already comfortable in their vocal placement but who are interested in
fine-tuning their vocal technique, increasing their ability to perform
challenging repertoire with complex ornamentation and mictotonal scales,
and learning how to effectively communicate a song with superb artistry
and depth of expression. SMYRNEIKA, POLITIKA, and REBETIKA of the 1920’s and ‘30’s Well known for thirty years as a performer, researcher, and teacher of a
variety of Balkan and Judaic vocal traditions, Carol Freeman began her
love affair with Smyrneika in the late 1970’s. Having been introduced
to the singing of such greats as Roza Eskenazi, Rita Abatzi, and Andonis
Diamandidis (Dalgas) through cassette recordings given to her by
friends, she was immediately captured by the haunting melodies and vocal
inflections of these artists, and began to seek out recordings by these
and other singers on trips to Greece in 1980 and 1981. At home in New
York, Carol expanded her knowledge of old Smyrneika recordings through
the generosity of American collectors such as Joe Kaloyanides Graziosi,
Martin Schwartz, and Dino Pappas. She studied the Greek language and
spent countless hours listening to these precious vintage recordings,
until the melodies, with their complex scales and elaborate
embellishments, and the passionate stories of longing and pain, and
indeed, even the singers themselves, lived within her body. She also
made trips to nursing homes, where a few of the last great singers of
the Smyrna style were still living, and had the opportunity to listen to
and even sing with these individuals. In 1986 Carol met other musicians with a similar interest in this music,
and founded The Smyrneiki Kompania, an ensemble dedicated to the
preservation and promotion of this music as it was performed in the
1920’s and ’30’s. Appearing at music festivals, arts centers, and
concert halls, as well as local Greek cafes and nightspots, The
Smyrneiki Kompania has brought the exquisite music of the Kafe Aman to
an expanded audience of both Greek and non-Greek Americans, creating a
devoted following of enthusiastic listeners wherever they have appeared. With hauntingly beautiful melodies, intricate ornamentation, and soulful
improvisation, the Smyrneïki Kompania artfully recreates the exquisite
music of the 1930’s urban Greek Cafe Aman. During the early 1920’s well over a million Greek refugees from Asia
Minor flooded the urban centers of Greece bringing with them a highly
sophisticated and expressive form of vocal and instrumental music. This
musical genre, which in time incorporated elements of music of mainland
Greece as well, became known as Smyrneïka (music of Smyrna) and Politika
(music of Constantinopolis.) The Asia Minor musicians soon dominated the
musical nightlife of Athens and other towns, and virtuoso singers such
as Andonios Dhiamandidhis (Dalgas), Roza Eskenazi, and Rita Abatzi,
along with many fine instrumentalists, were appearing nightly in
taverna-like clubs called Cafe Amans. The Smyrneïki Kompania recaptures the essence of the Cafe Aman in
performances that sparkle with their unique blend of authenticity,
warmth, musical virtuosity. Their songs, telling passionate tales of
love and despair, range from the delicate and sensual dance tunes of
Asia Minor to the powerful and poignant zeibekika of the Rebetik
underworld, from the intricately embellished, melismatic vocal
improvisation, the amane, to the well-known folk melodies of the Greek
countryside. The Smyrneïki Kompania features vocalist Carol Freeman accompanied by
Ismail Butera - accordion, Haig Manoukian - outi, Michael Hess -
kanonaki and violin, Seido Salifoski - toumbeleki, and other fine
instrumentalists. Captivating listeners wherever they appear, the Smyrneïki Kompania
enchantingly brings to life this special moment in Greek musical history
for the audiences of today. This ensemble presents the songs of Greek Thrace in full array,
performing exuberant dance songs of the Western Thrace accompanied by
traditional instruments such as gaida, floyhera, or laouto and modern
instruments such as accordion, klarino, and tumbeleki, melismatic
laments of the East accompanied by violi, kanonaki, and outi, and the
intricately ornamented epic ballads of the Greek table. 1973 - present The American Museum of Natural History Leonhardt People’s Center Plus hundreds of Music Coffehouses and Performing Arts Centers,
Libraries, Schools, Houses of Worship, Community Centers, and Street
Fairs and Festivals, as well as performances on radio and television. |