THE SCHOOL OF TRADITIONAL AND BYZANTINE MUSIC “EN CHORDAIS” has been set up in 1993, with the aim of spreading and studying Greek traditional music, as well as researching and linking common features to ancient and modern musical forms in the East Mediterranean.

From the beginning, we were convinced that the educational task cannot bear fruits in a sterile environment. It must be a basic component of the student‘s daily life. Experience and experimental enrichment must be the base of cognitive perception and didactic practice.

More concretely, contacts with professional musicians, access to both acoustic and written material, the establishment of a music-oriented meeting forum in the broader region of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans are prerequisites, so that this music does not survive simply as a style limited to museum or folklore, but as a living practice.

In our school, there are sections for learning traditional instruments of popular and classical musical tradition (luth, sazi, gaida, clarinet, ney … ), as well as of Byzantine music, popular chant and Rebetiko.

The courses on instruments and the vocal sections are combined with mandatory courses with options in Byzantine music, popular chant, history of Greek music, and theory of the traditional music in the Near- and Middle East.

In this way, independently of the instrument or the vocal orientation he has chosen, the beginner has the possibility to acquire an overall knowledge of the Hellenic musical heritage.

Our teachers are renowned masters, with a great experience not only in the educational field, but also in practice due to their participation in orchestras and public events and recordings.

People of all ages are accepted in our school, with the only prerequisite being their enthusiasm and motivation for learning traditional music.

The school “En Chordais” does not only aim to be an assiduous and permanent carrier of musical education, but as far as possible to shape the most overall musical awareness in the field of traditional music.

Considering that the shaping of an overall musical awareness must begin in the early years, “En Chordais” proposed special sections for children aged between 5 and 12 years old.

Game, dance, painting, stories are some of the elements through which the teachers try to teach the children popular chants, traditional instruments and the hymns of our church music.

The didactic subjects include elements of Byzantine and European theory, popular chant, choral music and the constitution of small orchestras. Learning rhythm, which is an absolute necessity, can be accomplished by following the course on percussion instruments.