ATHENS – Rebetiko is a traditional form of music with a storied past in Greece, but what is its future? REDU (Rebetiko Educational Online Platform) is the first online educational platform for this influential style of Greek urban folk music, the vision of Dimitris Mistakidis, a folk guitar virtuoso and expert in the Rebetiko repertoire, realized with support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

REDU helps share technical and theoretical knowledge about playing rebetiko and is designed for people who do not have access to in-person teaching. The platform includes tools such as interactive sheet music, historical information, morphological analyses, and educational videos. Now in the first phase of its rollout, REDU contains educational material related to the work of Rebetiko composer and guitarist Kostas Skarvelis. In addition to its educational mission, the platform also exists for all those who simply want to enjoy reinterpretations of songs recorded by top contemporary musicians and singers.

SNF has also provided past support to a school on Syros that teaches the traditional instruments of Rebetiko and held an SNF Dialogues event on the island about the genre, which inspired a curated playlist of rebetiko essentials. With support from SNF, one of the richest collections of rebetiko music, documents, images, and instruments was also digitized and made available online through the Kounadis Archive Virtual Museum, which is now home to 2,996 78 RPM recordings, 52 interviews, 2,222 musical scores, and more.

Source: SNF