NEW YORK – Gifted vocalist Erini spoke with The National Herald about her upcoming performance titled ‘Global Bridges with Erini’ on Wednesday, May 24, 7 PM, at Drom, 84 Avenue A in Manhattan. Beginning from her native island of Crete, Erini transports the audience along on a musical journey across continents through her performance of songs from the Greek, Middle Eastern, Latin American, Iberian, and Sephardic traditions, in seven different languages. Erini will be accompanied by the talented musicians Eylem Basaldi on violin, Eduardo Mercuri on guitar, Sebastian De Urquiza on bass, and Engin Gunaydin on percussion.

Growing up in a musical family on the island of Crete, Erini played the piano and cello and performed with her hometown’s string orchestra and choir. As a descendant of Greek-Anatolian refugees, Erini’s mother introduced her to the Greek-Anatolian musical tradition which ignited Erini’s passion for singing.

She studied Contemporary Vocals at BIMM Institute in England and was cast as the only vocalist of the show ‘Kurios’ by Cirque Du Soleil in 2014, touring for three years and performing a total of 1,074 shows. Erini completed her master’s degree at the Berklee College of Music and has performed at Carnegie Hall. She has collaborated with Grammy Award-winning artists such as Danilo Perez, Luciana Souza, and Terri-Lynne Carrington as well as acclaimed Greek artists such as Vasilis Skoulas, Pantelis Thalassinos, Christos Zotos, and Mario Frangoulis.

Erini is also a professor at Berklee and presents workshops and lectures on Greek traditional music at universities including Harvard, Princeton, and Tufts, among others.

TNH: How long did it take to put together this latest performance, Global Bridges?

Erini: I moved from Boston to New York City in September 2022 and I have wanted to organize my first official concert in New York. I have been working on putting the concert together for the last two months and I am very excited to share my music with old and new friends and have a wonderful time.

TNH: How did you decide what songs to include on the program?

E: This concert will be very personal. Through the selected repertoire and storytelling, I want to share my own personal musical and geographical journey of growth and evolution. I picked songs that represent landmarks from my musical journey that started from my native island of Crete, then my studies of contemporary music in England, following with the period where I immersed myself in Latin music which took me to Colombia and Cuba. An important part of the story that will be highlighted is my three-year tour with Cirque du Soleil. I will then pay tribute to my great-grandparents who were refugees from Asia Minor, with a musical program of Asia Minor standards.

TNH: What can audience members look forward to?

E: I hope that the audience can travel with me and feel all the emotions that are common amongst humans across the world. The audience will see that some melodies are shared amongst multiple cultures and are sung in various different languages. Music has the power to unite people.

TNH: What are you working on next?

E: I am currently working on my debut album of songs from Asia Minor, as well as collaborative performances with string quartets, orchestras, and jazz artists. In the meantime, I am preparing for two concerts that I will perform in Greece in July that are commissioned by the Ministry of Culture of Greece and the Greek National Opera.

More information about Erini is available online: www.erinimusic.com.

Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/erinimusic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/erinimusic