TARPON SPRINGS, FL – Greek music generated in the U.S. continues to have an enduring influence on the musical culture of Greece and other diaspora communities.  Despite a substantial artistic legacy, Greek Music in America is the only comprehensive book devoted to the topic. It provides a singular platform for understanding the scope, practice, and development of Greek music in America through essays and profiles written by principal scholars in the field. The long-overdue study samples all the genres, sounds, and contributions of Greek music in the diaspora. It received the 2019 prize for best edited volume from the Modern Greek Studies Association.

Greece developed a rich variety of traditional, popular, and art music that diasporic Greeks brought with them to America. In Greek-American communities, music was and continues to be an essential component of most social activities. Music links the past to the present, the distant to the near, and bonds the community with an embrace of memories and narrative. From 1896 to 1942, more than a thousand Greek records in many genres were made in the United States, and thousands more have appeared since then. They encompass not only Greek traditional music from all regions, but also emerging urban genres, stylistic changes, and new songs of social commentary. 

Greek Music in America includes essays on all of these topics as well as history and genre, places and venues, the recording business, and profiles of individual musicians. This book is required reading for anyone who cares about Greek music in America. 

Since the publication of the book, scholars, performers and fans in Greece have expressed substantial interest in a Greek language version. A publisher in Athens would like to publish the Greek language version by the beginning of 2022, but publishers typically do not cover translation costs.

Unfortunately, given the current economic situation in Greece, there are no funds available from Greece to hire an experienced translator with expertise in music- which would cost about $9,000. Since income from book sales rarely exceeds publication expenses, this is primarily a project to educate about the role of Greek-Americans in the history and development of Greek music.   

Florida Cultural Resources, Inc. is seeking funding from interested individuals or organizations to cover translation costs for the book. If you are interested in assisting in this endeavor, or can suggest funding sources, please contact the editor, Dr. Tina Bucuvalas via email: [email protected]. 

Greek Music in America includes essays by Tina Bucuvalas, Anna Caraveli, Aydin Chaloupka, Sotirios (Sam) Chianis, Frank Desby, Stavros K. Frangos, Stathis Gauntlett, Joseph G. Graziosi, Gail Holst-Warhaft, Michael G. Kaloyanides, Panayotis League, Roderick Conway Morris, Nick Pappas, Meletios Pouliopoulos, Anthony Shay, David Soffa, Dick Spottswood, Jim Stoynoff, and Anna Lomax Wood.

Bucuvalas is the director of Florida Cultural Resources, Inc. Formerly, she served as state folklorist and director of the Florida Folklife Program/Florida Department of State, and as curator of art and historical resources with the City of Tarpon Springs. Her books include Just Above the Water: Florida Folk Art; South Florida Folklife; The Florida Folklife Reader; and Greeks in Tarpon Springs.