Hellenic Day: An invitation to savour more of Greece

In the hall filled to capacity with Greek nationals, members of the diplomatic corps as well as other invited guests, famous Greek composer, Evanthia Reboustika and her group entertained all present with violin, piano, drums, cymbals and kanonáki (producing sounds similar to xylophone) amongst others.The evening started on a very jolly note, with the Greek […]

In the hall filled to capacity with Greek nationals, members of the diplomatic corps as well as other invited guests, famous Greek composer, Evanthia Reboustika and her group entertained all present with violin, piano, drums, cymbals and kanonáki (producing sounds similar to xylophone) amongst others.
The evening started on a very jolly note, with the Greek envoy to Nigeria, Amb. Alekos Ikonomopoulos, leading the recitation of the Greek national anthem and teasing that he would ask for a refund from the hotel for rendering that service.
The tempo was taken a notch higher with the dramatic entry of the Reboustika and her group.
For many who are fans of Greek composer, keyboardist and pianist, Yanni, it brought to mind the performances of the artiste around the world which they had only seen on television.
“It’s such a superb performance from Reboustika, I can only imagine what it felt like being in the audience when Yanni performed at the Acropolis in Athens,” Mrs. Veronica Achumba said.
Reboustika is one of the most prominent Greek composers of music scores and popular songs. The artiste who is also a violinist has performed at international music festivals around the world, including Belguim, Turkey, Romania, Italy, United States and Egypt amongst others.
For the artiste, it was a pleasure to perform for audiences both in Lagos and in Abuja and especially the appreciation of Nigerians to her music and performances.
The award winning artiste, who is renowned for her sound track in the multiple-award winning Greek movie, ‘A touch of spice,’ performed with four others, Andreas Symvoulopoulos (pianist), Panagiotis Dimitrakopoulos (kanonáki), Angelo Papadatos (electric bass) and Nikos Papavannoussis (percussion).
Mr. John Kennedy Opara, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), described the event as a rich cultural heritage: “I’m really amazed about what I’m seeing. It is always good for countries to showcase their culture and you can see here a representation of the Greek nation and friends of Greece represented here.”
He added that: “Their presence here gives more meaning to what the country stands for.”
On what lessons can be learnt from the outing, Opara said: “It shows that here is need for unity of purpose; there is need for us to believe in ourselves. Culture as I always say, is software of any organisation or country and if we don’t believe in ourselves, there’s no way we can showcase ourselves to others. But if we believe that we are together and culture binds us together then we can show who we are. The culture of a nation does not show who we are but reveals who we are. This is the revelation we are getting here tonight as I believe that many here are getting to know Greece more and more from the performances here.”
The five-man group, which had earlier performed for a Lagos audience, featured famous Greek composer, Evanthia Reboustika.
The night which was also an opportunity to promote some aspects of Greek culture in Nigeria gave guests the chance to have a taste of the delightful Greek gastronomy.  
Describing the evening, Ms. Sebari Diette-Spiff said: “The music, the food, the ambience was an open invitation to savour more from the Greek Islands. It was indeed an enjoyable evening.”
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, was founded on February 3, 1830.