The program for the 2012 Brunswick Music Festival has been announced and it delivers in every way a tour of the world’s music style, including Greece. Established and emerging artists will perform throughout the festival between 14 and 25 March. The festival will be kicked off by the Sydney Road Street Party on the Saturday 4 March, and then the music program beings on Wednesday 14 March.

Fotis Vergopoulos Band with Polyxeni will deliver the sounds of Greek roots music, and rembetika on Sunday 18 March. Fotis Vergopoulos was born in Melbourne but grew up in the Greek town of Koroni. He developed a passion for Greek roots music with the encouragement of his father Niko who had been a member of the legendary Greek Australian band Apodimi Compania.

Fotis is a virtuoso on the six-string bouzouki and has a huge repertoire from the Rebetika styles that developed in the 1920’s and 30’s. He has been playing regularly in Athens this northern winter with some of the best current performers of old style rebetika including Marios Papadeas and Dimitris Mitarakis. Fotis will be returning from Greece to perform at the Brunswick Music Festival with regular collaborators accordion ace George Butrumlis, Con Kalamaras on baglamas and guitarist Wayne Simmons.

They will be joined by two other fine Melbourne musicians from the new band Polyxeni featuring vocalist Jenny Theologidis and Achilles Yiangoulli on bouzouki and vocals. All six musicians are friends who share a passion for exploring acoustic Greek music and can be regularly heard playing together in various combinations in taverns around Melbourne.

For more information and to book visit brunswickmusicfestival.com.au or call the booking office on (03) 9388 1460.