The Roza Eskenazi Tribute, presented by the Australian Hellenic Council (NSW) and Out of the Blue Music, delivered on its promises of being a monumental extravaganza.
Almost 500 people packed Sydney’s The Factory Theatre last Wednesday to remember a legend. Dedicated to the memory, legacy, and contributions to Hellenic and world music of Roza Eskenazi, it combined music, dance and narrative into a journey through the life and times of this amazing performer.
Reflecting the culturally diverse life of the Sephardi-born Hellene performer, the audience drew together people from a number of communities from across Sydney: Hellenic, Armenian, Assyrian, Jewish, Anglo-Australian and more. There were a number of surprises throughout the evening with a special appearance by the Greek Folk Dancers of NSW and a message from Roy Sher director and producer of My Sweet Canary, an Israeli-Hellenic co-production about the great rembetissa.
“I am so happy that Roza is now being recognised, remembered all over the world, and that her music is now more popular then ever’, stated the Israeli producer. ‘I want to thank the organisers of this wonderful evening – the Australian Hellenic Council New South Wales – for giving me the opportunity to address you tonight,” said Sher.
“The great Greek poet Kavafis, wrote in his poem Ithaca: Ithaca gave you the marvellous journey. Without her you would not have set out. She has nothing left to give you now. So thank you for coming and remembering, and thank you Roza, for the journey. We couldn’t ask for more than that.”
AHC NSW Secretary Mary Giannisis and AHC NSW Vice-President John Petropoulos shared MC duties, while AHC NSW Director of Policy Research, Dr Panayiotis Diamadis, provided the narrative.