Mia Anasa
The Greek music group Mia Anasa builds a bridge from the past to the present by performing many of the old Rebetiko songs and at the same time their own original compositions. The group attempts to reach a wide audience of Greek music fans and aficionados as well as neophytes; they use storytelling, translations and modern media to engage the audience and draw them into the Greek culture and music. Mia Anasa is,
- Makis Emmanouilidis, Guitar, Baglama, Tzoura and Vocals
- Yanni Mitaras, Bouzouki, Guitar and Tzoura
- George Galanakis, Guitar and Vocals
- Maria Laini, Vocals
Makis Emmanouilidis
Makis made his debut in the Boston music scene in 1997 as one of the founding members of the group JOURNEY TO ITHACA and performed in many venues such as The Tsai Performance Center the Kresge Auditorium of MIT, the Maliotis Cultural Center and many other venues around New England. He writes verses and poetry and has composed a number of original songs which were included in the two CDs produced by Journey To Ithaca, “A Stroll Through Our Dreams” and “A Taste Of Chocolate”. “Secret Life” is his latest work which includes verses and melodies inspired by the novels of Angelos Terzakis, a notable Greek writer.
Recently, Makis founded the group Mia Anasa in order to perform many of his new original songs and to build bridges with a wider audience to include friends of Greek music and others that may not be as familiar yet are curious to share in the richness of the Greek culture.
Recently, Makis founded the group Mia Anasa in order to perform many of his new original songs and to build bridges with a wider audience to include friends of Greek music and others that may not be as familiar yet are curious to share in the richness of the Greek culture.
Yanni Mitaras
Yanni started playing bouzouki at the age of 14 and took formal lessons from Kosta Gourgoumi and from the renown bouzouki player Harry Lemonopoulos. He was a founding member of the Greek bands Asteria and Glentzedes. While living in Colorado, Yanni played at the National Folk Festival and at a musical with choreographer Sunny Newman. Back in Massachusetts he started the Skorpios Orchestra and worked as a performer at the Averof Restaurant for 12 years. During the same period he toured with George Abdo, a famous Arab singer. For the last 12 years Yanni has performed with Rebetoparea and is a big fan of the rebetiko music genre. He has collaborated with Makis Emmanouilidis for the last 15 years on a number of projects and is a founding member of Mia Anasa.
George Galanakis
George was born in Heraklion, Crete and started music lessons at a young age learning the traditional Cretan instrument of lyra. A few years later he started playing the electric guitar and joined several local bands. George continued his studies in music at the Middlesex University of London and received a degree at jazz performance. In 2013 he received a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music. Since his arrival in Boston he has been collaborating with many musicians and participating in various projects of different music genres.
Maria Laini
Maria discovered her love of singing at a young age. This love led her to pursue a Bachelor of Music in Voice at the Boston Conservatory. After completing her studies Maria moved to Greece for several years where she had the opportunity to apply her skills while exploring the music she had grown up listening to. Maria has been singing Greek music ever since and performed with several local groups including OINOS and most recently with Mia Anasa.