Αnatoliama Ensemble is named after “Anatolia”, also known as Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). It specialises in the rich musical tradition of the Greek refuges of Anatolia while aiming to present this musical culture at concert halls and academic institutions around the world.

The ensemble consists of four international musicians and educators; Vasilis Kostas (Greece), Burcu Güleç (Turkey), Panos Aivazidis (Greece) and George Lernis (Cyprus), all of whom are graduates of the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Their story began in 2016 in Boston, where the ensemble members met through the Berklee community, with a common love and passion for systematically studying Greek traditional music in depth. Since then they have built an audience amongst Greek and non-Greek communities around the U.S. and the world.

The outcome of all their concerts, lectures and educational initiatives during the last six years led to the recording of their debut album. In this initiative they aim to creatively explore and document the rich repertoire of the Asia Minor musical tradition, while using it as a source of inspiration in order to create their own compositions.

Having had collaborations with mentors and renowned artists of Greek and contemporary music such as Petroloukas Halkias, John Patitucci and Danilo Perez, the ensemble members aim to bring these experiences into the music of this album, which they try to recreate in real time.