Michael Malis (piano), Constantine Novotny (baritone), and Ellie Falaris Ganelin (flute)

A look at displacement and self-discovery through the eyes of artists in the diaspora. Hellenic-American artists Michael Malis, Constantine Novotny, and Ellie Falaris Ganelin explore these concepts through the convergence of music and poetry. The cornerstone of the program is Malis’s original song cycle, "Another Shore, Another Country," set to the poetry of C.P. Cavafy, commissioned by ProMusica Detroit and premiered in February 2024. Cavafy, who lived most of his life in Alexandria, Egypt, is the quintessential voice of the Greek diaspora and a prominent figure among 20th-century poets.

Through Ganelin’s and Malis’s own arrangements, the trio performs songs of love and longing by Greek idols Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjiadikis. These masterful colleagues born the same year (1925) each brought a new vision and prominence to Hellenic music through the radio in their homeland and in film worldwide. Rounding out the program is Malis’s solo piano work, Hold Tightly Your Vision of How Things Could Be, exploring his precarious sense of belonging between two worlds as the descendant of Greek immigrants living in America.