It’s open, it’s tolerant, it withstands innovation, experimentation and challenges. There’s no artist who at some point didn’t long to be in Berlin, as this city’s myth never ceases to feed the imagination of those with a creative mandate in life.
In recent years Berlin has become home for a community of Greek designers and that’s been steadily growing in numbers due to the Greek financial crisis.
Panos Voulgaris
Musician, author
Text: Evi Karkiti
The economic crisis led him to leave Greece in the year 2012 and he chose Berlin since his sister already lived there. Panos Voulgaris is a composer and music teacher, with lengthy studies in music theory. He loves jazz and literature and finds Berlin to be a city full of unexpectancies and possibilities.
«No matter what artistic project someone comes up with, he can make it happen in Berlin; and not only can one make it happen, he can find lots of others who want to do something similar.»
So far, Berlin has provided Voulgaris with some of the best of those “others” for him to form the jazz band Fusak, a trio at first, which then evolved into a quartet. The band has performed numerous gigs and has already built a steady fan base. Fusak has also assembled a group of five Greek musicians who play traditional music from Greece, Istanbul and Smyrne and perform before a truly international audience, that of Berlin.
Voulgaris hasn’t stopped working as a music teacher and he is currently taking part in a music training program aimed at children and adults who by way of circumstance have never even held a musical instrument in their hands.
As an author, Panos Voulgaris has published the novel “To Aerostato” which deals with the story of eight people who are stranded on a hot air balloon as it floats unpiloted in the wind. He currently has a second book in the works, this one being a series of short stories.
Born in Sparta, he doesn’t hide how much he misses Greece, the sun, his friends, the familiar places, all those small things that hold immense significance in our lives. Still, returning to his homeland is not part of his immediate plans. Besides, Berlin, in spite of the shortcomings it may possess as a city, does provide one with the chance to discover new paths and meet new people, bringing to life even the wildest ideas one can come up with.
Recently, his second book “The Upside Down Man” was published by “Lemvos” with the element of paradox invading everyday life and humor becoming a gateway for standing in front of the strange things of life.
contact
spartapan@yahoo.gr
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