People of the Wind

Saxophonists Fausto Sierakowski (France) and James Wylie (New Zealand), together with percussionist Alexandros Rizopoulos (Greece), founded the trio People of the Wind in Thessaloniki in 2016 to interpret the musical traditions of the Balkans and the Middle East on their primary instrument, the saxophone. Adapting Eastern musical languages to a Western instrument such as the saxophone is the fruit of their passion for these sound worlds. Fascinated by this music and its traditional societies, the musicians pose a question through their arrangements: what role does music play in our respective cultures? With an ever-evolving repertoire, this concert focuses on music inspired by the traditional duo of daouli (percussion) and zurna (conical oboe) — an instrumentation found in ceremonial contexts from Greece to Iran. This repertoire aims not only to present arrangements of traditional pieces, but also to reinterpret other traditional melodies and original compositions with this instrumentation, in the hope of confronting, enriching, and renewing their own musical heritage.

James Wylie — saxophone

James Wylie grew up in Wellington and studied jazz saxophone at the New England Conservatory in Boston until 2010, before moving to Berlin in 2011. He has performed with, among others, Anthony Coleman, Gunther Schuller, Hayden Chisholm, Max Andrzejewski, Thimios Atzakas, Antonis Anissegos, Michalis Siganidis, Elias Stemeseder, Sam Rivers, Wayne Shorter, Jonathan Crayford, Matthias Bauer, Jorrit Dijkstra, Anna Webber, Bob Moses, and Cecil McBee, and has contributed to several CD recordings. Since 2012 he has lived in Thessaloniki, where he studies the music of Greece, Iran, Turkey, and the Middle East; he also plays lyra and the Iranian kamancheh. With the Ziad Rajab Trio, he performed at the Moers Festival and the Salzburg Jazz Festival in 2015. In Rome, he performed at the Errichetta Festival in 2016 with his own ensemble, Lost Cities, for which he composes the music.

Fausto Sierakowski — saxophone

Fausto Sierakowski was born in Paris, grew up in Rome, and studied Contemporary Improvisation at the New England Conservatory from 2010, before moving to Berlin in 2014. He has performed with, among others, Matt Moran, Anthony Coleman, Joe Morris, Tom Rainey, Satoshi Takeishi, Hayden Chisholm, and Axel Dörner, and has contributed to several studio recordings. Since 2016 he has studied classical Ottoman music with Evgenios Voulgaris in Greece. He also remains a co-organizer of the Errichetta Festival in Rome.

Alexandros Rizopoulos — percussion

Alexandros Rizopoulos (b. 1982, Ioannina, Greece) is a Greek drummer and percussionist. He studied with Zohar Fresco, Nikos Vargiamidis, Elias Papadopoulos, and Sokratis Sinopoulos at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki. Alongside his academic training, he has studied and performed with renowned families of traditional musicians from across Greece. With his own projects — including Motel Selenik, Motivasyon, Alenti Trio, Zurlia Trio, Marakaibo, and Lizeta Kalimeri — he has performed in Turkey, Spain, Serbia, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Brazil, and at Greece's most important concert venues.

Evi Filippou — percussion

Evi Filippou (GR, b. 1993) started taking percussion lessons at the age of seven. In 2009 she gave her first recitals in Athens with a scholarship from the Friends of Music. Two years later, she graduated with a first prize and moved to Berlin to begin her Bachelor's studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler. She has performed with, among others, the Bolshoi Ballet Orchestra, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of Konzerthaus Berlin. Evi is a founding member of Opera Lab Berlin, an independent ensemble specializing in music theater, with which she premiered a piece by Salvatore Sciarrino at the Staatsoper Berlin. In 2015 she played a solo concert in the series "Welcome Young Artists!" in Athens. Together with saxophonist Hayden Chisholm, she founded a duo playing both contemporary and original compositions; they perform around the world and released their duo album "Blowslap." Evi also plays in many pop, jazz, and theater projects.