Kommeno

In 2008 the percussionist Günter Baby Sommer attended a concert in the Greek village of Kommeno. While he was there, his hosts told him that the village of 600 inhabitants had been the site of a massacre during World War II. Soldiers of the German army executed over three hundred civilians in August 1943. The stories, told by the survivors of the massacre, served as the basis of Sommers music project “Kommeno”. Together with Greek musicians, he recorded a CD of newly arranged songs which were sung in the village at that time in history. The CD is accompanied by a trilingual book of annotated original documents pertaining to the massacre in Kommeno and pointing to gaps in the official history which researchers have not yet adequately studied. The musicians from Greece, Germany and other countries took their programme on tour with performances at numerous European venues.

Artistic director: Günter Baby Sommer
Artists: Floros Floridis (GR), Savina Yannatou (GR), Eugenios Voulgaris (GR), Spilios Kastanis (GR)

Venues and schedule:
Kommeno marketplace (GR), 16 Aug. 2012
Jazzfest Berlin, 2 Nov. 2012
Rote Fabrik, Zürich, 4 Nov. 2012
Jazzclub Porgy & Bess, Wien, 5 Nov. 2012