The Kassian Studies Company

The Kassian Studies Company (KSC) is a non for profit cultural organization involved with the study, the preservation, and publishing of the folk culture of Kassos with peculiar characteristics. Those characteristics are influenced not only by the island of Kassos but also by the rest of the Dodecanese Islands as well as the Greek Aegean Archipelago as well. Thus, the scope of the organization's activities ranges from the the historic island of Kassos to the Aegean Sea Islands and even the whole country of Greece.

Over the last few years, KSC has worked on several projects:

• International symposia on Lyra (the traditional Kassian Instrument) and other bow-based instruments as well (like the Lyra from the Greek Macedonia, Thrace, Pontos, or Instambul). The symposia now take place every two years in Kassos ( 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997 ). Similar events have also been presented in Athens and other places outside of Kassos.
• Several historical books were reissued using photo-reproduction techiques.
• Two double length records on the music of Kassos and Greece in general were produced:
  • Kassos: Themes of Lyra, (Three Generations of Folk Musicians) with the music of the Perselis' family.
  • The Lyras of Greece: live recording from the first symposium on 1992.
  Both records will be made available for purchasing from the Internet.

In addition to those activities we are planning to continue to publish in print and on the Internet books and essays on the traditions of Kassos, the Dodecanese, and the other Aegean Islands. Finally, we are actively working towards an international center for Lyra and other bow based folk instruments.


Manolis Mavroleon