Musician that ‘dares to dream’

‘The love of the world has always been very strong’ says the island’s first female bouzouki player who despite battling cancer has been joined by more women to create a mandolinata

Six years after being given just three months to live, Cyprus’ first female professional bouzouki player Georgia Kombou brought the Limassol seafront to life this week with an open air concert called Mandolins Under the Moon.

But she was not alone, having now been joined by other female musicians to form the Echo of Mandolins group. On Thursday they played melodies from Greek composers like Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hatzidakis to hundreds.

“What I want to prove is that for six years now, since the day of diagnosis, I have been living, creating and daring to dream,” Kombou told the Sunday Mail.

“I could still dream, create, live and breathe.”

Kombou’s personal battle has become intertwined with her vision to establish a municipal mandolin orchestra in Limassol. Despite a proposal approved by former mayor Nicos Nicolaides, the plan has stalled under current mayor Yiannis Armeftis.

This is one of the reasons she was keen to stage her latest concert, to show exactly what could be done.

Nicolaides, who attended the concert, confirmed the proposal’s earlier approval. “Georgia’s proposal was approved and she was encouraged to choose her own group and become leader of the mandolinata, with funding covered by the municipality. I have no idea what has happened since the new mayor was elected. It was voted by the cultural committee last year,” he told the Sunday Mail.

Limassol municipal councillor Maria Diamantidou, who was also present, said the delay stemmed from confusion during the handover of the municipal administration.

“There was a miscommunication because we found two proposals from Kombou, one stated as a suggestion and the other as an approval. We’re now in the process of looking through this, and most probably the municipality will give the green light soon. We just need that extra time because of the transition,” she said.

Echo of Mandolins consists of seven women. “My love for the mandolin and my city, Limassol, were the things that pushed me to create this group, which consists of seven wonderful girls,” she said.

She hopes the group can expand and form the backbone of a future municipal orchestra.

“My years of mandolin knowledge and experience will help this dream come true one day. For five years I have been struggling to build a mandolinata.”

And one of those in the new group, Maria Hadjifokli called it an honour to work with Kombou. “It was very important for us that we had her as a teacher on the mandolin,” she said.

She described the programme as a collection of Greek songs quite melodic, mainly older, but also some more modern ones. “I believe we created a beautiful atmosphere, and people came to listen and enjoy the music.”

The concert, supported by the Limassol municipality, was intended as a shorter performance but stretched to about two hours due to constant calls for encores.

“Throughout the night, the crowd embraced the performance, singing along,” Hadjifokli said.

“We hope that people liked it and that it will reach the cultural level of the city. Something different, something that doesn’t exist at the moment.”

Kombou first experienced symptoms in September 2019, a persistent cough and pain she thought was exhaustion from teaching and performing. She delayed medical checks for a year. By the time she was diagnosed with stage four metastatic cancer, the disease had spread to various vital organs, with tumours pressing on her iliopsoas nerve, causing severe pain in her lower back and left leg.

“The hardest part was when the doctor told me I had stage four cancer with metastases in various vital organs and that I had only three months left to live,” she said.

“That news came in front of my daughter, who was also battling two autoimmune diseases, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.”

Despite multiple invasive treatments and a 12-hour surgery, Kombou continued performing and teaching bouzouki. She credits public support as crucial.

“The love of the world has always been very strong, and this helps me continue what I have been doing for so many years,” she said.

Now, more than four years beyond doctors’ predictions, Kombou remains determined that neither illness nor obstacles will silence her music.

“I was grateful I could, for yet another year, be close to my family and friends and celebrate my birthday with faith, strength and determination for whatever life brings,” she said.