Carving her own sound, one female Cypriot musician is breaking stereotypes

Great things are said to come to those who wait. Georgia Kombou knows this well, a pioneering musician in Cyprus who fought to have a place in the male-dominated bouzouki and mandolin scene, which will be given extra prominence this week with her role in the carnival.

Kombou is well-known as Cyprus’ first female bouzoukist, an award-winning musician who was once sought after by Cirque du Soleil. Humble and hard-working, she keeps her head down and her instruments close by, striving to show that a woman’s place is wherever she pleases.

Today, 45 years into playing the bouzouki, Kombou has made a name for herself and even earned a Global Music Award in California for composition. Yet it has not been an easy path.

“When I began my career, what I did was very unusual. There were no other women in Cyprus who played the bouzouki professionally. Society was very different back then, and I had to work really hard to earn my place in the industry,” she says.

Her father was always by her side and initiated this great love for music. “I remember one day when I was really young, I was holding a needle and a matchstick pretending to play the mandolin, and I told my father I wanted to learn. The next day, he bought me a bouzouki.

“‘There’s no way I can play this’, I told him. I thought it was only for men. ‘Don’t think about it, you will learn’, he told me. It seems that, that moment marked my entire life,” Kombou adds.

Filming Zorba’s Dance

Since that day, at nine years old, Kombou has not put down her bouzouki. She went to Greece to study advanced music theory and met the acclaimed Greek composer Thanasis Polikandriotis, who opened the doors for her, and performed alongside outstanding historical musicians. “We played in concerts together in Athens, and this gave me the chance to showcase the female approach to bouzouki, from Cyprus.”

Kombou’s talents have since reached far and wide. A song of hers made it into the soundtrack of Steve Coogan’s A Trip to Greece, while her videoclip Zorba’s Dance was approved by Mikis Theodorakis himself, to bring his iconic composition to life. “After seeing it, he requested I record his I Geitonia ton Angelon piece as well!”

She even received an invitation to go on tour with Cirque du Soleil. “I couldn’t believe the email I was reading. They needed a woman playing the bouzouki to perform with them. In the end, I turned it down. My children were very young. It was a tough decision, but I don’t regret it. I’ve lived a full life. It certainly made me feel proud though, of myself and of Cyprus.”

But, she was not welcomed everywhere. She says she has faced bullying for breaking the stereotypes in a space that for decades has been strictly male-led. Though the thought of hanging up her bouzouki crossed her mind, she did not give up.

Georgia Kombou has made a name for herself in a man’s world

A woman’s role in the bouzouki world is not so far-fetched as people might think, she adds. “Actually, there are depictions in antiquity which show muses playing the pandourida instrument, which is related to the bouzouki. Since those olden days, women played string instruments and were involved in the rembetiko scene where the bouzouki is so prominent.”

She has set up the all-female Echo of Mandolins group, in the hope of developing it into a municipal mandolin orchestra in Limassol. Kombou is eager to build on a long-standing history in Limassol move the the mandolin beyond the carnival.

“I grew up with the carnival serenade songs and joined the Limassol Serenaders group (Kantadoroi Lemesou) as early as I could. I can’t help but love the carnival, I am a true Limassolian! For a whole week, Limassol is in a state of beautiful madness. It is a carefree, happy time that is an important tradition for us. And how wonderful it is to see young children take part, especially playing the mandolin,” she says.

Georgia Kombou and her instrument

“I wrote a serenade song once, a tango for Limassol. It is no easy feat to join a long line of Cyprus’ carnival song composers. You really need to have an ear for it and have experienced the carnival.”

On Thursday her mandolinata group plays at the Limassol Carnival at an event at the Panos Solomonides Cultural Centre at 7pm.

Social media now makes it slightly easier for work to get recognition and to reach international audiences. “You have to have a presence online now,” Kombou says, although it seems that is something she is ambivalent about. But to maintain a career, it requires more than just a viral moment. It requires real talent and hard work, things Kombou knows first-hand.

Before the end of the month, she will travel to The House of Cyprus in Athens to perform with baritone Marios Andreou and soprano Anastasia Sorra. That will be followed by taking part in the Tribute to the Satirical Song show with Louis Patsalides, Tefkros Neocleous, Marilena Charalambidou and other musicians, which will blend humour, music and sharp social commentary. Three shows will take place, at Kiklos Mousiki on March 13 and at DownTown Live on March 20 and 27.

“When I perform, I enter another dimension,” Kombou says as she takes her leave. “Music is my oxygen.”