Espéria

Espéria is a Budapest-based group of musicians brought together by their passion for Greek traditional and urban music, particularly rebetiko. Despite their diverse artistic backgrounds, the members share a common goal: to authentically evoke the sound of classic Greek rebetiko ensembles.

Espéria’s repertoire features melodies that emerged in the first decades of the 20th century, performed with guitar, bouzouki, accordion, and vocals in the style still heard today in small cafés and tavernas throughout Greece.

Band members:

Veronika Varga – vocals
Nikolas Mantzourakis – bouzouki
Caspar Thorpe – guitar
Benedek Réti – accordion

The name Esperia derives from the Ancient Greek word hespéra (εσπέρα), meaning “Evening Star.” It is the first harbinger of light after darkness and a symbol of the passage between beginnings and endings, birth and death, hope and passing. It evokes the great moments and emotions of human life, which have traditionally been accompanied by music in most cultures. The Evening Star also serves as a spiritual compass, guiding people on both their inner and outer journeys. Music itself can serve as such a compass.

In the cultural imagination, Esperia can also refer to the distant West, a land of promises, dreams, and possibilities. This symbolism is deeply intertwined with the world of rebetiko, whose songs often explore the extremes of human experience, touching on longing, exile, and hope. Over time, rebetiko turned westward in both spirit and sound, yet it never severed its ties with its Anatolian roots and the musical codes that continue to define its essence. This duality gives Greek rebetiko its truly captivating character.

Although Budapest lies far from the Mediterranean, Espéria evokes the eras and atmospheres of this rich urban musical tradition, bringing the world of Greek rebetiko and its tavernas closer to audiences. Through songs that speak with remarkable directness about life’s joys and hardships, the rhythms of a bygone world come alive in the present, along with the heartfelt temperament of the people of the East and the Mediterranean.

Ticket price: HUF 2,500 in advance, HUF 3,000 on the day of the concert