January 18 marked 100 years since the birth of one of the greatest Greek composers of Greek folk music, Vassilis Tsitsanis. To celebrate that special occasion, Athens Megaron is hosting two special tribute concerts by composer Stavros Xarhakos, featuring Dimitra Galani and Eleftheria Arvanitaki on January 20 and 21.

Born in Trikala in 1915, Tsitsanis was one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is thought to be one of the founders of modern Rebetika, which have come to be grouped together since the so-called rebetika revival, which started in the 1960s and developed further from the early 1970s onwards.

Tsitsanis who used to say that he his songs cover all aspects of life, wrote more than 500 songs and was an expert bouzouki player.