The call of the Greek isles will be hard to resist after a musical odyssey at Whitfield House with Australian-Greek mezzo-soprano Katerini Manolatos. 

Katerini's mother's family is from near Crete, her father is from Ithaca in the Ionian Islands (the home of Homer's Odysseus), and Katerini finds it very difficult to resist the call of the islands that comes to her through her music.

"I feel the music is so passionate and so real," Katerini says.

"It is about Greece's struggle.

"One composer, Mikis Theodorakis (who wrote the scores for Zorba the Greek) was imprisoned for his music in the '70s.

"He really is an idol for me.

He was so determined, he wrote his music in hiding."

Katerini has always been good at singing although she didn't realise it until, aged 11, her mother remarked on her talent and asked if she wanted singing lessons.

She realised a love of the art of singing when she saw her first opera in school.

"I thought it was great, so that’s where the love of it sprung," she says.

After school years in the Young Conservatorium, Katerini auditioned to study music and singing full-time and so attended the Queensland Conservatorium, where she was classically trained for three years.

Naturally, Katerini was always drawn to Greek music, growing up listening to it in the family car, and learning Greek dancing.

"I always came back to the Greek community to perform," she says.

"I did a bit of piano and I even played the euphonium (a brass instrument) for years."

"It is good for breathing.

I was doing too much so I had to give it up, otherwise people could be coming to hear me playing the Greek tuba."

Katerini now specialises in singing Greek songs.

She travelled to Greece to promote the Olympics in 2004, and she has released an album.

"That was a lot of fun," she says.

"I've also been to Greek festivals in Melbourne and Brisbane."

Katerini came to Cairns with her boyfriend, now husband, five years ago and although the couple only intended to stay a short time, they fell in love with the area and decided to stay.

A music therapist, she runs vocal bootcamps and helps people with myriad different needs.

"They might be people who have gone through trauma, or have been diagnosed with autism," she says.

"Music is very powerful.

"It helps with social skills, and with physical needs.

"It makes people more agile and helps with their rehabilitation."

Since Katerini has been in Cairns she has also performed in recitals, concerts and musicals, among which was a role in The Cairns Choral Society’s production of Miss Saigon.

But it's her heritage and the Greek music that still moves her most; the music in which she will indulge with her audience tomorrow night.

"There will be some well-known Greek songs like Never on a Sunday and then some songs people may not have heard with a classical edge," Katerini says.

"We have an amazing bouzouki player, Costa Vasili, from Sydney.

"He plays really special nostalgic music."

>>A Musical Odyssey is at Whitfield House tomorrow (Sunday, Nov 20) at 4.30pm and includes Greek meze. Book at Ticketlink, ph 1300 855 835 or at www.ticketlink.com.au.

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