Kypseli
Greek Dance Center
Los Angeles, California
U.S.A.
Upcoming Events at
The Tango Room
4346 Woodman
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
PONTIAN GLENDI SUNDAY JUNE 22, 2025
Adem Ekiz, better known by his stage name Besköylü Adem, is a Turkish musician and singer of Pontic origin. He is one of the few artists in Turkey who sings in the Pontian dialect "Romania," in their artistic performances.
His voice and his artistry on the kementze (the Pontian lyra) convey the pain the songs bring out, cause emotion and arouse thousands of fans. More than 4,000 Greeks of Pontian origin follow him.
Adem was born in the village of Kalisti Sourmenou (Beskioi), one of five villages in the province of Trabzon (Trebizond/Trapezounta) on the southeastern region near the Black Sea. He currently resides in Istanbul.
His first album, Yananm Atesine, was released in 2000 and included a single song in his native Pontic dialect. In 2005, in collaboration with Nikos Michaelidis and Filippos Kesapidis, the album "Romeika Tragodias," (Greek songs) containing 15 Pontic songs, was released in Greece.
His message is: "Music unites. It can unite the whole world and with it both sides of the Aegean, but also all of the peoples of the Black Sea.
~~~
Ioannis (Giannis) Apazidis was born and raised in Boston. His family has roots from the village of Hamouri, Matsouka, Trabzon (Trapezounta) of Pontos. His parents were born in Crimea and became refugees in Greece, and subsequently immigrated to Germany and finally the United States. From a young age, he had great passion for Greek and Pontian music. He taught himself to play music and sing along with his brother and cousins. He has collaborated with many Pontian artists in the United States. He has performed for many years with Nikos Apazidis, Christos Tiktapanidis, Stavros Petridis (son of Gogos Petridis), and the late Steven Pesiridis. In 1996 he created the first Pontian music site on the internet and called it Trapezounta.com. A few years later he created the first online radio station for Pontian music Radio Trapezounta Boston. More information can be found on his websites: Trapezounta.com, RadioTrapezounta.com and ThePontians.com.
For further information
or to sign up for email notifications
email: xorepse@gmail.com