15 June 2025

On 15 June 2025, Peter Bottéas and the Elora Poetry Centre organized an event featuring contemporary poetry of the Greek diaspora. Peter focused on his translation from Greek into English of recent poems by the Boston-based poet Vassiliki Rapti, collected in Bathed in Moonlight (2023). He also read poems by Despina Kaitatzi-Choulioumi and George Kalogeris, as well as a few of his own, spellbinding the audience. Prior to his reading, Georgia Perdikoulias beautifully sang a musical setting of Peter’s poem “Refuge,” as well as other verse set to music by the composer Kostas Rekleitis, with texts by Vassiliki Rapti. These were followed by 19th-century Greek art songs and some moving traditional Greek songs. Georgia was masterfully accompanied on piano by a familiar and distinguished friend of the Elora Poetry Centre, Irene Gregorio.

Peter Bottéas

A native of Toronto, Peter holds a Master’s degree in Translation from the Université de Montreal. After a twenty-year detour as a psychotherapist in Boston, he has returned to one of his first loves: literary translation. He is co-host, with Vassiliki, of the podcast series Borders Unbound: Hellenic Poetry of the Diaspora and Beyond, as well as being an occasional voice-over artist, poet, and aficionado of French and Greek poetry set to music.

Georgia Perdikoulias

Canadian-Greek soprano and librettist Georgia Perdikoulias is an artist with a passion for storytelling through the creation and performance of new works. A graduate of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, Georgia has found equal joy and passion in performing and debuting operatic and art song repertoire. Her performances at Bard included the premiering of art songs, one of which was Peter’s  “Refuge” (composed by Kostas Rekleitis), and a new opera, My Wife is a Ghost. Georgia combines her love of writing and the written word with her passion for performing, employing a text-centric approach to new and canonical works alike. Georgia is also a published poet, having co-authored the poetry collection Mythopoesis (2022). In addition to her classical music training, Georgia is a traditional Greek folk singer and dancer with a love for performing and sharing her culture.

Irene Gregorio

Collaborative Pianist and Musical Assistant

Irene Gregorio enjoys a diverse and active musical life as a pianist, educator, and music director. As a pianist and chamber musician, she has collaborated with members of the LA Phil and San Francisco Symphonies. She has served as pianist for the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, LA Opera Education and Outreach, and the University of Southern California Chamber Singers, among others. Her performances as a collaborative pianist have taken her throughout North America, Europe, Cuba, and the Philippines, and she has also appeared on PBS, CBC Radio 2, and on film soundtracks in the LA area.

Dr. Gregorio has over 15 years of experience in the university setting, serving as staff/faculty in collaborative piano at the campuses of the California State University, East Bay and Los Angeles.  She earned her DMA at the University of Southern California and recently returned home to Canada, where she serves as the Director of Music Ministry at Dublin St. United Church, and Sessional Instructor of Piano at the University of Guelph. Irene was named as the TMC Collaborative Pianist in August 2021 and was the pianist of the National Youth Choir of Canada in 2022.

The programme was presented in two parts with a short intermission, after which there was a Q & A session prior to breaking for the usual finger food and drinks.