The Book Of Vilah

The Book Of Vilah and Ionia

“. . . his village razed to the ground by pirates on the Greek island of Kythera, motherless and a cruel reminder of his father’s carnage, Vilah was pushed into the monastery. Now, sitting imprisoned in a cell, he paints his life that should of been. These songs are his paintings.”

Ionia is the collective of musicians who perform the Music to the dramatic monolog which is The Book Of Vilah

A story (originally named The Book Of Vilah) was originally penned by Valerios Calocerinos as a fictitious body of work. The story was inspired by the rich history of the Ionian island of Kythera which lays in the Mediterranean sea between Crete and Greece’s mainland. Stories of the life of his ancestors on the island, folklore and accounts Pirate attacks added to the mythical connection he had with the island as a child.

Over time the story blossomed and became a huge body of work. When Valerios composed music for the narrative the concept was to keep it organic, simple and beautiful. The music was composed for Classical guitar, Bouzouki, Double bass and Vocals with the lyrics expanding on the account of the protagonist, "Vilah" and his muse "Umael". The next step was to edit the assembled body of work so it could then be preformed as a theatrical piece. The volume was condensed to an 8 act script with the view of it being performed as a dramatic monologue with a band and vocalist expanding on the story between acts. Valerios recorded demo versions of the songs from his studio in Sydney, enlisting Brett Langford as vocalist. Brett and Valerios had worked together in Melbourne both in the studio as well as the duo occasionally performing early versions of the music with just Classical guitar and vocals. Most of the lyrics were written for the songs but Valerios gave Brett a synopsis of what each song should reflect and Brett then interpreted this to add his understanding of the characters into the lyrics.

With the songs recorded and the story written it was time to assemble a crew. Valerios found himself in a position where he was surrounded by creative and talented people daily through his recording studio in Sydney. He met Alex Sideratos who, as well as being a drummer, is a NIDA graduate with many acting credits to his name. He was interested in the concept and the first draft of a script was given to him.

Alex Sideratos, had worked with Director Panda Likouzis on previous performances and suggested he come along to rehearsals. Panda quickly became engaged by the concept and he Alex and Valerios edited on the script.

An opportunity appeared to perform at the Greek Festival of Sydney. The band performed a music only show at the launch of the festival at Darling Harbour to a 3000 strong crowd which was aired live to SBS radio. The full show was performed to a full house at the prestigious Vanguard in Newtown to an awestruck crowd. The full show continues to be performed in various venues around Sydney and has also been played to high school students as part of their creative writing syllabus. Generally it is performed twice a year for significant events although the music for the show is performed regulary by Valerios and IONIA.

The concept still continues to grow with Valerios adding more complexity and depth to the characters and story. This is used as a basis for inspiration for composotion with new pieces being written for IONIA. The story doesn't end there. There are further projects associated with this body of work as Valerios ties all his projects together in subtle ways through the development of characters, things that happen to them either in reality or in surreal moments. Much of this may only be apparant to the writer or to those who delve deep into his array of projects.