About NYC Bouzouki School

Mihalis Alisandratos is an ethnomusicologist and bouzouki player from Queens, NY. Having grown up a child of the Greek diaspora in one of its primary sites, Mihalis has been steeped in a rich cultural tradition of music and performance from a very early age. He began classical guitar at the age of eight and switched over permanently to bouzouki after he was gifted one as a surprise from his godmother. He began individual instruction in bouzouki at the age of 12 and joined weekly group lessons at KEP soon thereafter. After studying politics at Princeton University, Mihalis completed an MA in Music at CUNY Hunter College with a concentration in ethnomusicology. His thesis on bouzouki and rebetiko music in New York details a budding revival of one of the city's historically strongest Greek musical scenes and delves into ideas of ethnic identity and collective memory in diaspora and issues of authenticity and reflexivity for both performers, researchers, and culture bearers. Mihalis will continue his work at the doctoral level at the CUNY Graduate Center and pursue a career in academia, performance, and community engagement. He was recently published for the first time in the Rising Voices in Ethnomusicology Student Journal and spoke as part of a panel on Greek American music and dance at the 2024 Modern Greek Studies Association symposium at Princeton University. He lives in Queens with his wife Morgan and his jack russell terrier mix Penny.