As the picture of the international musical reality of the last decades shows, there is a strong interest among musicians in re-approaching local and historical musical traditions as a starting point for new ways of interpretation and orchestration (Stamou 2020, Floraki 2019). This interest is more pronounced in areas where there are accumulated local musical idioms, as is the case in Greece, where, due to constant cultural interactions, numerous distinct musical idioms appear, which are in constant interaction with each other (Zarias 2023).

The study and research of these musical idioms was introduced in our country three decades ago in secondary education with the creation of the institution of Music Schools, and two decades ago in higher education with the creation, among others, of the course of Greek Traditional Music at the Department of Music Science and Art (TMET) of the University of Macedonia (Kapsokavadis 2015, Athanasias 2011). In the context of the exploration of the various local Greek musical traditions and the ways of their perception and interpretation by young students, especially those studying at secondary and higher education institutions, the 30-member string bow orchestra " Violione Orchestra" of TMET carries out artistic and educational actions in music schools in Greece and Cyprus (it has already visited 12 schools) in the form of: concerts, seminars, debates and discussions, as well as a musical partnership with musical ensembles of each school.

The main objective of these actions is to highlight new aspects and ways of interpretation and orchestration of Greek traditional music by young students of Greek traditional music nowadays, while highlighting the continuity, musical evolution and cultural interaction between the two basic levels of music education, secondary and higher education. A further expected outcome of the actions is the development of a creative dialogue between the stakeholders and through their interaction and cooperation to produce new ideas and relationships that generate culture, aesthetics and knowledge, as well as the ultimate promotion of multiculturalism as a means of interactive and transactional coexistence. The ultimate goal, in the context of a visionary intercultural education, is to lay the first foundations for the creation of a network of international cultural educational institutions, through which Greek musical culture will be promoted and communicated beyond its national borders.

The “Violione Orchestra” is a twenty-five-member orchestra of string archers from the students of the violin specialisation of TMET. With already two personal albums to its credit, the ensemble's main aim is to present a repertoire of Greek music, Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean music, as well as new contemporary compositions, through a creative prism of orchestration and the application of older and more modern interpretative techniques of the bowed strings. It is an alternative musical proposal, the main objective of which is to feed the field of expertise in the interpretation of bowed strings in general with new elements that will contribute to the emergence of the expressive specificity of the “language” of the violin family in various folk oral traditions.

• Music and sound education experiences, values, and practices
• Social musical settings

Giannis Zarias has been active as a violinist for three decades in the field of Greek music, while he is also involved in the wider music of the Balkans and improvisation. He is a founding member of the music groups : Rebetiko Trio, the contemporary string quartet Frog String Quartet and the Violione Orchestra (DMSA). He is also an assistant professor of violin at the Department of Music Science & Art (DMSA) of the University of Macedonia. His doctoral thesis "Ornamentation in Greek Traditional Violin Art" was published by Orpheus Publications (2013) and his research articles have been published in relevant music journals and other scientific publications.