Photo from Spyros Koliavasilis Spyros Koliavasilis plays the rare Kapadocian Kemane stringed instrument on stage. The Gaithersburg resident plays 14 different instruments of the Mediterranean region.

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When Spyros Koliavasilis gets on stage, it is normal for people to wonder about the instruments in his hands.

Originally from Greece, Koliavasilis plays music from his homeland and the greater Mediterranean region on as many as 14 different exotic instruments with names that may cause some head scratching from American audiences such as the saz, cobza and bouzouki.

Now a resident of Gaithersburg, the 35-year-old writes and performs music that transcends eras and areas in a blending of traditions. Koliavasilis will perform with his two bands — Mortes and the Mediterranean Colors — at a benefit concert for the Greek School of The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Bethesda on Saturday.

While Mortes plays urban Greek music of the 1920s, the Mediterranean Colors uses modern and traditional instruments to draw upon influences from Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Europe, and northern Africa, Koliavasilis says.

“I borrowed these cultures and I make a musical blending in a way, he says. “I combine them in a way to be familiar for the American public.”

Koliavasilis began playing music at the age of 12, and considers the oud his main instrument, but he has also mastered unusual instruments that were almost lost in time, such as the rare Kapadocian Kemane. Koliavasilis says he is one of a few people in the world who plays the stringed instrument an early cousin of the violin as he had a replica crafted for him based on the ancient instrument that is on display in a museum in Greece.

“It’s quite similar to the violin. The only difference is that you hear a violin with a much more strong and warm sound,” he says. “It’s quite interesting because [audiences] like the sound, but when they see the instrument it is something very unusual for them.”

Koliavasilis is a regular participant at the Washington Folk Festival, and teaches music at the Greek School of St. George and in other schools and workshops. He is always impressed with the response he gets from audiences who are unfamiliar with the rare instruments.

“People are very, very interested,” he says. “The American public shows a high interest about that. They ask questions, they take pictures.”

Also a doctor, Koliavasilis came to America two years ago to do a research program in developmental endocrinology and genetics at the National Institute of Child and Human Development on the NIH campus.

“Both of my loves are the music and the medicine. I can’t separate one from the other,” he says.

Having finished his research, Koliavasilis remains focused on advancing his music career in America and recently released a CD titled “Mediterranean Thoughts.” He has also started a repair and restoration business for some of the instruments he plays, which is a novelty in the area, he says.

“A lot of people, they have the instrument 20 years in the closet because there was nobody to do the restoration. It’s a different culture than the guitars here,” he says. “They’ve brought me some real diamonds. A gentleman bought me a bouzouki made in the 1930s and it was a master. It was a great honor for me to restore this beauty.”

ccalamaio@gazette.net

Spyros Koliavasilis will perform at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday with his bands Mortes and Mediterranean Colors in a benefit concert for the Greek School of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in the church’s grand hall, 7701 Bradley Blvd. Tickets are $20, free for children under 16. For tickets contact Olga Vonikaki at 240-731-0146.