Grammy-winning producer, writer and ethnomusicologist Christopher C. King who made the traditional music of Epirus and its famous dirges’ known all over the world, was presented with an honorary Greek citizenship at a ceremony held at Maximos Mansion, the prime minister’s office, on Monday.

He took the oath with the Ministry of Interior’s Secretary General for Citizenship, Athanasios Balermpas.

King was born and raised in southwest Virginia and studied philosophy at Radford University. Over the course of the last ten years, he has researched the tradition of Greek demotika songs, especially in Epirus.

In 2018, W.W. Norton published his book “Lament from Epirus: An Odyssey into Europe’s Old Surviving Folk Music,” to wide critical acclaim. In the book, King, who is now a permanent resident of Konitsa, writes about music as a lament, as a lullaby and consolation and as an integral part of joy and revelry.

His book was named one of the top ten books of 2018 by the Wall Street Journal, and he has presented his work at the New York Public Library, the Gennadius Library of Athens as well as the Odeon Conservatoire in Athens, among other venues.

[Kathimerini, AMNA]