Folk Tales Sophia Bilides

Age: 51

Hometown: New Haven, Conn.

2005 American Folk Festival (Aug. 26-28): Singer, Greek Smyrneika

Roots? My grandparents came to the U.S. from a little Greek village in Turkey called Permata. After the Greek population in Asia Minor was uprooted, almost the entire village came to America, and they resettled in New Haven. My father brought me up in the Greek tradition, and my mother is from a big Italian family. There was always a lot of music in our house.

Musical influences? I listened to a lot of recordings of Broadway musicals as a kid, I grew up down the street from the Schubert Theater, so I saw every musical that came through town. I heard a lot of Greek music from day one, and Neapolitan music and opera, as well as the ’40s hit parade. I had a very American experience.

Who did you learn from? I started formal training at age 16 and went to the New England Conservatory of Music and got a degree in classical voice. Then there was the late Dino Pappas, who lived in Detroit, who found out about my interest. He collected all kinds of 78-inch records of Greek and Asia Minor music. He introduced me to his entire library. He was a kind of mentor to me.

What music have you been listening to? Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short and Maureen McGovern.

What’s your favorite thing to eat? “Chocolate. I love lobster out of the shell. For Greek food, I like spanikopita and broiled octopus, or octopouthi, and a custard and phyllo dessert called galaktobouriko. It’s just the best. But I don’t cook it. I went through a phase trying to cook Greek food, but then I decided life was short, and I’d go to restaurants instead!”

– Emily Burnham