The first recording of a Greek folk singer in America

In 1916, Kiria Koula (Kyriaki Giortzi-Antonopoulou, Istanbul 1878 – New York 1954) became the first Greek folk singer to record with the American record label Columbia. Kiria Koulas' record repertoire included urban folk songs, kleftiko, spiritual, patriotic. According to Markos F. Dragoumis, between 1916 and 1918, Kiria Koula recorded for Columbia four patriotic songs at a marching pace: March Averof, Votsis, Kilkis, and Giannina, all referring to the achievements of the Greeks in the Balkan Wars. With them, she recorded a "tavlas kleftiko" that spoke of the liberation of Ioannina by the Greek army. Having gained a great reputation among the Greeks of America, in February 1919, she founded the first Greek record label, Orpheum. A year later, she founded with clarinetist Giannis Kyriakatis and two German-born financiers, Panhellenion, where she recorded more than 200 songs. Many Greek companies followed in the USA in the following years, especially after 1945.