On Sunday, June 7, 2015 George Papadatos, who is visiting Toronto after his significant donation to the GCHP in December 2014, put on a wonderful event commemorating the 1981 North American tour of composer, Manos Loizos.
A presentation given by Mr. Papadatos used slides (housed at the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections of York University Libraries), to recount the tour that saw Loizos perform in Toronto, New York, Chicago, and Montreal. The photographic material on display captured many compelling moments of the 1981 performances, but also entailed more personal images of the entire group that travelled with Loizos and his accompanying musicians as they visited cities with large Greek populations.
The Sunday event was held at Avli Restaurant, 401 Danforth Ave.
The GCHP would like to thank Mr. Papadatos for the invitation to collaborate on this event. After receiving a call from Mr. Papadatos, we were enthusiastic to participate in a public history event that brought otherwise forgotten historical material into the public eye and historical memory.
We would also like to thank our partners at Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections of York University Libraries, particularly Anna St. Onge, who helped digitize the materials that were on display Sunday night.