"One fantastic alto! Any connoisseur of the full-bodied, full-throated female voice will be enchanted by this highly recommended album." (Sing Out!) "An album that fairly shouts the word 'quality'. Her superb voice is heard to excellent effect in this fascinating singing style that straddles the cultural divide between East and West." (Folk Roots) "Sonically stunning...a fabulous introduction into the world of Greek music." (Dirty Linen) "She is masterful in her command of the vocal pyrotechnics involved." (Valley Advocate) "This is one of the most wonderful, well thought out, clearly recorded folk music records I've ever heard. Period." (Pittsburgh Press) "Sophia Bilides and the excellent musicians on this disc have truly 'got it'... A strong, haunting voice with a lot of power, and a lot of heart." (KPFA) "For the first time in I can't tell you how many years, I put down the work I was doing and just listened to music. You'll want to break all the plates in the kitchen. If you can see through your tears." (Folkthings.com) "What could a second generation, New World born descendent of the old Diaspora possibly possess in the way of authentic Old World substance & exotic charm ? Plenty! A legacy now embodied and best expressed in this brunette with a golden tone." (Rebetiko Row) As a nationally recognized Greek vocalist, Sophia Bilides is considered "the foremost practitioner of the Greek singing style known as Smyrneika" (Boston Globe), a cabaret tradition born of Asia Minor Greek refugees in the 1930s-40s, with intricate melodies and sensual rhythms expressing love, nostalgia, and the celebration of life. She has performed the songs of her heritage at venues throughout North America, including New York's Lincoln Center For The Performing Arts, The American Folk Festival, and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Bilides was featured in a National Endowment For The Arts Singing Traditions Tour, and received an Individual Artist Folklore Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Accompanying herself on santouri (hammered dulcimer), with musicians on guitar and doumbeleki, "she brings to life a musical heritage that still speaks from and to the heart" (International Greek Folklore Society). Bilides also sings American cabaret, for which she received the 2005 IRNE Award for Best Female Cabaret Performer (Independent Reviewers of New England), and has been consistently named among Boston's Best Of Cabaret. She is described as "delightfully eclectic, highly polished, and mesmerizing" (Cabaret Scenes Magazine), "sharply comic and touchingly dramatic, hitting her intended mark every time" (Bay Windows), "a consummate interpreter" (Theater Mirror), and “a sultry voice and sharp wit” (EdgeBoston.com). She appears regularly at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston, and has also performed at Danny's Skylight Room in New York, the Regattabar Jazz Club in Cambridge, and other venues, where, "equal to any of the finest cabaret artists in the country today, Bilides consistently renders a brilliant performance" (Cabaret Hotline Online). Bilides recently released the CD "Winter Warm," a spicy mix of folk, jazz, musical comedy, and American songbook gems, to provide hope and humor for the chill-challenged, daylight-deprived, and winter-weary: "A new cure for winter darkness, and as bracing as a shot of brandy." (Boston Globe) "A deep-voiced vocalist with a deeply satisfying new album. An accomplished piece of work, generous of spirit and generous in number of songs. So the short report would be: quantity as well as quality." (Rob Lester, Talkin’ Broadway) "A great, great voice: very rich, deep and beautiful. A very warm and intimate CD, with an amazing range of tunes, and she does them justice. Lots of thought went into this." (Jordan Rich, WBZ Radio, Boston)