Keep it in the family

Sibling connections can lead to meaningful musical partnerships – as long as childhood rivalries don't get in the way

- Claire Jackson

The audience begins to clap, gradually gathering speed in time with the pianists on stage. Willed on by the percussive accelerando, the duo zips through Zorba’s Dance, a piece by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis that evokes ouzo-soaked taverns and hot summer nights. The dark-haired pianists, virtually identical in sunglasses and denim shorts, finish their own arrangement of Greece’s popular musical export with a flourish. As the sun makes a lengthy retreat behind the tree-lined stage, musicians invite young audience members to try out some instruments. A child delights at blowing a clarinet mouthpiece, another tentatively presses piano keys. These guests have come from one of the refugee camps that remain on Lesbos, the Turkey-adjacent island that unwittingly became the centre of the 2015 migrant crisis.

A short while later, the stage lights – and mosquito repellent – are out in full force. The pianists, Greek-German sisters Danae and Kiveli Dörken, are back. Alternating between Greek and English, the Dörkens welcome visitors to the Molyvos International Music Festival (MIMF), the event they established – along with their Lesbos-born mother Lito Dakou – in 2014. The Berlin-based duo are prodigal daughters of Molyvos, the picturesque village that they fill with chamber music every August. Having played piano duets since Kiveli joined big sister Danae at the keyboard (the Theodorakis piece features on their latest album,