Viktor Mastoridis: Official Music Biography

In 2025, several key moments took place:

1. I launched my Patreon Balkan site, publishing:
   • Tabs and notations of my own music
   • Balkan Music Theory resources
   • Balkan Music Exercises (developed over years of guitar and bouzouki teaching)
2. I restarted Valkania, version 4; first live gig after nine years in October 2026
3. I created a meaningful “official website” — this one.

Covid arrived at the start of the decade, and during the lockdowns I created Streams of Songs and Stories — a weekly programme featuring Balkan or Western music themes.

It streamed on Facebook for about a year, with my daughter Nadezhda, then 8–9 years old, performing one song each week.

These were my music theory and band years in London.

I had studied music theory for years, though never formally, and remained fascinated by the way music works.

Drawing from classical and jazz theory, I gradually developed what became a Balkan Music Theory — an extension of Western systems.

Although I long wanted to publish this knowledge, I never found a format I was happy with.

Meanwhile, Valkania was formed in 2010 as a trio and evolved through several line‑ups. The core style was always Balkan Fusion with blues and touches of jazz.

We released two Bandcamp‑only albums and one via CDBaby, and played many gigs, including Jamboree and similar venues.

The band lasted until 2017, when I almost went bankrupt.

One day I was invited to compose and record bouzouki music for the British TV series Under The Sun.

This is where I discovered the magic of bouzouki playing in thirds and started composing both traditional‑style Greek instrumentals and Greek bouzouki fusion pieces. I also continued composing Balkan Fusion and recorded many of the compositions from my Holland years.

Much of my music was sent to libraries around the world and ended up on channels like National Geographic.

In the mid‑2000s, helping a friend sell an item on eBay sparked the idea to produce and sell my own CDs — designing covers, printing discs, and fulfilling orders myself.

Soon after, I discovered CDBaby, which brought my releases to Spotify and other platforms. I published traditional and newly composed Macedonian and Greek music, as well as children’s songs and Balkan Fusion.

While in Holland with my family, the Yugoslav civil war began, forcing us to stay for several years.

I attended the School of Audio Engineering, learning to record music — especially