Domna herself said:
The first time I sang was in 1960, in the Hellenic-American Union, where we had been invited to sing at the time, and I stood in for Simon Karas. I sang on my own again ten years later, in March of 1971, in the midst of the military Junta period, at the basement “Rodeo” club in Ioulianou Street, where I had been invited by Dionysis Savvopoulos. I was very hesitant at first, but in the end I decided to go. I had the terrible fear that the student crowd that frequented the place wouldn’t accept me.
Well, the young people, the students, heard these traditional songs, and they started to realize that something’s happening, till then they had no idea what traditional singing was, and since then they started inviting me to sing, and timidly at first the kids would start getting up to dance, some of them from the Peloponnese, someone else from Thessaly, others from Macedonia, from Crete.
So their shame that they had for traditional folk songs would go away.
Domna made four appearances at the “Rodeo” club (March 18, and April 3, 4 and 8, 1971). She was accompanied by the musicians Tassos Chalkias on the clarinet, Aristides Vassilaris on the clarinet and the flute, Aristides Moschos on the santur, Kostas Chalkias on the violin, Thodoros Kekes on the Thracian gaida, Matthaios Balabanis on the goblet drum, and G. Boukalis on the tambourine.
There, she met Lina Lalandi, founder of the English Bach Festival and she invited Domna to the festival in London (see Concerts at the English Bach Festival).
The enthusiasm shown by the young people – mostly University students – prompted Domna to continue her appearances the following winter (1972-1973), again on the initiative of Dionysis Savvopoulos, at the club “Kyttaro” on Ipeirou Street. Twenty concerts with song and dance numbers were given. Apart from Domna and the musicians, Eleni Tsaouli participated with her ‘Greek Folk Dance Group’. Thalia Spanou and Dimitris Vagias also sang, and the musicians Tassos Chalkias on the clarinet, Nikos Stefanidis on the kanun, Aristides Moschos on the santur, Alekos Arapakis on the violin, Ilias Tsiakas on the clarinet, Stathis Kokmotos on the clarinet, Stavros Adrianos on the lute, Antonis Peristeris on the Cretan lyra, Antonis Spanos on the tsambouna and flute, Petros Karbadakis on the lute, Thodoros Kekes on the Thracian gaida, Matthaios Balabanis on the goblet drum, Christos Litos on the tambourine, among others.
