The Musical Folklore Archives (MFA) are a vivid and active department of the Centre for Asia Minor Studies and an important place for the systematic study of traditional music. Being the oldest section of the Centre for Asia Minor Studies, it contains valuable and unique material:
- unpublished manuscripts and documents,
- record collection,
- instrument collection,
- library,
- publications.
The present head of MFA, Marcos Dragoumis, aided by Thanassis Moraitis and a select group of free collaborating friends, is devoted to enriching the Musical Folklore Archives with ever fresh material.
From 1975 to the present day, over 50 expeditions to several parts of the country have been carried out. Many songs and airs have been recorded, with the participation of local singers and musicians, unknown to the wide public. The purpose is clear: to study the musical, linguistic and ethnographic peculiarities of each specific locality and to do research on the correlation of influences absorbed from or exerted on other areas, both in the narrower sense of adjacent Greek regions and in the wider sense of neighbouring peoples.
The MFA home office is situated inside the building of The Centre for Asia Minor Studies, at Kydathineon 11 in Plaka, Athens (tel. & fax: +30 210 3251364, e-mail: mlamerlie@yahoo.com); MFA is the Centre's own oldest department.