MOIROLÓI | A LAMENT FOR THE LIVING

How does death sound, not for the dead, but for the living? 

MOIROLÓI is a purely musical narrative focusing on lamentation and funeral rituals. One of the monumental European musical masterpieces, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem (KV 626) crosses paths with the 19th-century dirges of Epirus.

The ”unfamiliar match” of these two musical worlds, combined with elements from the English Renaissance, early Baroque (Doland, Purcell, Handel), and the Byzantine melos, creates a transcendental sound experience that transforms the ritual of death into a celebration of life. MOIROLÓI draws inspiration from Danse Macabre, the ceremonial texts of the Christian Orthodox Funeral Service, and ancient Greek dirges in modern instrumental and vocal arrangements, which can still be heard in the mountains of Epirus.

Under the baton of Yorgos Ziavras, musicians from different cultural backgrounds join their forces. Greek musicians specializing in traditional folk music, a chorus of singers from across Europe, and instrumentalists hailing from Greece and abroad, all come together to form the orchestra.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Yorgos Ziavras

Greek conductor, based in Germany. He studied conducting with Prof. Michael Luig at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, piano in Athens under Elisabeth Kounalaki and in Cologne with Paulo Álvares, as well as architecture at the NTUA in Athens. He began his collaboration with the Theater Krefeld / Mönchengladbach in 2014, as a member of the renowned Opernstudio Niederrhein. Within five years, he rose to the position of Deputy Principal Conductor, while expanding his repertoire to include a wide range of works for opera, operetta, musical theatre, early music, as well as other musical styles. He is the founder of CoGNiMUS Collektiv and is also active in the contemporary music scene. In 2019 he founded ÉRMA Ensemble with fellow specialists in contemporary music. Since 2017/18 he is guest conductor of the Greek National Opera, while he has also conducted numerous symphonic orchestras and ensembles in Greece and Germany, including Philharmonie Südwestfalen, Niederrheinische Sinfoniker, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Ensemble MusikFabrik, ERGON Ensemble, TETTTIX and others. In 2020/2021 he received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). Since 2023 he and his ensemble ÉRMA have held a scholarship from InSzene - Podium Gegenwart of the Deutscher Musikrat. During his tenure at Theater Krefeld/Mönchengladbach (2020), he was awarded the Förderpreis for his artistic excellence by the "Freunde der Musik" association. 

Warm thanks

On behalf of the CoGNiMUS Collektiv, we would like to warmly thank Mr Vassilis Drivas for his help in the realization of the concert in Athens. We would also like to thank the Greek National Tourism Organization for helping us with the transportation of the musicians in Athens, and Mr Nikos Bilios from the Hellenic Ministry of Tourism.

Under the patronage of the Hellenic Ministry of Tourism and the Austrian Embassy in Athens.