Spoudassato Moussikin

Alternative Stage founding donor

“The goal of music is to give life to dreams on the one hand and to represent life as a dream on the other”. — Manolis Kalomiris

A different aspect of the formidable founder of the Greek National Music School than the one that is usually shown is revealed in this concert of the Athens Conservatoire that will be held as part of its partnership with the GNO Alternative Stage. The programme focuses on the lyrical and inward-looking qualities of the famous creator of the Symphony of Leventia (Valiance) and The Master Builder.

Students and recent graduates of Greece’s oldest music education institution perform works for piano and chamber ensembles covering more than 25 years of musical activity of the prolific Greek composer Manolis Kalomiris (from before he settled in Vienna at the age of 19 to his mid-70s) and reveal the tender and melancholic qualities of his writing. The instrumental compositions interweave with enchanting songs to lyrics by poet Kostis Palamas and Kalomiris himself, among which stands out the rare French version of Je t’aime: Iambes et anapestes – Partie A, for voice, violin and piano. Moreover, along with this special collection of Kalomiris’ works, the concert will also feature two new works written by composition students of the Athens Conservatoire, especially for this occasion and based on themes of the composer.

The importance of the younger generation of musicians presenting these works lies in offering a new, fresh look onto these historical pages of Greek music, connecting Kalomiris’ work with the future while also underlining the continuity of Greek musical creation and the fertile influence of the past heritage on the present, as a source of inspiration.