Drum’n’Breath | Arrhythmic Percussion Group, Jannis Anissegos

Alternative Stage Founding Donor

 Major Sponsor of the Greek National Opera

Distinguished flutist from the Thessaloniki State Orchestra Jannis Anissegos joins forces with the percussion musical ensemble Arrhythmic Percussion, consisting of Kostas Argyropoulos, Dimitris Zacharakis, Panagio Karamouzi, and Kazuyo Tsunehiro, to present a concert titled Drum’n’Breath.

This special concert is based on the rare and aesthetically appealing combination of flute and percussion. The five excellent musicians explore sound through physicality, rhythm, and breathing, rejuvenating original pieces through rare combinations that traverse the line between sound’s lyricism and ritualistic power.

The concert programme features pieces by prominent modern music composers: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Arvo Pärt, George Crumb, Iannis Xenakis, and André Jolivet. These five composers, hailing from different origins and backgrounds, share a common vision: to explore the mystery and rituals of all primitive expressions of humanity through the use of two of the earliest musical instruments, percussion and the flute.

 The unadorned sounds of Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s triangles create the setting for a brief ceremony. Fratres is one of the most characteristic works of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s musical style known as tintinnabula, which he describes as follows: “the moment and the eternity competing within us”. An Idyll for the Misbegotten, for flute and three percussionists by American composer George Crumb, is a human-centric piece with many theatrical elements. Iannis Xenakis’ Okho, written for the 200^th anniversary of the French Revolution, makes use of the exotic timbres of three djembes. Finally, in André Jolivet’s piece Suite en concert, four percussion instruments take the role of a full orchestra, as its alternative title is Concerto for flute No. 2.

The production “2nd PERCUSSION FESTIVAL OF THE GNO ALTERNATIVE STAGE” is part of the GNO Alternative Stage’s unit of programming titled “CYCLE OF THEMATIC CONCERTS”, which falls under the ACT “FESTIVAL EVENTS OF THE GNO ALTERNATIVE STAGE 2024-2025” » (MIS 6002467) with code 2024ΕΠ08570049 (Priority: “Fostering regional social cohesion through the enhancement of mechanisms and infrastructure to support employment, education, health care and socioeconomic inclusion” of the programme “Attica 2021-2027) and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and National Resources.