Singing Memories

Alternative Stage Founding Donor

Major Sponsor of the Greek National Opera

Following a year of artistic fermentation, inspiration, and experimentation, the Greek National Opera’s Composition Workshop Cycle is concluding with three special concert programmes at the GNO Alternative Stage at the SNFCC, on 10, 11, and 12 October 2025, with free admission. This final concert cycle will feature a total of 24 pieces created by both emerging and established artists, 15 of which were commissioned from active members of the Composition Workshop Cycle.  The series of workshops was curated by Tassos Rossopoulos, with Ioannis Angelakis serving as collaborator. The pieces will be performed by the Ergon Ensemble under the baton of Nicolas Vassiliou. These concerts feature a unique collection of contemporary pieces aimed at showcasing the rising generation of composers.

In these three concerts, the new pieces engage in dialogue with compositions created by the mentors and rapporteurs/established artists who supported and guided the composition process with their knowledge and personal styles. Throughout the duration of the Cycle, the contribution of the Ergon Ensemble was of decisive importance, as they allowed the pieces to be tested and developed in real-time through constant collaboration with the composers.

The Composition Workshop Cycle is a new educational and creative initiative of the GNO aimed at supporting the younger generation of composers and enhancing contemporary artistic creation. For a whole year, from September 2024 to September 2025, participants attended monthly two-day meetings that included presentations by composers and musicians, along with composition lessons. The programme was led by three mentors – Ioannis Angelakis, Nicolas Tzortzis, and Dimitra Trypani – and was further enriched by contributions from Kharálampos Goyós, Giorgos Koumendakis, Periklis Liakakis, Minas Borboudakis, and Joseph Papadatos.

Singing Memories
The second concert brings us face-to-face with pieces that converse with memories from the past: voices, songs, texts, traditions. The compositions build bridges or create rifts, illuminating the past as a vibrant organism that sings and resonates in the present – not as a fossil, but as a promise. Some of the works deconstruct the traditional flow of history into fragments and alternating rhythms, while others weave together poetic texts, traditional songs, and modern sound approaches, creating a rich soundscape. The concert invites audiences to reflect on the unrestrained power of imagination to redefine the past and transform experiences into new aesthetic experiences in unexpected ways.

Ioannis Angelakis engages in dialogue with the aria “Lascia ch’io pianga” from Handel’s opera Rinaldo (1711), weaves the contradictions of disparate materials into a seamless unity between voices, instruments, and electronics, and reveals memory as fragile, distorted, and derailed. Margarita Ermidou converses with the world of Epirus’ folk song and focuses on a delicate balance between tradition and contemporary performance techniques. Giorgos Koumendakis reworks and recomposes the Smyrnaic songs of Marika Papagika, preserving their energy, subtlety, and authenticity, and constructs an original transition from past to future with no return. Finally, Dimitra Trypani draws on Pantelis Boukalas’ book The Oracle (1994), which evokes the prophetic words of Tiresias in a new form, unfamiliar from the Attic tragedies. The works of the second concert build bridges or create fractures, highlighting the past as a living organism that sings and resonates in the present—not as a fossil but as a promise. They invite us to reflect on the unrestrained power of imagination to redefine our traditions and transform our past into new aesthetic experiences in unexpected ways.

Programme
KHARÁLAMPOS GOYÓS
I Was Rejected for Lack of Originality
Suite from the opera Anthony’s Death
for string quintet‡§** (2025)
— “As I was watching him fall…”
— Intermezzo I: ”Unnatural stuff”
— “A cousin of mine used to say…”
— Intermezzo II: ”Don’t talk nonsense”
— “The others have got the hounds”
— Intermezzo III: ”Paule!”
— “Lucia! Dead!…”
— Intermezzo IV: ”In those days”
— Recapitulation: ”We, that keep missing
the target”
duration 15’

GIORGOS VAVOULAS
Sigma Dia Epsilon
for male voice and ensemble†**†† (2025)
duration 7’

ANDREAS TSIARTAS
Vorvópila
for mezzo soprano and string
quartet‡§‖ (2025)
based on poetry by Vassilis Michaelides,
in an adaptation and with original text
by Andreas Tsiartas
duration 14’

Intermission

IOANNIS ANGELAKIS
[ lived__space ]
for trombone, violin,* double bass
and electronics (2025)
duration 14’

MARGARITA ERMIDOU
I Reminisce and Rejoice
for tenor, trombone, cello‖ and piano‡‡ (2025)
duration 6’

GIORGOS KOUMENDAKIS
Point of No Return
for string quartet*†** (2008)
duration 14’

DIMITRA TRYPANI
The Guardian
for cello,** double bass, bass drum
and choral ensemble (2025)
Text by Pantelis Boukalas (excerpt from his
book The Oracle, Agra Publications, 1994)
duration 4’

Brief biographical notes 

Nicolas Vassiliu
Born in Athens, he received his piano diploma from the Greek National Conservatory (1991) under the tutelage of Ηara Kalomiri. He attended classes at Juilliard School in New York and continued his conducting studies at Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow with an Athens Academy Scholarship and an Alexander Gibson Scholarship. He has given many concerts at the Literary Society Parnassos Hall and participated in various cultural events in multiple cities in Greece. He has worked as a music teacher in secondary education and at Philippos Nakas Conservatory; since 1995, he has also taught piano and choral conducting at the Greek National Conservatory in Athens. As chorus master of the Manolis Kalomiris Children’s Choir (1992–2000), he has performed at the GNO, Athens Epidaurus Festival and Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall. Since 1994, he has worked as a répétiteur for more than 60 GNO productions, including Turandot, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, Die Fledermaus, etc. He was first appointed Assistant Chorus Master of the GNO (2001–2003), and later Chorus Master from 2005 to 2011. Since 2011, he has been Assistant Conductor of the GNO Orchestra. He was Studies Advisor of the GNO Opera Studio. As a conductor, he has worked with Athens State Orchestra, Orchestra of Colours and GNO Orchestra, while several of his works have been performed at Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall.

Niki Lada
Mezzo-soprano (Falcon) from Thessaloniki, she has been described as a skilled performer with a strong stage presence and highly developed expressive abilities. She specialises in 20th-century repertoire and contemporary music. She studied melodrama, voice, and English literature in Greece, followed by a master’s degree in lyric voice and opera at the Francesco Morlacchi Conservatory of Music in Perugia, a second-level master’s degree in 20th- and 21st-century music and musical theatre at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Music in Ravenna, and a specialisation in contemporary music at the Divertimento Ensemble Academy in Milan. She has performed at international festivals and theatres such as the Imola International Music Festival, DAMSLab Bologna, Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan, Teatro Litta in Milan, Rondò in Monferrato, Delian Academy, ilSUONO Contemporary Music Week, Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, etc. She has collaborated with such composers as Marco Momi, Marco Di Bari, Vito Palumbo, Zesses Seglias, Alexandros Spyrou, and such ensembles as Divertimento Ensemble, Suono Giallo, Opificio Sonoro, Icarus vs Muzak. In 2025, she played the lead role in Nicolas Tzortzis’ The Dead Man and the Resurrection at the Greek National Opera, while in 2024 she presented Vito Palumbo’s Skin V at Domus Ars in Naples, a work which was composed for her. In 2020, she was chosen by Franck Bedrossian to perform his work Lamento. She lives in Florence and teaches at the Nino Rota Conservatory of Music in Monopoli.

Christos Kechris
Greek tenor, born in Athens. His repertoire includes a wide range of roles and works from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, music of the 20th century as well as contemporary experimental musical creation. He collaborates regularly as a soloist with the GNO (Stavros Niarchos Hall and Alternative Stage), Athens State Orchestra, Armonia Atenea, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation Symphony Orchestra, Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, Ergon Ensemble, Latinitas Nostra, Athens Municipality Symphony Orchestra, National Theatre of Greece, Greek Art Theatre Karolos Koun, Athens Epidaurus Festival, Athens and Thessaloniki Concert Halls, Onassis Stegi. He has collaborated with orchestras and theatres in Switzerland (Opéra de Lausanne, Opéra de Fribourg), Germany (Passau State Opera, Schlosstheater Celle, Amberg Symphony Orchestra, Landshut State Theatre), Austria (Purpur Orchestra, Vienna), Italy (Teatro Verdi Gorizia), Malta (Teatru Manoel), Lithuania (Banchetto Musicale Vilnius), Slovenia (Seviqc Brežice Festival), Turkey (Borusan İstanbul Philharmonic Orchestra), France (Opéra national de Lorraine), Croatia (Festival Kvarner) and the recording company Deutsche Grammophon.

ERGON ENSEMBLE
Ergon Ensemble performs works of contemporary music and has created a sensation with its performances at the Onassis Stegi, Athens Epidaurus Festival, Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall, GNO, and at other venues, receiving praise for its exciting and meticulous interpretations. The ensemble aims to promote contemporary masterpieces of the current and recent international repertoire. At the same time, it promotes Greek works to the international music stage. The ensemble was founded in 2008; its members are exceptionally talented musicians who have participated in the past at the International Academy of Ensemble Modern. A flexible ensemble, with its core formation further reinforced, depending on the project, by a great number of guest artists, specialising in avant-garde music. In addition to concerts, the ensemble has made recordings, educational projects and productions that combine different forms of art, such as dance, music theatre and multimedia. It has performed in various festivals and productions in Greece and Europe.

The Composition Workshop Cycle is held as part of the work “Sub. 6.6 Outreach activities of the Greek National Opera for the promotion of  contemporary and modern Greek culture.”