2nd SACRED MUSIC FESTIVAL

 The Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Greek National Opera and Eurolife FFH present:
2nd Sacred Music Festival
Palm Sunday 28, Holy Monday 29, Holy Tuesday 30 April 2024
More than 50 concerts in churches, museums,
archaeological sites and concert venues
Artistic director Giorgos Koumendakis
Free admission

The Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Greek National Opera and Eurolife FFH present the 2nd Sacred Music Festival, from Palm Sunday 28 April to Holy Tuesday 30 April 2024. The Festival will be held in unique and reverent locations, such as the Presidential Mansion Garden, Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens (Metropolis), St Paul’s Anglican Church, First Greek Evangelical Church, Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite, Fethiye Mosque, Old Stock Exchange of Athens, Acropolis Museum, Modern Greek Culture Museum, Athens Museum of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Hall & Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera in the SNFCC, and Parnassos Literary Society. The Festival, under the artistic direction of Giorgos Koumendakis, will feature a marathon of more than 50 concerts and artistic events, exploring numerous and unexpected aspects of the relationship between religious worship and music.

Following the great success of the 1st Sacred Music Festival in Easter of 2022, which was attended by thousands of spectators, audiences will have another chance to enjoy this reverent experience through a series of events featuring over 500 distinguished and emerging artists, musicians, choristers, singers, cantors, composers, actors, and conductors on April 28th, 29th and 30th 2024, as part of the 2nd Sacred Music Festival.

Acknowledging that the contribution of sacred music to the development and evolution of Western civilisation has been of determining value, the 2nd Sacred Music Festival will present music composed for religious purposes or evoking the divine element. Its focus, however, will be on broader aesthetic and conceptual goals that explore the relationship between the human and the transcendental.

Based on this concept, the programme of the 2nd and exceptionally ambitious Sacred Music Festival hosts a series of rare artistic events, including the return of internationally acclaimed conductor and pianist Constantinos Carydis to the GNO after 22 years, a new composition by the great Lena Platonos that will be presented in the Presidential Mansion Garden, a precious piece composed by the leading baritone Tassis Christoyannis, the world premiere of the chamber suite from the opera Papess Joanne by Yiorgos Vassilandonakis, an unexpected encounter of Mozart’s Requiem with dirges from Epirus by CoGNiMUS Collektiv and Yorgos Ziavras, a special opera gala titled The Final Act Is Always Stained in Blood, Yet Always Wonderful Too! curated by Dimitris Yakas, a “conversation” between Franz Liszt and Paul Claudel conducted by Markellos Chryssicos, and many more.

Great works, melodies, and songs from around the world, spanning from folk tradition to contemporary creation, all centred on worship, will be presented at various venues including the Presidential Mansion Garden, Acropolis Museum, Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens (Metropolis), Fethiye Mosque, First Greek Evangelical Church, Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, Old Stock Exchange of Athens, Stavros Niarchos Hall & Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera in the SNFCC, St Paul’s Anglican Church, Parnassos Literary Society, Museum of Modern Greek Culture, and the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite. Moreover, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Municipality of Chalandri will perform funeral marches during an evening procession starting from the entrance of the Acropolis Museum on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street and ending at Thiseio, on Apostolou Pavlou Street.

Making use of churches of different beliefs, small, medium, and large museums, concert and performance venues, and even outdoor spaces such as pedestrian zones, gardens, and courtyards, the 2nd Sacred Music Festival navigates its path through the urban web, offering a musical journey as a large-scale public artistic and cultural event. This event aims to highlight the significance of music and its relationship with the urban community, the unique gravity of worship rituals, and the experiential connection to diverse musical traditions.

For the 2nd Sacred Music Festival, the Greek National Opera has commissioned 11 new works from well-known and emerging Greek and foreign composers: Lena Platonos, Martha Mavroidi, Tassis Christoyannis, Alexandros Gkonis, Haris Gkatzoflias, Apostolis Koutsogiannis, Lina Tonia, Kharálampos Goyós, Yiorgos Vassilandonakis, Tolga Tüzün, and Panos Iliopoulos. Some of the works have been created in collaboration with distinguished literary figures such as Dimitris Dimitriadis, Pantelis Boukalas, Vangelis Hadziyannidis, Foivos Dousos and others.

In the more than 50 concerts featured in the programme, the audience will have the chance to get acquainted with great sacred music works and others that have been inspired by worship and religious sentiment through artists like Constantinos Carydis, Nicolas Vassiliou, Georgios Konstantinou, Markellos Chryssicos, Yorgos Ziavras, Michalis Papapetrou, Dimitris Yakas, Agathangelos Georgakatos, Konstantina Pitsiakou, Harris Lambrakis, Eirini Patsea, Nikolaos Laaris, Myrtò Bocolini, Martha Frintzila, Argyris Bakirtzis, Lenia Safiropoulou, Anna Stylianaki, Marissia Papalexiou, Yannis Kalyvas, Tassos Apostolou, Thodoris Voutsikakis, Yannis Dionysiou, Anna Agathonos, Chrissa Maliamani, Margarita Syngeniotou, Yannis Christopoulos, Dionysios Sourbis, Anastasia Kotsali, Maria Kostraki, Theodora Baka, Christos Kechris, Marios Sarantidis, Nina Koufochristou, Artemis Bogri, Dimitra Kotidou, Elena Marangou, Georgios Iatrou, Christos Rammopoulos, Karyofyllia Karabeti, Clio-Danae Othoneou, Martha Tomboulidou, Christos Sakellaridis, as well as ensembles such as: CHÓRES, Oros Ensemble, ΜeĪZoΝ Ensemble, CoGNiMUS Collektiv, Polis Ensemble, Εquábili, Athens Chamber Choir, Greek Byzantine Choir, Hellenic Braodcasting Corporation (ERT) Chorus, Mixed Voice Choir of OTE Athens, early music ensemble Ex Silentio, GNO Children’s Chorus, GNO Intercultural Orchestra, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Municipality of Chalandri.

The 2nd Sacred Music Festival will shed light on concepts and emotions such as repentance, reverence, redemption, expiation, forgiveness, and resurrection, through pieces by composers including Respighi, Mozart, Bach, Pärt, Haydn, Rachmaninov, Koukos, Mitropoulos, Skalkottas, Gubaidulina, Borboudakis, Tsontakis, Massenet, Rossini, Poulenc, Sciarrino, Meyerbeer, Honegger, Du Fay, Carrer, Martinů, Debussy, Weinberg, Britten, Palestrina, Liszt, Ramírez, Schnittke, Kancheli, Tsalahouris, and others.

The three-day programme also includes Orthodox and Catholic liturgical music, medieval and Byzantine hymns, pieces from the Mevlevi dervish tradition, Gregorian chants written for the days of the Holy Week, French Baroque, Ottoman, and Latin-American religious music, as well as opera and contemporary music.

The 2nd Sacred Music Festival is the fruit of the joined forces of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Greek National Opera, and Eurolife FFH. The festival’s concept was developed by Giorgos Koumendakis, the Artistic Director of the GNO, who is also responsible for the festival’s artistic direction.

Practical information:

• Admission to all venues will be free and on a first-come, first-served basis, without the need for reservations.

• Reservations will only be required for the concerts that will be given at the GNO Alternative Stage and the Stavros Niarchos Hall in the SNFCC. Advance booking will be made through  ticketservices.gr/en and will start on 22/4 at 09.00.

• The festival’s detailed programme is available online at nationalopera.gr/en & digitalculture.gov.gr. The printed version, to be distributed to audience members, will include a summary programme of the events, and QR codes for reference to the detailed programme on the GNO website.

BELOW YOU CAN FIND THE DETAILED FESTIVAL PROGRAMME, INCLUDING THE PRODUCTIONS & VENUES

2nd SACRED MUSIC FESTIVAL – DETAILED SCHEDULE FOR EACH DAY

Palm Sunday, 28 April 2024
12.30 In sæcula sæculorum Irini Anastasiou, Spyros Arkoudis, George Krimperis
Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite
17.00 The Heavenly City Lena Platonos
Myrtò Bocolini, Nikolas Karagiaouris, Michalis Papapetrou – GNO Children’s Chorus,
Presidential Mansion Garden
17.00 Sacred Dialogues Taxiarchis Georgoulis, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Derya Turkan
Fethiye Mosque (Roman Agora)
17.00 Planh: Western and Eastern Medieval Hymns and Laments Dimitris Kountouras – Ex Silentio
Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation
17.00 Synaxari: Theophilos, Halepas, Papadiamantis
Martha Mavroidi – Pantelis Boukalas
Acropolis Museum (courtyard)
18.00 Sacred Dialogues Taxiarchis Georgoulis, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Derya Turkan
Fethiye Mosque (Roman Agora)
18.30 Meditations on the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross
Joseph Haydn, Fani Vovoni – Christos Thanos
First Greek Evangelical Church
18.30 The Sunset
Ottorino Respighi, Lenia Safiropoulou – Christos Sakellaridis, Athens Quartet
Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation
19.00 The Heavenly City Lena Platonos
Myrtò Bocolini, Nikolas Karagiaouris, Michalis Papapetrou – GNO Children’s Chorus,
Presidential Mansion Garden
19.00 Sacred Dialogues Taxiarchis Georgoulis, Sofia Efkleidou, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Derya Turkan
Fethiye Mosque (Roman Agora)
19.00 From the Omega of Time to the Alpha of Eternity Enkela Kokolani, Michael Kolokotronis, Myrto Talakoudi
Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation
19.30 ΜeĪZoΝ Ensemble Agathangelos Georgakatos
Athens Old Stock Exchange
20.00 In sæcula sæculorum Irini Anastasiou, Spyros Arkoudis, George Krimperis
Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite
20.00 MOIROLÓI | A LAMENT FOR THE LIVING Yorgos Ziavras
GNO Alternative Stage (SNFCC)
Α co-production of CoGNiMUS Collektiv e.V. and the GNO Alternative Stage
20.00 Meditations on the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross
Joseph Haydn, Fani Vovoni – Christos Thanos
First Greek Evangelical Church
20.00 Synaxari: Theophilos, Halepas, Papadiamantis Martha Mavroidi – Pantelis Boukalas
Acropolis Museum (courtyard)
21.00 The Final Act Is Always Stained in Blood, Yet Always Wonderful Too!
Dimitris Yakas curator
Parnassos Literary Society
21.00 The Sunset Ottorino Respighi, Lenia Safiropoulou – Christos Sakellaridis, Athens Quartet
Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation
21.30 Greek Sacred Music Works for Piano Solo and Two Pianos Constantinos Carydis, Nikolaos Laaris
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the GNO (SNFCC)
22.00 God Is Love – 24 Prayers by John Chrysostom Tassis Christoyannis
Athens Old Stock Exchange

Holy Monday, 29 April 2024
17.00 Sacred Dialogues Taxiarchis Georgoulis, Sofia Efkleidou, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Derya Turkan
Fethiye Mosque (Roman Agora)
17.30 The Lesson of Darkness Alexandros Gkonis
St Paul’s Anglican Church
17.30 Confession Haris Gkatzoflias – Dimitris Dimitriadis
Museum of Modern Greek Culture
17.30 Εquábili Female Vocal Ensemble, Agathangelos Georgakatos
Acropolis Museum (interior space, Caryatids)
18.00 Sacred Dialogues Taxiarchis Georgoulis, Sofia Efkleidou, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Derya Turkan
Fethiye Mosque (Roman Agora)
18.30 Point of No Return Apostolis Koutsogiannis – Oros Ensemble
First Greek Evangelical Church
18.30 Confession Haris Gkatzoflias – Dimitris Dimitriadis
Museum of Modern Greek Culture
18.30 Misa criolla Ariel Ramírez, Yannis Dionysiou, Eirini Patsea – GNO Intercultural Orchestra, CHÓRES, Eirini Patsea
Acropolis Museum (courtyard)
19.00 Sacred Dialogues Taxiarchis Georgoulis, Sofia Efkleidou, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Derya Turkan
Fethiye Mosque (Roman Agora)
19.00 The Lesson of Darkness Alexandros Gkonis
St Paul’s Anglican Church
20.00 Misa criolla Ariel Ramírez, Yannis Dionysiou, Eirini Patsea – GNO Intercultural Orchestra, CHÓRES, Eirini Patsea
Acropolis Museum (courtyard)
21.00 Philharmonic Orchestra of the Municipality of Chalandri Kostas Ioannidis
Dionysiou Areopagitou Street (Acropolis Museum) – Apostolou Pavlou Street (Thiseio)
21.00 The Little Russian Easter Nicolas Vassiliou curator
Parnassos Literary Society
21.00 Agli albori Maria Iliana Katsoura, Popi Malapani, Ilias Sdoukos
Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation
21.30 Athens Chamber Choir Agathangelos Georgakatos
Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens
22.30 Greek Byzantine Choir Georgios Konstantinou
Athens Old Stock Exchange

Holy Tuesday, 30 April 2024
17.00 The Flower and Its Scent Harris Lambrakis, Nikos Paraoulakis, Nikos Sidirokastritis, Nektarios Stamatellos
Fethiye Mosque (Roman Agora)
17.30 Crucifixion Lina Tonia
St Paul’s Anglican Church
18.00 The Flower and Its Scent Harris Lambrakis, Nikos Paraoulakis, Nikos Sidirokastritis, Nektarios Stamatellos
Fethiye Mosque (Roman Agora)
18.00 Echoes of Lamentation: A Vocal Exploration Niki Lada, Alessandro Fiordelmondo
Athens Old Stock Exchange
18.00 GNO Children’s Chorus Kharálampos Goyós, Martha Mavroidi, Konstantina Pitsiakou
First Greek Evangelical Church
19.00 The Flower and Its Scent Harris Lambrakis, Nikos Paraoulakis, Nikos Sidirokastritis, Nektarios Stamatellos
Fethiye Mosque (Roman Agora)
19.00 Papess Joanne Yiorgos Vassilandonakis, Michalis Papapetrou
GNO Alternative Stage (SNFCC)
19.30 Crucifixion Lina Tonia
St Paul’s Anglican Church
20.00 Whale in the City or Why Did You Do That? Tolga Tüzün
Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation
20.30 Blessed Are the Breasts That Never Gave Suck… Franz Liszt, Markellos Chryssicos
Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite
21.00 Echoes of Lamentation: A Vocal Exploration Niki Lada, Alessandro Fiordelmondo
Athens Old Stock Exchange
21.30 Whale in the City or Why Did You Do That? Tolga Tüzün
Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation
21.30 The Nostalgia of God Philippos Tsalahouris, Mixed Voice Choir of ΟΤΕ Athens
GNO Alternative Stage (SNFCC)
22.00 Blessed Are the Breasts That Never Gave Suck… Franz Liszt, Markellos Chryssicos
Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite