Co-OPERAtive presents (ANOTHER) WINTER JOURNEY | GNO Learning & Participation

Admission will be free upon priority vouchers

that will be exclusively distributed via ticketservices, starting from 2 June at 12.00

Co-OPERAtive, the first intercultural youth opera hub in Europe, will complete its fifth year by presenting a new music theatre performance titled (Another) Winter Journey—a contemporary piece inspired by Franz Schubert’s emblematic song cycle Winterreise. The performance will feature a mixed group of Athenian teenagers and unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors who were involved in the educational programme, alongside the GNO Intercultural Choir, on Saturday, 7 June 2025, at 19:30, in the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. Admission will be free for the public.

Through Panos Iliopoulos’ musical adaptation and Vasilis Vilaras’ directorial eye, the performance portrays the inner journey of adolescence, engaging in a conversation with universal questions: fear, loneliness, hope, loss, first loves, and change. Vasilis Vilaras and Lemonia Gianniri’s dramaturgy weaves a mosaic of confessions, songs, movements, and experiences, creating a non-linear narrative, in which Schubert’s adapted music serves as an inner mechanism of memory and transformation. The stage is turned into a place where different languages and cultures meet, where adolescent participants narrate, sing, and dance their own stories, while the Intercultural Choir of the GNO serves as a collective consciousness: sometimes urging, other times advising, and at times looking back on the past, while always hoping. Ilias Hatzigeorgiou is responsible for the movement, Pavlos Thanopoulos created the sets and costumes, and Vasia Attarian designed the lighting. Markellos Chryssicos conducts the performance on the harpsichord. The music workshops were led by Markellos Chryssicos, the theatre workshops by Giota Kouitzoglou, and the dance workshops by Ilias Hatzigeorgiou.

The performance was born out of a months-long creative process, involving teenagers from various social and cultural backgrounds who met weekly at the GNO rehearsal rooms to share, experiment, and ultimately create a joint project. The educational programme Co-OPERAtive was launched in 2019, and in that same year, it was awarded by the European Organization FEDORA. Since then, it has continued to evolve and expand its network of collaborations, aiming to bring opera closer to young audiences while highlighting the cultural diversity of modern Athens and the significance of social cohesion.

(Another) Winter Journey is a performance that concerns us all: all those who once were teenagers, all those who feel like teenagers, those raising children, and, of course, those who believe in the power of art as an act of inclusion and acceptance.

Co-OPERAtive was implemented in close collaboration with Kinoniko EKAV, European Expression, Home Project, and Zeuxis.

The performance will be fully accessible providing an inclusive audiovisual experience for all audiences in collaboration with ATLAS E.P. In this context, there will be designated seats for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and use Greek Sign Language, places for those who rely on captions (CAPS) covering the entire audio channel, as well as seats for individuals who are blind or have limited access to the visual channel of communication and use the audio description (AD) service. Guide dogs for the visually impaired will also be permitted.

The full accessibility services for this production are funded by the Ministry of Culture, as part of the project“SUB.1.1.6 Attracting 65+ individuals and persons with disabilities to events of the Greek National Opera”. This project is implemented as part of the “Greece 2.0 - National Recovery and Resilience Plan” with funds from the European Union-NextGeneration EU.

GNO Learning & Participation
Co-OPERAtive: International Opera Hub for Teenagers

(Another) Winter Journey
Based on Franz Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise
Music theatre performance

Saturday 7 June 2025 • Starts at: 19.30
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC
Admission will be free upon priority vouchers that will be exclusively distributed via ticketservices, starting from 2 June at 12.00.

Audience members who wish to use the accessibility services are requested to purchase their tickets at the GNO Box Office, over the phone at 2130885700, or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you need assistance with your reservation, you can also contact ATLAS E.P. at 6993507553 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Musical adaptation, arrangement: Panos Iliopoulos
Texts, lyrics: Vasilis Vilaras, Lemonia Gianniri – In collaboration with the group of teenagers involved in the programme
Conductor: Markellos Chryssicos
Stage director: Vasilis Vilaras
Sets, costumes: Pavlos Thanopoulos
Movement supervision: Ilias Hatzigeorgiou
Lighting: Vasia Attarian

Featuring a mixed group of Athenian and unaccompanied asylum-seeking teenagers from Kinoniko EKAV, European Expression, and Zeuxis.

Instrumental ensemble: Omar Abozekry ney, Kostas Gatsios  clarinet, Spyros Moschonas trombone, Panos Iliopoulos piano, Markellos Chryssicos harpsichord, Eleftheria Toya viola, Sofia Efkleidou cello, Giorgos Arnis  double bass

Featuring the GNO Intercultural Choir
Choir mistress: Anna Linardou
Musiacl preparation: Dimitra Kokkinopoulou

Members of the GNO Intercultural Choir: Foteini Adam, Marianna Andrikidi, Katalin Ángyán, Vasiliki Antonaki, Aspa Aroni-Kotsali, Hila Assor, Periklis Bakogeorgos, Èva Bànhidi, Ayșe Ferliel Barounos, Giorgos Boufidis, Stavroula Chante, Vanessa Constantopoulou, Constantinos Demetriou, Kosmas Dendrinos, Penny Diamantakou, Vassiliki Filippou, Romaysaa Gamal, Malamatenia Gkotsi, Malgorzata Goj, Yaman Junaid, Natalia Kali, Elida Kalpogianni, Chrysanthi Karagiannaki, Christos Karakostas, Konstantina Karameri, Nina Karamolegou, Eirini Karmoiri, Vasso Katte, Aspa Kokkali, Niki-Maria Koskina, Kostis Kotoulas, Vasiliki Lemonia Orfanou, Anna Mesanagrenou, Eleftheria Mesimeri, Alexandra Methenitou, Mara Mourtzou, Zeynep Namli, Hanna Onyshchenko, Konstantina Papathanasiou,            Marianna Primikyriou, Tatyana Rodionova, Natasa Roustani, Mohamed Tayeb, Kaiti Yuvanou

Music workshop leader: Markellos Chryssicos
Assistant for music workshops: Antigoni Gogki
Theatre workshop leader: Giota Kouitzoglou
Dance workshop leader: Ilias Hatzigeorgiou 

In collaboration with

GNO Learning and Participation Lead Donor