Booking for the GNO Alternative Stage productions from October to December 2026 opens on 31 July 2026

GNO Box Office & ticketservices.gr

Booking for the Greek National Opera Alternative Stage productions at the SNFCC from October to December 2026 opens on Friday, 31 July 2026 at 12.00.

Τhe GNO Alternative Stage launches the 2026/27 season on 2 October 2026 with the new GNO Ballet production To Have Been So Close So Many Times. Set to run for six performances, the production brings together modern dance, music theatre, Giorgos Koumendakis’ music, and Constantine P. Cavafy’s poetry in a creative dialogue, featuring choreographies by Patricia Apergi, Ilias Hatzigeorgiou, and Eva Georgitsopoulou, as well as a sculptural installation by visual artist Petros Touloudis.

In October, the Alternative Stage will present two festival cycles that highlight different aspects of musical creation: the Byzantine Music Days and the Contemporary Music Days. The Byzantine Music Days, curated by Zaharias Karounis, will feature four unique concerts highlighting the tradition of Byzantine music and its contemporary manifestations. Historical choirs, distinguished chief cantors, new voices, and female psaltic ensembles will present the wealth of a musical legacy that remains creatively present. At the same time, the Contemporary Music Days, curated by Ioannis Angelakis, will offer a multifaceted cycle of 18 concerts dedicated to contemporary musical creation, featuring 6 new commissions, premieres, and tributes to emblematic figures of the 20th and 21st centuries. The programme titled Multiple Presents, includes tributes to György Kurtág, György Ligeti, and Georges Aperghis; concerts by the Ergon Ensemble under the musical direction of Nicolas Vassiliou, the ERT Choir in a debut collaboration with the Greek Composers’ Union, and TETTTIX; as well as an anniversary concert by the ARTéfacts ensemble.

In November, the Early Music Days festival will feature nine concerts exploring the repertoire from the Middle Ages onward, presented through historically informed performances and contemporary readings. The festival will highlight the timeless vibrancy of early music and its relationship to the present. The programme unfolds in two thematic cycles. The First Cycle, titled The Age of Revolutions and curated by Dimos Goudaroulis, will present a tribute to Beethoven featuring two major exponents of early music from the global scene: the French violoncellist and gambist Christophe Coin and the Japanese violinist Shunske Sato. The Second Cycle, titled Active Pasts and curated by Markellos Chryssicos, will feature the performance Timoleon and Julia: A Baroque Story of Cross-Dressing, directed by Argyro Chioti and co-produced with the National Theatre of Greece. |

December will see the return of two successful Alternative Stage productions, giving audiences the chance to reconnect with works that stood out for their artistic quality and impact: the hilarious opera Viva la mamma! – a subversive take on Gaetano Donizetti’s comic work Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali, directed by Sofia Paschou –, and the shadow puppet opera Karagiozis as Rigoletto, written by Dimitris Dimopoulos and Alexandros Melissinos.

More specifically, tickets for the following GNO Alternative Stage productions will go on sale:

Music theatre – Dance • New production
Giorgos Koumendakis / GNO Ballet
To Have Been So Close So Many Times
2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 October 2026

Byzantine Music Days
Genres and generations of contemporary psaltic art
21, 22, 23, 24 October 2026

Contemporary Music Days
Multiple Presents
25, 29, 30, 31 October & 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 November 2026

Early Music Days
FIRST CYCLE • The Age of Revolutions | 19, 20, 21, 22 November 2026
SECOND CYCLE • Active Pasts | 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 November 2026

Opera • Revival
Gaetano Donizetti
Viva la mamma!
12, 13, 15, 17, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30 December 2026 & 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 January 2027

Shadow Puppet Opera • Revival
Alexandros Melissinos / Dimitris Dimopoulos

Karagiozis as Rigoletto
13, 19, 20, 24, 26, 27, 31 December 2026 & 2, 3, 7, 9 January 2027

Ticket outlets:

> Box Office of the Greek National Opera, SNFCC, tel.: 2130885700, daily 9.00-21.00

> Group sales: 2130885742

> www.ticketservices.gr & Ticket Services Box Office, 39 Panepistimiou St www.nationalopera.gr

The Greek National Opera is funded by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture

Major Sponsor of the GNO: PPC

Alternative Stage Founding Donor: Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)