CHÓRES & CHORDAE

Lead Donor of the GNO

The CHÓRES female choral ensemble presents a unique concert at the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera, on Wednesday 11 June 2025 at 20.30. Featuring their full line-up as well as the newly-founded chamber choir CHORDAE, CHÓRES propose a rich programme of polyphonic music where classic choral adaptations of traditional Greek and international melodies are intertwined with newer arrangements and compositions, many of them written especially for the ensemble by distinguished contemporary composers.

After a busy season full that started with their participation in the 50-member chorus of Aeschylus’ The Suppliants, co-produced by the Neos Kosmos Theatre and the Karolos Koun Greek Art Theatre, which was presented at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus and toured throughout Greece, and went on with exciting performances in iconic Athens venues such as the Zappeion Hall, the Athens Old Stock Exchange, Pireos 260 and the Great Hall of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, momentous occasions such as the 3rd GNO Sacred Music Festival, as well as the release of the films How to Build a Choir – Mystery_96 CHÓRES, in collaboration with the 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, and Carols of Spring, the CHÓRES female choral ensemble returns to the Stavros Niarchos Hall and the core of its basic repertoire. With the onstage participation of more than 140 women, CHÓRES approach these diverse compositions with the fresh and unconventional spirit that characterises this up-and-coming, unique ensemble, illuminating traditional musical material in modern and unexpected ways, and highlighting the uncommon vocal skills of their members.

Furthermore, after its extremely successful first appearance at the German Evangelical Church in Athens last May, the newly formed chamber equal-voice choir CHORDAE makes its second public appearance, focusing on works from the Greek and international contemporary classical repertoire.

The concert programme includes works by composers Michael Adamis, Alkis Baltas, Lajos Bárdos, Franz Biebl, Simela Emmanouilidou, Giannis Giannakos, Kharálampos Goyós, Yannis Ioannidis, Petros Klampanis, Zoltán Kodály, Nikos Kypourgos, Petar Lyondev, Martha Mavroidi, Margarita Papadimitriou, Christos Samaras, Nikos Skalkottas, Angelos Triantafyllou and Philippos Tsalahouris, as well as traditional songs. Marina Satti is the artistic director of the ensemble, which is led by its regular choirmistresses Eirini Patsea, Christina Poupalou and Simela Emmanouilidou, and choreographed by Stavros Alexandros Ikbal.

About the CHÓRES female choral ensemble
CHÓRES is an artistic incubator created by Marina Satti in order to cultivate its members’ skills in music, dance and acting as well as to develop artists with a broad education and social awareness. CHÓRES experiment on the interconnection of diverse aesthetic and cultural elements, transcending the boundaries of geography or age and utilising various means of expression. More than 150 women aged between 15 and 60 regularly practise the whole spectrum of performance arts. Their eclectic repertoire includes traditional Greek songs, songs from the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, original compositions and folksong arrangements by numerous Greek and international composers, several of which were written expressly for the ensemble. CHÓRES regularly collaborate with the Greek National Opera as a resident ensemble, having taken part in many concerts, theatre productions, social and educational activities, and choral festivals in Greece and abroad.

About the CHORDAE chamber choir
The chamber choir CHORDAE was founded in the autumn of 2024 under the umbrella of the CHÓRES choral family and its artistic director Marina Satti, and has been active ever since under the direction and artistic guidance of conductor Eirini Patsea. The ensemble aims to study and perform classical repertoire for equal voices and is comprised of female music students and amateur choristers who are interested in delving into the classical choral style, developing their vocal, polyphonic and interpretive skills, and deepening their stylistic knowledge of the choral repertoire. The repertoire on which the ensemble has focused so far ranges from Renaissance polyphony, through the rich choral repertoire of 20th century Central Europe, to contemporary international and Greek composers.