Orchestras and Artists in Residence
ATHENS STATE ORCHESTRA
The Athens State Orchestra is the oldest orchestral ensemble in Greece. Founded in the late 19th century as the Athens Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, it went through various names as well as forms of operation. Its first concert as the Athens State Orchestra was held on February 28th, 1943.
Ever since its foundation, the Athens State Orchestra has been offering to the Greek audience the opportunity to get acquainted with the masterpieces of the world’s repertoire, while it’s the main interpreter of the local music. It has achieved a consistent presence on the Greek cultural scene, performing more than fifty concerts per year. Besides Athens, the Athens State Orchestra regularly appears in many Greek cities, as well as in prestigious venues and festivals abroad. Its social and educational program throughout Greece is quite significant.
Over its long history, the Athens State Orchestra has performed under the direction of eminent conductors such as Richard Strauss, Felix Weingartner, Hans Knappertsbusch, Bruno Walter, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eugen Jochum, Igor Markevitch, Lorin Maazel, Clemens Krauss, Yuri Temirkanov, Michel Plasson, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Vladimir Fedoseyef and has accompanied outstanding soloists, among whom Arthur Rubenstein, Wilhelm Kempff, Alfred Cortot, Fritz Kreisler, Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals, Vadim Repin, Gidon Kremer, Mstislav Rostropovich, Alfred Brendel, Daniel Barenboim, Martha Argerich, Elisabeth Leonskaya and Leonidas Kavakos.
Former Artistic Directors of the Orchestra have been Filoktitis Oikonomidis, Theodoros Vavagiannis, Andreas Paridis, Manos Hadjidakis, Giannis Ioannidis, Alexandros Symeonidis, Aris Garoufalis, Byron Fidetzis, Vassilis Christopoulos and Stefanos Tsialis. Since October 2020, Loukas Karytinos is the actual Artistic Director of the Athens State Orchestra.
INFORMATION
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MEGARON, THE ATHENS CONCERT HALL
Vass. Sofias Ave. & 1 Kokkali Str., 115 21 Athens, Greece
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TELEPHONE
+30 210 725 7601-3
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FAX
+30 210 725 7600
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EMAIL
info@koa.gr
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WEBSITE
GREEK YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra (GYSO) was founded in 2017 by conductor Dionysis Grammenos, consisting of young Greek musicians from all parts of Greece and abroad. Based on the respective european standards of National Youth Orchestras, the GYSO aims to identify, train and promote young Greek musicians in the symphonic and operatic repertoire, while offering them the opportunity to participate in concerts and collaborate with internationally renowned artists, conductors, soloists and tutors.
The GYSO’s work has been recognized internationally with its selection as a member of the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras (EFNYO), where it is the only representation from Greece. Inter alia, this collaboration provides its musicians with the opportunity to represent the Orchestra abroad, collaborating with other National Youth Orchestras, in the framework of the MusXchange programme, which is supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme.
In November 2024, the GYSO will make its historic debut at the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage of Carnegie Hall, in New York, under the baton of Dionysis Grammenos.
The most notable performances of the orchestra include its two concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin, as part of the international Young Euro Classic festival. In 2021, the GYSO performed selected “Greek Dances” by Skalkottas and Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony. This concert was held as part of the Orchestra’s summer tour in Delphi, Corfu and Berlin, with an anniversary programme dedicated to the 200 years since the Greek Revolution, which took place under the auspices of HE the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou. In 2023, the GYSO was invited for the opening concert of the festival, presenting works by Brahms, Liszt and Grøndahl.
It is also the first orchestra to be invited by the Hellenic Parliament to perform at the Parliament Mansion, as part of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament of CoE member states, in October 2021. The concert was broadcasted live via tv-channels and web to all the European Parliaments.
Among the significant moments of the GYSO were also its performances in the halls of the Greek National Opera at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, as well as the collaboration with the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, where musicians of the orchestra participated in concerts in Athens and Ravenna, performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, under the baton of conductor Riccardo Muti. In July 2023, the GYSO was honoured to receive an invitation by HE the President of the Hellenic Republic to present a concert at the Presidential Mansion, as part of the celebration of the 49th anniversary of the Restoration of Democracy in Greece.
Other highlights of the Orchestra’s trajectory include the commissioning of new works to Greek composers, as well as video recordings, with the most prominent one being Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, conducted by Johannes Debus, Music Director of the Canadian Opera Company.
Leading international artists have performed with the GYSO, including Johannes Debus, Anna Fedorova, Anneleen Lenaerts, Daniel Ottensamer, Vassilis Varvaresos, Hyeyoon Park, Eivind Ringstad, Alexandra Soumm, Michael Barenboim, as well as actor Aimilios Chilakis.
Being education the key focus, the GYSO also carries out a series of activities to familiarize young audiences with symphonic music, giving them the opportunity to interact creatively with the members of the orchestra through open rehearsals, seminars and workshops. At the same time, the GYSO is the first orchestra in Greece to use virtual reality technology through the innovative ELSON VR project, offering the audience an unprecedented experience of viewing classical music concerts.
Participation of young musicians in the GYSO’s programmes and other activities is free of charge, through the funding that the orchestra secures. Its work is supported by the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, which is its Founding Donor, the Hellenic Parliament, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Bank of Greece, The Hellenic Initiative, AEGEAS, the Bodossaki Foundation, the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, the Social and Cultural Affairs Welfare Foundation and Aegean Airlines, as its official air carrier sponsor.
Since 2020, the GYSO is an Orchestra in Residence at Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall.
INFORMATION
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MEGARON, THE ATHENS CONCERT HALL
Vass. Sofias Ave. & 1 Kokkali Str., 115 21 Athens, Greece
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ΤELEPHONE
+30 210 728 2342
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EMAIL
info@elson.gr
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WEBSITE
CAMERATA JUNIOR, THE FRIENDS OF MUSIC YOUTH ORCHESTRA
Camerata Junior is an orchestra in residence at Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall. It was established in 2010 by The Friends of Music Society, as part of their educational programme, with the aim of offering to young talented musicians the opportunity to gain the experience of studying, rehearsing and performing together in a music ensemble.
Dimitri Semsis, concertmaster of the Athens State Orchestra, the first to undertake the task of selecting and teaching the young musicians, has been succeeded in 2018 by Niko Haliasas, eminent conductor and violinist of the Athens State Orchestra. Camerata Junior Orchestra hosts two separate groups, one with children and one with adolescents, and counts 60 in all members, aged from 9 to 25, frequently renewed after audition, when some of them are ready to begin a professional career. The two groups join the Orchestra for free, a cost that is covered by The Friends of Music Society and the various supporters of it. The Orchestra offers a distinct education with maestro Niko Haliasas in Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall, where it also appears frequently in concerts.
Camerata Junior has often performed at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, at the Kalamata Dance Megaron, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, at the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus, as well as in venues all around Attica and Greece (Trikala, Larissa, Argos, Tinos, Andros Festival, Naflion Festival etc). The Orchestra has interpreted pieces written especially for its purposes by the composers George Kouroupos, Apostolos Darlas and Panos Foundas and has also played with talented soloists, either Greek young artists selected after audition or renowned professionals. Among the wide repertory of the Orchestra some works have been presented for the fist time in Greece or even worldwide.
From 2022-2023 onwards, the Camerata Junior is kindly sponsored by Mrs Fotini Livanou.
INFORMATION
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MEGARON, THE ATHENS CONCERT HALL
Vass. Sofias Ave. & 1 Kokkali Str., 115 21 Athens, Greece
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TELEPHONE
210 728 2566-7
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EMAIL
sfm@megaron.gr
DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU
Born in Athens in 1964, Dimitris Papaioannou gained early recognition as a painter and comics artist, before his focus shifted to the performing arts, as director, choreographer, performer, and designer of sets, costumes, make up, and lighting. He was a student of the iconic Greek painter Yannis Tsarouchis before studying at the Athens School of Fine Arts.
He formed Edafos Dance Theatre, in 1986 as an initial vehicle for his original stage productions, hybrids of physical theatre, experimental dance, and performance art.
Originating in the underground scene, the company challenged perceptions and gained an expanding number of dedicated followers. MEDEA (1993) marked the company’s transition to big theatres and is considered its iconic work. The Edafos company spanned 17 years, to 2002, and set its indelible stamp on the arts scene in Greece.
Papaioannou became widely known in 2004, as the creator of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games.
Restarting in 2006, with his production ‘2’, he found himself in the odd position of creating avant-garde works in major theatres in Athens that enjoyed record-breaking long runs, with over 100.000 tickets sold.
In 2009, he began using this platform to create theatrical experiments on a large scale: NOWHERE (2009) for the inauguration of the renovated Greek National Theatre and INSIDE (2011) for the Pallas Theater.
In 2012, stripping down his work to bare essentials, he created PRIMAL MATTER for the Athens Festival, with him back on stage after a ten-year absence.
On the same quest for simplicity, he created STILL LIFE in 2014, the first work that toured extensively in Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia.
In 2015, he created the Opening Ceremony for the Baku 2015 First European Games.
Papaioannou’s 25 productions range from mass spectacles with thousands of performers to intimate pieces and have appeared in a wide variety of venues, from his famous underground squat theater in Athens, to the ancient theatre in Epidaurus, and from Olympic stadiums to Théâtre de la Ville – Paris, and Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza.
In 2017, he created THE GREAT TAMER, his first international co-commissioned work with ten co-producers, including the Festival d’Avignon. THE GREAT TAMER made an international tour until 2019, when it was also presented at sold out performances at Megaron the Athens Concert Hall.
In 2018, Dimitris became the first artist to create a new, full-length work for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. SINCE SHE premiered on 12 May 2018 in Germany.
In 2020, Dimitris premiered INK. The 55min duet performed by Šuka Horn and Dimitris Papaioannou premiered at the Torinodanza Festival and has been invited to the 75th Festival d’Avignon in 2021. The Greek premiere of INK will be in January 2022 at Megaron the Athens Concert Hall.
His latest work TRANSVERSE ORIENTATION (2021), originally scheduled to premiere at ONASSIS SETGI in Athens, premiered on 2 June 2021 at the Biennale de la Danse de Lyon in France, and will tour to more than 30 cities in 2021 + 2022.
Megaron the Athens Concert Hall has been hosting Dimitris and his team during the creation, preparation and rehearsals of his works since 2017.
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