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Opening ceremony

  

Dr. Athanasios Simoglou

 

Dr. Athanasios Simoglou, is the composer  who made great success in the way he framed the great sensual poet Cavafy with his essential music. His unique music impressed even the Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. After the great success of Cavafy trilogy [(first and second CD titled «Cavafy- Shades of Love » and « Return »  now with  the music from his  third CD entitled «Theissis»(” Prayer “)] he and the famous Greek soprano Vasiliki Karayianni will open the conference.

Dr. Simoglou  was born in 1954, in Didymoteicho of Evros, in Greece and from 1964 until 1970, he was a member of the Didymoteicho Municipal Philharmonic band, as a leader trumpeter. At the age of 14 he began creating his first music compositions and sketches, which are either vocal or purely instrumental. During 1970 and 1974, he studied piano and music composition at the National Conservatory of Northern Greece and between 1974 and 1981, he studied medicine combined with his doctoral (PhD) dissertation in the University of Milan in Italy. During the same period, he was attending seminars on orchestration, composition techniques and music aesthetics, at Giuseppe-Verdi Konsevatorium in Milan.

Since 1982 (until today) he lives and works in Stuttgart, Germany, practicing general medicine in his private clinic. In parallel he continues to compose music.

 

Soloist, Soprano Antonia Kalogirou

She was born in Athens and studied piano under Max Hallecker and voice at the Hellenic Conservatory of Music & Arts under Yolanda Di Tasso. On a Maria Callas scholarship, she continued her studies abroad under Jane Berbie, Jose van Dam and Arigo Pola. She has also attended seminars by D. Chorafas, R. Knoll, Sheryll Milnes, Ghena Dimitrova, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, as well as a seminar at the Opera Studio of the National Academy of St Cecilia in Rome under the instruction of Renata Scotto. She has participated and excelled in international competitions (Giuseppe Verdi in Parma and Tito Schipa). In 1997 she won First Prize in the Maria Callas international competition in the category Oratorio-Leid. She debuted in 1995, singing the role of Dido in Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas. Since then and until 2012, she appeared in a number of opera productions and/or revivals by the GNO: A masked ball [Un ballo in maschera] (as Amelia), The Secret Marriage [Il matrimonio segreto] (as Elisetta), The Magic Flute [Die Zauberflöte] (as Pamina), Carmen (as Micaela), La bohème (as Mimi), Pagliacci (as Nedda), Nabucco (as Anna) and Kostas Karyotakis (as Queen). She appeared at the Athens Concert Hall in the opera La traviata (as Annina), under the baton of Richard Bonynge. She has also worked with the Opera of Thessaloniki, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of Colours, the Athens State Orchestra, and has given recitals in Greece and abroad (Cyprus, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway). Her repertoire includes, inter alia, Baroque works and cantatas by Bach.

Mr. Markos Kotsias

The pianist Markos Kotsias was born in 1986 in Athens, taking first piano lessons in 1999 with George Ioannidis and completing his musical and piano studies with honors in Phillippos Nakas Conservatory (A. Papastefanou’s class) and Musikhochschule Stuttgart, Germany (class of prof. A. Marchand). He won First Prize on Yamaha’s YMFE piano competition 2008. He participated in piano masterclasses (K.Gerstein, P.Nagy, F. Nicolosi), performed in series of recitals and chamber music concerts in Germany and Greece and is distinguished as a soloist and singer accompanist with both classical and modern greek music repertoire, having played alongside numerous acclaimed artists. From time to time he is playing and recording with various greek modern music and world music ensembles. He collaborated with soprano Sonia Theodoridou appearing by her side in concert halls throughout Greece and eastern europe. He participated in the recordings of K.P.Kavafy’s symphonic songs by A. Simoglou. Since 2015 works as a full-time pianist of National Opera of Greece.

 

Closing ceremony

Conference Results.

 

Day Trips – Laconia

Friday, October 21, 2016

Mani

• Guided tour at Diros Caverns
• Guided tour at Aeropoli

 

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Monemvasia

• Guided tour to the castle town of Monemvasia
• Guided tour at Kastania Caverns and the Petrified Forest

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Sparta – Mistras

• Greek Olive Museum
• Camera Museum ( Guinness Award )
• Mistras
• Ancient Sparta