The 2nd Sacred Music Festival in Athens Greece will take place on 28-30 April 2024. Here is how to enjoy these unique music performances.
Athens Greece 2nd Festival of Sacred Music
If you are in Athens Greece on 28-30 April 2024, do not miss the 2nd Festival of Sacred Music. Featuring well-established artists, this unique Festival will take place across several venues in Athens.
The Festival will run on 28 April (Palm Sunday), 29 April (Holy Monday) and 30 April (Holy Tuesday), just a few days before Greek Easter 2024, which will be celebrated on 5 May 2024.
Under the artistic direction of Giorgos Koumentakis, the 2nd Festival of Sacred Music will present more than 50 concerts and artistic activities. The performances will approach numerous and unexpected aspects of the relationship between religious worship and music.
The contribution of Sacred Music has been crucial for the development and evolution of Western civilization. The 2nd Festival of Sacred Music will present works that were created for religious use, or invoke the divine element, following a very broad aesthetic and conceptual aims.
All performances will be free of charge, but some of them require a reservation – please check on the official website.
Rare artistic performances at the 2nd Festival of Sacred Music in Athens
The 2nd, highly ambitious Festival of Sacred Music will host rare artistic performances. Some of the highlights include the following:
- the internationally acclaimed conductor and pianist Konstantinos Karydis, who will perform in Greece for the first time in 22 years
- a new composition by the renowned Lena Platonos, to be presented in the Garden of the Presidential Mansion
- a precious compositional moment of the leading baritone Tasis Christogiannopoulos
- the world premiere presentation of the chamber suite from the opera “Papess Joanne”, by George Vassilandonakis
- an unexpected encounter of Mozart’s Requiem with the Epirus lament (moiroloi) by CoGNiMUS Collektiv and George Ziavras
- a special opera gala titled “The Last Act Is Always Blood-Stained, but Also Sublime!” curated by Dimitris Giakas
- a “conversation” between Franz Liszt and Paul Claudel conducted by Markellos Chrysikopoulos.
The venues of the 2nd Festival of Sacred Music in Athens
These great works, melodies, and songs from around the world, spanning from folk tradition to contemporary creation, will take place at several iconic venues in Athens.
Taking place in venues like churches of different doctrines, museums, concert halls, theaters, pedestrian areas, gardens, and courtyards, the Festival penetrates the urban fabric and proposes a musical procession as a public artistic and broader cultural event on a large scale.
Here are the venues where the 2nd Sacred Music Festival of Athens will unfold:
- Garden of the Presidential Mansion
- Acropolis Museum
- Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens
- Fethiye Mosque
- First Evangelical Church of Athens
- Vasilis & Eliza Goulandris Foundation
- The Old Stock Exchange Building on Sofokleous 8-10, close to the Athens Food Market
- Stavros Niarchos Hall
- The Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
- Anglican Church of St. Paul
- Parnassos Philological Society
- Museum of Modern Greek Culture in Plaka
- The Catholic Cathedral of St. Dionysios the Areopagite.
In addition, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Chalandri Municipality will perform Italian mournful processions at 21:00 on Holy Monday, 28 April. The route will begin at the entrance of the Acropolis Museum on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, and end on Apostolou Pavlou Street, in Thissio.
An ambitious production in Athens
The 2nd Festival of Sacred Music is a collaboration between the Greek Ministry of Culture, the Greek National Opera, and Eurolife FFH. The Festival’s concept and artistic direction are conceived by the Artistic Director of the Greek National Opera, Giorgos Koumentakis.
The three-day Festival will include Orthodox and Catholic liturgical music, medieval and Byzantine hymns, works from the Mevlevi dervish tradition, Gregorian chants written for the Holy Week, French Baroque, Ottoman, and Latin American religious music, as well as opera and contemporary music.
For a full list of the performances, times, venues and more information, please visit the official website. Arrive early, to avoid disappointment!
Recent articles
- Can You Drink Tap Water In Greece?
- The Olympic Flame Lighting Ceremony 2024 – Ancient Olympia Greece
- Tickets For The 2024 Athens Epidaurus Festival On Sale
- Greece: Temperatures Soared During The First Quarter Of 2024
Hi! I’m Vanessa from Athens. Follow me on my social media for more Greece-related news and inspiration: