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2nd   edition 

 

FESTIVAL

« European Polyphony / Polyphonie Européenne » ©

 

 

14 & 15 & 16 February 2020

 

​​DISTRIBUTION

 

MUSIC

Marcel Pérès (Fr), organ - Yiorgos Kaloudis (Gr), classical Cretan lyra, cello - Savvas Karatzias, composer - Andreas Moustoukis (Cy), composer - Christia Michael (Cy), soprano - Arctic trio (No),  Gustav Rørmark, violin - Njord Kårason Fossnes, viola - Brage Botn Seim, cello.

PHOTOGRAPHY   

Adeline Bommart (Fr) - Thomas Deschamps (Fr)

Artistic Direction

Chrysanthos Antoniou, president of association Arts Spotanés, artistic director (France-Paris)

Savvas Karatzias, president of Ars Artis association (Greece-Rhodes)

MEET THE ARTISTS - ROGRAM 2020

MARCEL PÉRÈS (Fr)

Organist, composer, musicologist, choral director and singer, founder and artistic director of Ensemble Organum

After studying organ and composition at the Nice Conservatoire, Marcel Pérès continued his musical studies in Great Britain and Canada. Back in Europe in 1979, he began to specialize in medieval music and founded, in 1982, Ensemble Organum undertaking a methodical exploration of medieval repertoires.

In 1984 he founded a research centre at the Royaumont Foundation, the CERIMM (Centre Européen pour la Recherche sur l'Interprétation des Musiques Médiévales – European Medieval Music Research and Performance Centre) of which he was the director until 1999.

 

A PASSION

 

He released more than forty recordings with Ensemble Organum, most of which have received the highest honors: Diapason d'Or, Classical Awards, the Shock of the Year in the World of Music, New York Times’ essential records of the 20th century.

In 2001, at the former Abbey of Moissac, Marcel Pérès created the CIRMA (Centre Itinérant de Recherche sur les Musiques Anciennes – Itinerant Centre for Early Music Research), designed to be a showcase, via music, of men's migration -their thinking and their know-how - during the past centuries and to develop a mutually informative approach between living traditions and musical archaeology. Marcel Pérès is also a distinguished composer with more than thirty works.

 

REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT 

 

Marcel Pérès' international action was acknowledged in 1990 when he was awarded with Leonardo da Vinci Prize, from the French Secretary of State's International Cultural Relations. He received in 1996, by the French Ministry of Culture, the distinction of Knight of Arts and Letters' Order (Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) and in 2013 was raised to the distinction of Officer of Arts and Letters' Order (Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres). He is the godfather of the bell « Marcel » which has been built in 2012 and consecrated on February 2nd 2013 for the feast of 850 years of the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris.

Links: www.organumcirma.com

YIORGOS KALOUDIS (Gr)

Cellist, Cretan lyra performer, improviser, composer

Yiorgos Kaloudis is a cellist, Cretan lyra performer, improviser, composer, cello teacher at the Athenaeum Conservatory, in Athens. He performs his recitals “Innovating Tradition” with his own compositions for cello and classical cretan lyra, and the “J.S.BACH: Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra, in concert halls, archaeological monuments, churches and museums around the world.

 

Born in Athens, Greece he had the privilege to grow up in families of musical origin (Crete & Corfu). He experienced music by his families that included several musicians like composers, violinists, opera singers, drummer, classical pianist, mandolin, lute and Cretan lyra players.

 

He started playing the Cretan lyra at a very early age, and continued the family tradition, as fourth generation of native Cretan lyra players. He studied classical guitar with Liza Zoe and Evangelos Asimakopoulos at the Athenaeum Conservatory. Later on, he decided to study the cello with Claire Demeulenaere, at the Athenaeum Conservatory, where he graduated with Honours. He also studied with the cellist Renato Ripo for one year. Yiorgos was awarded a scholarship by the Fulbright Foundation, providing him with the opportunity to continue his studies in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Ted Greene and James Mahlis, in composition, orchestration and improvisation.

 

His discography consists of 4 CDs, TRUTH, ON THE WIND, & APTERA with his compositions, and the J.S.BACH: Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra, released by the DNA Label Records. Kaloudis composes Contemplative Music for his two instruments and experiments on the effect of sound on the subtle human emotions. While performing, Yiorgos combines his techniques and different cello and lyra timbres with a sensitive use of live looping, creating contemplating music, with influences of classical and ambient music.

 

Also, since 1993, as a cellist and multi- instrumentalist, he collaborated in numerous tours, productions and recordings in the Greek musical scene. 

 

J.S.BACH: Cello Suites on the Cretan lyra, has been released by the DNA Label Records in a world premiere recording. Here, he worked by maintaining the original tonalities of the work, in deep respect for the tone colour of the composer in attempting to avoid unnecessary changes in the music. 

 

The groundbreaking achievement of this work is that for the very first time, a Greek traditional instrument interprets classical music. Motivated by his Cretan origin and his cellist skills, he created an innovative Cretan Lyra by adding a fourth-string (the low C of the cello), on the traditional three-string lyra, in order to be able to perform Bach’s composition. Working on this project has been a longstanding effort and has taken twelve years of study and research before achieving it. It is Yiorgos Kaloudis’s passion, the commitment, the distinct approach to music, and his ability to honour the traditional Cretan Lyra. 

 

As a Cretan lyra soloist he collaborated with international orchestras including the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Lege Artis Chamber Choir in St. Petersburg, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Thessaloniki. 

Performances

 

  • On July 2019, he presented the J.S.BACH: Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra, at the Festival Diagonales d’ete 2019, ENSEMBLE ORGANUM - CIRMA, at the St.Peter Cathedral, Moissac/France, in collaboration with the Maestro Marcel Perez.

  • On June 2019, he presented the recital "Innovating Tradition", at the AD LUCEM Festival, at the St.Peter Cathedral in Riga, Latvia. 

  • On April 2019, he presented the recital "Innovating Tradition", at the UNESCO Auditorium in Paris. 

  • The composition "Orthi Petra (Necropolis)", for 4-string Cretan lyra and cello, from the new CD APTERA, will be surrounding the archaeological exhibition « Crete. Emerging cities: Aptera ― Eleutherna ― Knossos. Three ancient cities revived », at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens. (December 2018 - April 2019).

  • On November of 2018, the Regional Union of Crete in collaboration with the Embassy of France in Greece, invited him to present the lecture of Y.Kaloudis with the title “Cretan Lyra in the Western European Music”, analysing the 12 years of study and research upon the J.S.BACH Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra.

  • On June 2018, the Regional Union of Crete, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Rethymno and the Museum of Eleftherna, invited him to give a unique recital of the "Innovating Tradition" at the Homeric Necropolis “Orthi Petra” at Eleftherna, Rethymno (8000years BC). 

  • On March 2018, he presented the recital "Innovating Tradition", in Megaron Athens Underground Concert Hall. 

  • On February 2018, he presented the recital "Innovating Tradition", in Cyprus, at the archaeological Kastelliotissa Hall in Nicosia. 

  • On October 2017, he presented the recital "Innovating Tradition", in Cyprus, at the archaeological Royal Manor House in Paphos. 

  • On August 2017, the Regional Union of Crete and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania invited him to give the premiere recital of the "Innovating Tradition" at the reopening of the Ancient Theatre of Aptera, in Chania, after more than 2000 years of silence. 

  • On March 2017, he presented the J.S.BACH: Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra, in Megaron Athens Concert Hall, in a World Premiere concert. 

  • On October 2016 participated at Paris "Nuit Blanche" Festival by playing extracts from the album J.S. Bach Cello Suites on the Cretan lyra. 

  • On March 2015, the recital "Innovating Tradition", has been presented at the opening of the New Archaeological Museum of Dion, by the occasion of the Ancient Hydraulis inauguration.

  • On September 2015, he was awarded the Special Jury Prize for the Best Musical Composition and Interpretation at the IV International Puppet Festival in Almaty Kazakhstan.

  • On April 2007, participated at the Manchester Jazz Festival, with the band Chosen, with Sylvan Richardson and Ruth Hill, performing his compositions.

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SAVVAS KARANTZIAS (Gr)

Composer

Savvas Karatzias is a Rhodian composer and classical guitar performer born in 1981. He began his musical studies, instrument, orchestration and composition at A. Correlli Conservatory.

 

He completed his studies at the School of Advanced Theorists in the Department of Special Harmony and Counterfeiting at A. Correli Conservatory by acquiring his degrees with “Excellent Unanimity” degree. At the same time, he continues his studies in the subjects: Orchestration and Composition, with the professor Nikos Charizanos, one of the most important Greek composers. He appeared in the discography as a composer in 2015, on the album “Echomonologues”.

 

As a guitar soloist, he performed with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra at the Athens Concert Hall in 2011 and various musical productions and concerts from 1996 until today. He has taken part in the World Guitar Competition in 2012 in Novi Sad, Serbia, with the project Four errant icons, passing the final stage competition.

 

He is the author of numerous compositions for orchestra, chorus, chamber music and solo pieces. As a composer he has collaborated with, the Golden Olympian Choir Rosarte, the French Choir Mikrokosmos, the Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg, La Marquise Philharmonic Orchestra, the Young Opera, the Ars Nova Ensemble, the artistic director of the ERT musical ensembles Anastasios Simeonidis, Maria Konstantinidou, Irini Karayanni, Rosie Mastrosavva, Anton Kholodenko, Olga Kim, Panagiotis Gogos, Anastasios Stellas, Danae Kioupouroglou, Dimitris Kamarianidis etc.

 

In 2016 he composed the musical-theatrical work titled “The Circle of 10”, which was presented to the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation and has collaborated with very important directors, actors and choreographers. In 2017 he composes the Oratorio “Theophanes the Greek”, the founder of the Russian iconography, a work under the auspices of the Hellenic Parliament, where he was presented in Rhodes in the Holy Temple of Annunciation in the context of the Greek- Russian Tentative Year 2016-17.

 

On October 13, 2017, it was first presented to the public at the Holy Annunciation Church of Theotokos in Rhodes and on April 14, 2018, at the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, was presented to Constantinople at the Community Hall of the Society. After that it was presented on May 23, 2019 at the College Notre Dame of France in Paris and on July 9, 2019 at the Tretyakov Gallery of Moscow in Russia. Last but not least, in was presented on October 20, 2019 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt under suspicions of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

               

Savvas Karantzias since 2008 is the director and professor of senior theoretical and classical guitar at the A. Corelli Conservatory, artistic co-director of the Festival « European Polyphony / Polyphonie Européenne » and founder of the Ars Artis Company.

Links: https://savvaskarantzias.com/

ANDREAS MOUSTOUKIS (Cy)

Composer

Andreas Moustoukis was born in Nicosia. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory (1993-2001) under the Professor Boris Tishchenko, one of the favourite students of Dmitri Shostakovich who succeeded him as composition professor.

 

Many of his works were performed and recorded by the Saint Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theatre Youth Orchestra, Academy of Saint Martin in the fields, The National Opera House of Novosibirsk, the Moscow Virtuosi, the Musicaeterna Ensemble, the Pharos Soloists, Cyprus State Symphony Orchestra etc.

 

His output includes chamber music piano quintet, string trio, two piano trios, quartet, octet, and works for solo instruments. Also, large-scale works, amongst others, concertos for violin, piano and cello, symphonic music and two operas. The Sanitising Jail, and the Deae ex Machina for orchestra and 4 helicopters, commissioned by the Moscow Contemporary Music Festival "Territoria" in 2008.

 

Since 2003, Andreas Moustoukis works as a Professor of Composition at the ARTE Academy of music.

Links: https://www.youtube.com/channel/

CHRISTIA MICHAEL (Cy)

Soprano

Christia Michael is a soprano born in Cyprus. She completed her Music Studies at Arte Music Academy with a specialization in voice performance, under the guidance of Svetlana Krasnova and the conductor Ayis Ioannides. Also, she has a Bachelor of University of Cyprus in Primary School Teaching.

 

During her studies she had many performances in and out of the conservatory. In addition, concerts under the auspices of German, Spanish, Italian and Palestinian Embassies. She has been a soloist of a choir at the XII International Festival of Choral Art “The Singing World” which took place in Sankt Petersburg.

Furthermore, she has been a chorister of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, “Così fan Tutte” and “Die Entführung aus dem Serail”, that were productions of the “Opera Futura di Verona” in the framework of Pafos Aphrodite Festival. She participated in the 1st and 2nd Early Music Festival of Cyprus with the ensemble of “Ex Silentio”. Moreover, some of the masterclasses she had were with Teodor Currentzis, Fanie Antonelou, Theodora Baka and Irini Tsirakidis. She was involved in several seminars and workshops about Renaissance, Medieval and Baroque Music with Dimitris Kountouras and Aris Christofelis. During the 7th New Music Festival of Cyprus, she attended a seminar with Natalia Pschenitschnikova about the voice in Contemporary Music. She is interested in continuing her studies in Early Music as much as in Contemporary Music.

Links: https://www.youtube.com/channel/

ARCTIC TRIO (No)

Violin, viola, cello

Arctic trio was formed in 2017 and consists of violinist Gustav Rørmark, violist Njord Kårason Fossnes and cellist Brage Botn Seim. They are currently studying at Barratt Due Music Institute with Soon-Mi Chung Barratt-Due. The trio is a major prize winner from the national young musician competition (UMM) in 2018 and Virtuoso&BelCanto International Music Competition in 2019. They have played at prestigious venues such as the Norwegian Royal Palace and the University Aula. Furthermore, they have played at multiple festivals both home and abroad.

Furthermore, she has been a chorister of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, “Così fan Tutte” and “Die Entführung aus dem Serail”, that were productions of the “Opera Futura di Verona” in the framework of Pafos Aphrodite Festival. She participated in the 1st and 2nd Early Music Festival of Cyprus with the ensemble of “Ex Silentio”. Moreover, some of the masterclasses she had were with Teodor Currentzis, Fanie Antonelou, Theodora Baka and Irini Tsirakidis. She was involved in several seminars and workshops about Renaissance, Medieval and Baroque Music with Dimitris Kountouras and Aris Christofelis. During the 7th New Music Festival of Cyprus, she attended a seminar with Natalia Pschenitschnikova about the voice in Contemporary Music. She is interested in continuing her studies in Early Music as much as in Contemporary Music.

ADELINE BOMMART (Fr)

Photographer

After studying at the Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Adeline Bommart is involved in photojournalism and for several years and photographed for AP and Reuters in France and West Africa.

Since 2003, thanks to an order on the last days of the Ile Seguin, former French car factory Renault, she turns to a more documentary and personal picture. This discovery of the industrial world causes it to photograph many industrial sites, cities, architecture, landscape. Since then she does exhibition and published books.

Links: http://www.labeladel.com/

THOMAS DESCHAMPS (Fr) 

Photographer, architect

Thomas Deschamps is an architect. In addition to his job, he also has a passion for photography, which he has been practicing for several years now. When he travels — across the city, halfway around the world, or even around the corner — he tries to show the world around him through photographs. He realized that, as much as he loves designing buildings, he loves telling stories: He plans every trip like he was about to create a documentary and make images speak louder than words or architectural drawings. His passion for architecture, whatever the style and the period, his love for unusual places are a permanent source of inspiration. This passion led him to have two jobs, an architect and photographer. This dual skill allows him to propose a different approach to architectural and interior design photography; his job as an architect taught him to apprehend "situations", namely to look at a place and dispose of objects, in order to arouse curiosity. Influenced by several photographers, from Saul Leiter to Harry Gruyaert, from Stephen Shore to Raymond Depardon - « la France de Depardon » is his bedside book - he prefers working in color.

Links: https://www.thomasdeschamps.fr

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