The Ministry of Culture is celebrating today’s European Music Day with free-entry events throughout Greece.

European Music Day was established on June 21, 1982, in Paris by the then Minister of Culture Jack Lang to “bring all musicians out into the streets.” Since 1985, the celebration has expanded beyond France, with Athens being the first stop. A decade later, events were held in various European capitals. Since then, Music Day has been celebrated with more than 25,000 events across Europe, featuring all musical genres and free for the public, making it Europe’s largest cultural event.

Event Program

COMMANDERY OF SPARTA GALLERY – ANNEX OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY
Address: Con. Paleologou 123 & Thermopylon, 23 100, Sparta
The Sparta Commandery Gallery, a branch of the National Gallery, and the Sparta Music Club with their four-part adult choir, participate in the European Music Festival 2024 with the digital activity “A Song for the Ladies of the Gallery.” The event explores whether the ladies shown in the gallery’s portraits feel lonely.

ROMAN CONSERVATORY OF NIKOPOLIS
Date: Friday, 21.06.2024
Start Time: 21:00
Free Entry
The Ephorate of Antiquities of Preveza, in collaboration with the Music School of Preveza, presents “Trackers,” a satirical drama by Sophocles, focusing on the invention of the lyre by Hermes and its delivery to Apollo. The music is original and performed live by a band on stage.

GALLERY PALACE
Address: Navarino Square, 546 22, Thessaloniki
Entrance: Navarinou Square – Byronos Street
Date: Wednesday, 26.06.2024
Start Time: 20:00
Free Entry
Arrival Time: 19:15
The Ephorate of Antiquities of Thessaloniki hosts a choral meeting for Music Day, under the artistic direction of soprano and maestro Alkistis Toya, in the Galerius palace complex. Participants include “Filomila” Music and Artistic Association of Evosmos, Mixed Choir “Expression,” Vafopoulei Spiritual Center Mixed Choir, and the Female Vocal Ensemble “ChorOdes.”

THESSALONIKI ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
Address: Manolis Andronikou 6, 546 21, Thessaloniki
Date: Friday, 21.06.2024
Start Time: 20:30
Free Entry
The Friends of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and the Department of Music Science and Art of the University of Macedonia celebrate European Music Day in the museum courtyard under the full moon with performances of works by Vivaldi, Grieg, Bach, Bizet, and Albéniz.

MUSEUM OF BYZANTINE CULTURE
Address: 2 Stratou Ave., 540 13, Thessaloniki
Date: Friday, 14.06.2024
Start Time: 21:00
Free Entry
Arrival Time: 20:30
The Museum of Byzantine Culture, in collaboration with the Municipality of Thessaloniki, organizes a concert titled “Great Composers: Mozart, Mendelssohn, Mascagni, Ravel.” This is a rescheduled concert by the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Thessaloniki.

European Music Day: Free Entry Events All Over Greece

The Ministry of Culture is celebrating European Music Day today with events across Greece that are free for the public.

European Music Day was established on June 21, 1982, in Paris by then-Minister of Culture Jack Lang to “bring all musicians out into the streets.” Since 1985, the celebration has expanded beyond France, with Athens being the first stop. A decade later, events were held in various European capitals. Since then, Music Day has been celebrated with over 25,000 events across Europe, featuring all musical genres and free for the public, making it Europe’s largest cultural event.

Event Program

EPIGRAPHIC MUSEUM
Location: Courtyard of the Museum, Tositsa 1, 106 82, Athens
Date: Friday, 21.06.2024
Start Time: 19:30
Free Entry

The Epigraphic Museum, in collaboration with the “Athina” Conservatory, participates in the Music Day celebration. The event will feature works by Greek and foreign composers, performed by the Conservatory’s choirs (children, youth, and adults), the String Orchestra, and the Wind Department.

MUSEUM OF GREEK FOLK MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS “PHIVOS ANOGEIANAKIS” – CENTER FOR ETHNOMUSICOLOGY (MELMOFAKE)
Location: Garden of the Museum, Diogenes 1-3, 105 56, Athens
Date: Tuesday, 18.06.2024
Start Time: 20:30
Duration: 105 minutes
Free Entry

The Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments, in collaboration with the Greek Department of the International Council of Museums-ICOM and the Department of Music Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy of the E.K.P.A., celebrates Music Day with a traditional music event titled “Musical Affinities and Routes.” The Music Ensemble of the Master’s Program in “Ethnomusicology and Musical Practice” will perform traditional pieces from all over Hellenism and the Mediterranean. The event will be available online on June 21, the official Music Day, on the Bodossaki Foundation BLOD website.

Program Highlights:

• Fysouni, a piece from Preveza
• Devojko Mâri Hubava, a Bulgarian polyphonic song from the Rhodope region
• Baiduska, a song from Kavakli
• Various polyphonic songs from the Pogoni area, Ioannina, and other regions

Performers:

• Giorgos Athanasopoulos (Cretan lyre)
• Marios Anastasiadis (violin, singing)
• Andreas Andreou (oud)
• Filippos Antoniou (lute)
• Dimitris Axiotis (lute)
• Several other musicians and singers

Registration is required. First come, first served.
Contact: Tel. 210 3254129 (Monday to Friday, 9:00-15:00)

ATHENS MUSIC HALL – STATE ORCHESTRA OF ATHENS
Location: Garden of the Music Hall, Vas. Sofias & Kokkalis, 115 21, Athens
Date: Friday, 21.06.2024
Start Time: 20:00
Free Entry

Program Highlights:

• Franz Grothe’s “Song of the Nightingale”
• Leonard Bernstein’s “Glitter and be Gay” from the operetta Candide
• Georges Bizet’s “Fantasie Brillante sur Carmen”
• Johann Strauss II’s “Voices of Spring” Waltz

Performers:

• Athens State Orchestra directed by Ilias Voudouris
• Panagiota Polyzoidou (soprano)
• Raphaelia Kontou (flute)

At 21:00, the Municipal Music Artistic Association “Domna Samiou” will present a concert titled “Of Light and Fire,” focusing on folk songs about summer and the custom of Klidon, celebrating the summer solstice.

Program Editor:

• Katerina Papadopoulou

Domna Samiou Choir

• Giorgos Kontogiannis: lyre, percussion
• Kyriakos Tapakis: oud
• Nikos Paraoulakis: wind instruments

Babo Koro | 22:00

The musical group Babo Koro takes the stage in the Garden to offer the audience a unique evening with their distinctive sound, blending traditional rhythms with modern progressive rock orchestration and Balkan polyphony.

Performers:

• Dimitris Anastasiou: violin
• Sotiris Tsakanikas: guitar, vocals
• Antigoni Basakarou: vocals
• Kostas Nikolopoulos: accordion
• Christos Kyriazis: saxophone
• Thanos Tselempos: drums
• Michalis Damas: bass

Organized by: Athens Concert Hall
Free entry with tickets (also available at the event entrance)

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Location: Dionysiou Areopagitou, 105 55, Athens
Date: Friday, 21.06.2024
Start Time: 21:00
Free entry

The ERT National Symphony Orchestra and the Athens Epidaurus Festival celebrate Music Day, as they do every year, by organizing a grand concert with free admission. For the first time in Greece, they welcome the child piano prodigy, 13-year-old Elisey Mysin from Russia.

Program:

• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), Festive Overture in A major, Op. 96
• Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21
• I. Maestoso
• II. Larghetto
• III. Allegro vivace
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, TH 42
• Alexander Borodin (1833-1887), “Polovtsian Dances” from the opera Prince Igor

Performers:

• ERT National Symphony Orchestra
• Michalis Economou, conductor
• Elisey Mysin, piano
• Choir of Musical Ensembles of the Municipality of Athens, directed by Stavros Beris
• ERT Choir, directed by Michalis Papapetrou

Organized by: Athens and Epidaurus Festival 2024
Entry with tickets available from Wednesday, June 12, 2024 (from 12:00) at the Festival’s central ticket offices and the Herodeion ticket office.

Enjoy these cultural festivities across Greece as part of the European Music Day celebrations!