The Contemporary Music Days festival brings an unprecedented - by Greek standards - line-up of eighteen concerts dedicated to contemporary musical creation, running from 25 October to 14 November 2026 at the GNO Alternative Stage at the SNFCC. Titled Multiple Presents, the Festival features six new commissions from Greek composers, numerous premieres and reruns, as well as tributes to emblematic figures in 20th-and-21st-century music. It is a musical event of rare range and polyphony, highlighting the vibrancy of contemporary music and inviting audiences on a fascinating journey through its diverse aspects, new trends, and unexpected pathways.

This multifaceted programme, curated by composer Ioannis Angelakis, maps contemporary musical creation, spanning acoustic and electronic music as well as hybrid and stage works, through the coexistence of renowned ensembles and artists, newly formed groups, and emerging soloists and composers.

It features, among other things, tributes to György Kurtág, György Ligeti, and Georges Aperghis; concerts by the Ergon Ensemble conducted by Nicolas Vassiliou; the ERT Choir's first collaboration with the Greek Composers' Union; the TETTTIX ensemble; and an anniversary concert by the ARTéfacts ensemble. The events also include a piano recital by Stephanos Thomopoulos, unfolding the piano world of Giorgos Koumendakis; the screening of the milestone film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari accompanied by music by Nikos Karagiannis; and the new international composition competition Re:Trace.

«The Contemporary Music Days Festival was born out of a dual need: on the one hand, to create a steady place dedicated to contemporary musical creation, and on the other, to reexamine what «contemporary» means today. It was not meant to signal a mere time category but to serve as a way to relate to the music of the 20th and 21st centuries: to modernism, the avant-garde, as well as to the ruptures and continuities that still shape our experience of sound. In this line of thinking, the Contemporary Music Days Festival does not propose a single aesthetic or a linear narrative but rather an open field of coexistence in which different readings of the past and present are continually recaptured. Special emphasis will be placed on tributes to György Kurtág (marking his 100th anniversary), Georges Aperghis (celebrating his 80th anniversary), and György Ligeti (commemorating the 20th anniversary of his death), which bring emblematic works of contemporary music back to the foreground, not as historical references but as contemporary touchstones from which the new commissions draw material, inspiration, and artistic vision. The collaborations with the ERT Choir and the Greek Composers' Union enhance the logic of an expanded ecosystem in which contemporary music is shaped by networks of people, ensembles, and institutions» notes Ioannis Angelakis.

■ Re:Trace Kurtág

Composition Competition - Winners' Award Concert & Ceremony

1 November 2026 · Starts at 20.00

Judges Michalis Economou, Kharálampos Goyós, Eleni Ralli, Zesses Seglias, Georgia Spyropoulou

Conductor Maria Bazou

EnA - Enosis Atelier: Marilena Kyriakopoulou soprano, Theodora Iordanidouflute, Dimitris Vamvas oboe, Spyros Tzekos clarinet, Dimitris Dakovanos bassoon, Giannis Gounaris French horn, Brunilda Malo violin, Ilias Livieratos viola, Sofia Efklidou cello, Konstantinos Sifakis double bass

This year sees the launch of Re:Trace, a new international composition competition initiated by the Greek Composers' Union with the support of the Greek National Opera. Each edition will be devoted to a leading figure in contemporary music.

In 2026 the musical world marks the centenary of György Kurtág, a composer who redefined musical expression through radical economy and the power of silence. To celebrate the occasion, the first Re:Trace International Composition Competition is dedicated to him. It focuses on the essential qualities of his aesthetic: the beauty of the fragment, the intensity of the fleeting gesture, and music as a relic of memory.