Alternative Stage Founding Donor
Following two successful editions, the Percussion Festival of the GNO Alternative Stage returns for a third, and most ambitious, run, offering a three-day experience dedicated to the art of percussion and to the dialogue among diverse musical traditions. Scheduled for 1, 2, and 3 July 2026, the Percussion Festival, curated by percussion soloist Marinos Tranoudakis, invites audiences to a fascinating experience of sound and vibrant rhythms that will shake up the GNO Alternative Stage at the SNFCC.
The 3rd Percussion Festival features renowned international soloists, distinguished Greek musicians, and emerging artists, offering audiences a diverse programme of concerts, workshops, masterclasses, and educational events. The Festival spans a wide range of the contemporary percussion scene, underscoring its role as one of the most important meeting points in Greece and Europe.
Concert
Black Mountain
Alexej Gerassimez
GNO Alternative Stage - SNFCC • Starts at: 19.00
Alexej Gerassimez solo percussion
Anastasia Vlachou, Yorgos Melios, Giorgos Tsaousis, Zina Christodoulou percussion
Internationally acclaimed German composer and percussionist Alexej Gerassimez ranks among the most prominent figures in modern music and improvisation. For him, composition and performance are inseparable forms of artistic expression. Although percussion offers one of the greatest and most colourful sound worlds in music, he often deliberately chooses to limit himself, focusing on a single instrument and exploring its sonic potential in depth. This self-imposed limitation turns into a kind of creative incubator: a space that fosters concentration, intensity, and imagination, through which new musical ideas are born and ultimately strive to free themselves. Bodix for percussion quartet without any instruments is the most extreme form of this approach. The concert culminates with the work Black Mountain, from his recently released album of the same name. Inspired by concepts such as inner landscapes, resistance, and transformation, the work is presented here not in its concerto version for marimba, vibraphone, and orchestra, but in its rawest and most dynamic form for a percussion quartet.
Brief biographical note
Alexej Gerassimez
Born in Essen, Germany, into a highly musical family, percussionist and composer Alexej Gerassimez discovered an early curiosity for sounds that extends far beyond the traditional boundaries of a drummer. What began as a childhood fascination soon evolved into an artistic vision, making him one of the world's most influential and defining percussionists today. Trained by Peter Sadlo and Rainer Seegers, among others, in Cologne, Berlin, and Munich, his career took off early with remarkable successes. International attention came swiftly through prestigious accolades, including winning the TROMP Percussion Competition in 2010, receiving the Special Prize from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, and his success at the 2014 ARD International Music Competition. Alexej Gerassimez's compositional catalogue-now performed worldwide in over 50 countries-significantly expands the percussion repertoire. It seamlessly blends virtuous physicality with narrative depth, surprising sonic objects, and unconventional setups. Since 2017, Alexej Gerassimez has held a professorship for percussion at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, where he shapes and inspires a new generation of percussionists.
