Alternative Stage Founding Donor
Major Sponsor of the Greek National Opera
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.
■ Poetic Soundscapes: The ERT Choir joins forces with the Greek Composers' Union
1 November 2026 · Starts at 18.00
Works by Maria Gouvali, Kostas Pantelidis, Evangelos Kokkoris, Nikos Panagiotakis, Yiannis Drositis, Roxani Chatzidimitriou, Fani Kosona, George Dousis
ERT Choir
Conductor Michalis Papapetrou
Thanos Margetis piano
A collaboration dedicated to contemporary Greek choral creation and to new sonic approaches to poetic language.
For the first time, the ERT Choir joins forces with the Greek Composers' Union, turning the spotlight on contemporary Greek choral music, the artistic explorations of today's composers, and the ways in which these engage in dialogue with the traditional choral repertoire.
The concert presents works by members of the Greek Composers' Union that approach the human voice beyond conventional expressive boundaries. The composers treat the choir as a multidimensional sonic body, employing extended vocal techniques, layered textures, and complex sound structures that redefine the choral sound of the 21st century.
At the heart of the evening lies a contemporary acoustic reading of poetry. Rather than merely setting texts to music, the musical language deconstructs and reassembles speech itself, transforming vowels, consonants, and the internal rhythm of the texts into pure musical material.
Under the musical direction of Michalis Papapetrou, the ERT Choir performs works based on emblematic texts by major figures of Greek and world literature, including Dionysios Solomos, Odysseas Elytis, Tasos Leivaditis, Andreas Karkavitsas, William Blake and William Butler Yeats.
Different historical periods, poetic traditions, and philosophical currents converge under a shared contemporary sonic prism, revealing the enduring power of language when transformed into a living musical act.
