Alternative Stage Founding Donor
Major Sponsor of the Greek National Opera
The Byzantine Music Days festival, titled Genres and generations of contemporary psaltic art and curated by performer and theologian Zaharias Karounis, offers a four-day musical and cultural pilgrimage through the world of Byzantine music, highlighting the vibrant continuity of psaltic art and the many manifestations of a tradition that remains creatively alive to date.
The Festival's central axis is the concept of genre, as expressed through the musical genres of Byzantine theory, the various psaltic schools and traditions that have evolved over the centuries, and modern approaches to psaltic art. Each day of the festival is organized around a major hymnological and theological axis of the Church's worship experience, bringing celebrated chief cantors, historical dances, new voices, and female psaltic ensembles onto the stage, and creating a polyphonic tableau of modern-day psaltic art. The festival aspires to become a new meeting ground for the GNO Alternative Stage and the vibrant Greek musical tradition, and to expand the reach of Byzantine music to a wider contemporary audience.
Christmas Hymns | 21 October 2026
Featuring: Kleida" Chanters' Choir, Choirmaster: Dimitrios Galanis, Chief Cantor (Protopsaltis) at the Holy Church of Santa Barbara, Patra • Grigorios Zarkos, Chief Cantor (Protopsaltis) at the Holy Church of Piraeus, Holy Church of the Holy Trinity • The masters of psaltic art, Choirmaster: Achilleas Chaldaeakes, Chief Cantor (Protopsaltis) at the Holy Church of Saint Spyridon, patron saint of Piraeus | Opening address by Achilleas Chaldaeakes, Professor of Byzantine Musicology and Chanting Art, NTUA, former Dean of the School of Philosophy, titled: Genres and generations of psaltic art
The first day of the festival is dedicated to Christmas, the metropolis of all holy days, as described by Saint John Chrysostom. Through the hymns of the Great Hours, Vesper, and Orthros, ecclesiastical hymnography contemplates the mystery of the Divine Incarnation. The chanters' choirs perform works by prominent hymnodists and composers of the Byzantine tradition, highlighting the celebration's poetic and musical richness.
