Syros International Music Festival

For the 2026 edition of the Syros International Music Festival, we invite you to a series of five chamber music concerts in the magnificent setting of the Apollon Theater in Ermoupolis. Five concerts exploring different cultures and eras, from the vibrant colors of Spain in the opening concert to the celebration of the bicentenary of Ermoupolis.

Under the artistic direction of the pianist Jonas Vitaud, who returns once again to Syros, this year's festival presents a refined and deeply personal musical journey bringing together masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire and contemporary creation. The opening concert, "Viva España!", pays tribute to the great Spanish composers Granados, Albéniz, de Falla, Padre Soler, and Cassadó, in a program celebrating the richness, virtuosity, and poetic intensity of Spanish music.

The festival also welcomes in residence the young Greek composer and singer Sofia Avramidou, whose works will dialogue throughout the week with composers from different centuries and traditions, from Brahms and Couperin to Kaija Saariaho and Kurtág. Her presence will culminate in the gala concert celebrating 200 years of Ermoupolis, where contemporary creation meets Greek musical heritage.

This edition brings together internationally acclaimed artists including soprano Thaïs Raï-Whestphal, cellist Yan Levionnois, pianists Natacha Kudritskaya and Jiyeon Lee, alongside Jonas Vitaud and Sofia Avramidou. Together, they will offer audiences a unique musical experience in the exceptional atmosphere of the Apollon Theater, where each concert becomes a celebration of dialogue, imagination, and artistic encounter.

Informations: www.syrosfestival.org

1 September 2026 - 20:30
"Viva España" (Grand opening)

The festival opens under the blazing colours of Spain, to the bewitching rhythm of dance. Alongside the emblematic figures of Granados, Albéniz and de Falla - who drew from popular tradition to forge an unprecedented musical language - this concert also honours Padre Soler, a great Baroque figure, and Gaspar Cassadó, a virtuoso cellist and composer of landmark works for his instrument.

2 September 2026 - 20:30
"Brahms!"

Brahms's music moves us through its depth, its melancholy and its perfection of writing. It flourishes especially in the Lied and chamber music. Nourished by popular inspirations and the charm of Viennese waltzes - including those of Johann Strauss, whom he so admired - Brahms also excels in this register, which he approaches with elegance, grace and lightness.

3 September 2026 - 20:30
"Women Composers"

Long relegated to the margins of music history, women composers - past and present - are gradually reclaiming the place that is rightfully theirs on the concert stage. This programme honours four singular figures with rich and contrasting worlds.

Pauline Viardot, celebrated singer, composer and pupil of Liszt, close to Chopin, embodies one of the most fascinating personalities of the 19th century. Germaine Tailleferre, the only woman in the Groupe des Six, stands out through the originality of her language, the finesse of her harmony and the diversity of styles she explores.

The second part of the concert brings together two contemporary voices: Kaija Saariaho, a major figure of 20th- and 21st-century music, and Sofia Avramidou, the festival's composer-in-residence, whose works will be performed in collaboration with the artists present.

4 September 2026 - 20:30
"François Couperin" (Piano and shadow theater)

Pianist Natacha Kudritskaya takes us into a world where Couperin's music meets shadow theater, video and visual poetry. In this dreamlike project, each piece becomes a story. Couperin's evocative titles come alive through the shadows imagined by Leslie Laugero: a torch, some dried plants, and suddenly dreams, memories and childhood emerge.

The show also questions migration, roots and identity: why do birds and humans migrate? Can one leave without losing oneself?

Carried by images created by Leslie Laugero and animated in video by Benoît Lahoz, this creation becomes an immersive, sensitive and poetic experience.
"A strange, dreamlike show, almost fantastical, evocative of departures, journeys, and exile."

Couperin's poetic titles are mirrors of the imaginary world where the delicacy of his music invites us to wander. While working on the project, images of migrating birds came alive in my imagination.

I wanted these large-winged figures to share the stage beside the piano. Meeting puppeteer Leslie Laugero made that possible. Her work connected the album programme to a video creation inspired by shadow theatre, projected on stage as a poetic echo to the pieces I play at the piano: birds became the thread. They stand for the deep bonds between people and nature-a constant source of musical inspiration that Couperin often evokes in his works.

5 September 2026 - 20:30
"200 Years of Ermoupoli" (Gala concert)

On the occasion of the bicentenary of the city of Ermoupoli, this concert offers a musical journey through three emblematic dates. 1826 marks the debuts of Liszt and Chopin, major figures of Romanticism. 1926 opens a window onto America with Gershwin's jazz. Finally, 2026 showcases new arrangements of Greek traditional melodies.

Sofia Avramidou reveals another facet of her talent: as a singer and specialist of traditional music.