MIXED CHOIR
This is an activity of the Department that implements the necessary practical-artistic experience useful for musicology students and young musicologists, and which they cannot acquire from other types of music studies outside the university, which many of them follow at the same time. Participation in this action is completely on a voluntary basis. Instead of another description, a brief history of the activity of the Mixed Choir since its foundation in 1998 is quoted below.
The Choir was founded in November 1998 and forms the expression of the strong will of the Department of Music Studies to create a rich artistic movement in the Department and the University of Athens in general. It consists of students of the Department who are strongly interested in the international choral repertoire, but also the Greek music repertoire. Students outside the Department of Music Studies, as well as graduates can become members. The Choir has dealt with works of Greek composers of both the Ionian and National Schools and the modern period, and has performed important works of the classical repertoire, such as Bach's Liturgy in B minor and Magnificat, and the Requiems by Mozart, Fauré and Brahms, Mozart's Coronation Liturgy, Kalomiris' Leventia Symphony, Haydn's Nelson and Sancti Nicolai Masses, works by Skalkotas, Antonios Samaras and other Greek composers, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Shostakovich's 2nd Symphony, Orff's Carmina Burana, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mendelssohn's Elias oratorio, Carrer's Marcos Botsaris and Fior di Maria operas, and a large number of choruses of Verdi’s operas etc.
The Choir has collaborated with the Athens State Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of ERT, the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens, the Athens Philharmonic Orchestra, the State Youth Symphony Orchestra of Cyprus, the Athenian Symphony Orchestra under conductors such as V. Fithetzis, M. Logiadis, El. Kalkanis, M. Oikonomou, P. Sergiou etc. Apart from the university premises, the Choir has given concerts at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Athens Concert Hall, the Royal Theater of Thessaloniki and in Cyprus.
In April 2006, the Choir visited the Universities of Munich and Heidelberg, where it gave concerts of Greek choral music. In this way, it started its contacts with major European Universities, which continued with the trips to the University of Venice in the summer of 2008, and the University of Vienna in May 2010. The Choir has also participated in the International Aegean Festival in Syros in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and the "Greek Music Festival" in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Since its foundation until 2017 the Choir made visits to Cyprus for every single year as part of the educational visit of the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens. The outcome of this experience in the martyr island is a volume with Songs of Cyprus edited for a mixed four-part choir (in score and in recording), which the Choir offers free to all friends of choral music in Greece, Cyprus and abroad.
In October 2013, the Choir in collaboration with the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens performed for the first time worldwide Pigi Lykoudi’s "Joy in, white country", based on the "Hymn of Athena" by Kostis Palamas. In April 2017, the Choir presented for the first time worldwide the performance of the "Liturgy for the Sleeping" (Requiem) by Dimitrios Lialios, a work that had never been performed since its composition 130 years ago.
CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
The Chamber Orchestra of the Department of Music Studies consists of students of all years of the Department as well as students of the instrumental major who practice symphonic and operatic repertoire from the Baroque to the contemporary period and give at least 2-4 concerts per year. The chamber orchestra is also open to students from other departments of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens as well as to external collaborators who may wish to gain orchestral experience. All instruments of the symphony orchestra take part, strings, winds and percussion.
CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLES
Chamber music ensembles are made up of and shaped according to the students studying in the Department of Music Studies. They cover a wide range of chamber music learning by creating ensembles such as duets, trios, quartets and various other combinations of strings, winds, percussion, harp and piano. They study repertoire from the Baroque to the contemporary period which is performed in a variety of concerts during each year and on and off campus.
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Department of Music Studies of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens collaborates with the Athenian Youth Symphony Orchestra-ASON, under the direction of the Associate Professor Pavlos Sergios. ASON consists, to a large extent, of students of the Department of Music Studies, as well as many other departments of EKPA or other Academic Institutions. Its aim is the performance of Greek music works, often for the first time, but also works of the international repertoire written in any kind or idiom. Since its foundation in 1997, ASON's concerts amount to about two hundred. Many of them have been presented at the Concert Hall and the Aula of the School of Philosophy, while several have been recorded in the studio of the Department of Music Studies.
Following the summer of 2012, ASON presented a number of projects. The following are indicative:
• Lina Tonia “Fur Elise” for Piano and Orchestra, November 2012, Athens Concert Hall.
• Alfred Schnittke “(K)ein Sommernachtstraum” for Orchestra, March 2013, Athens Concert Hall, first performance of the work in Greece.
• Panagiotis Kokoras "Fanfara Magno Arcano" for Orchestra, March 2013, Athens Concert Hall.
• Giannis Konstantinidis "Asia Minor Rhapsody", March 2013, Athens Concert Hall.
• Concerts, under the direction of graduates of the Department of Music Studies of EKPA, such as George Galanis and Petros Stylianos, were presented in January and March 2016, respectively.
• Giannis Christou "The Lady with the Strychnini" and "The Pianist", June 2016, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.
• Themis Vassilios "Migrants" & Vassilis Mantzorakis "Leyenda", May 2017, Aula of the School of Philosophy EKPA. Both composers are graduates of the Department of Music Studies of EKPA.
• W. A. Mozart "Concerto for piano and orchestra", April 2017, within the festival "The piano in its Forte", under the direction of Alexandros Diamantis, graduate and doctor of the Department of Music Studies of EKPA.
To the concerts of ASON we may add the concerts of ASONieta, which performed with prominent Greek soloists, such as Christos Zerbinos, Angeliki Kathariou, Stathis Mavromatis, Christina Panteli, Virginia Amargioti, works of the international and Greek repertoire, such as the first performances of Theodoros Antoniou and Panagiotis Kokoras, a first world performance of the Israeli Eliezer Elper, works by Savvas Zanna, Vassilis Tenidis, Manos Hatzidakis, and others.
ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC ENSEMBLE
The Electroacoustic Music Ensemble of the Department of Music Studies of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was founded with the aim of promoting the creation, performance and dissemination of works that utilize modern audio technologies. It consists of students and graduates of the Department and focuses on the exploration of electronic, electroacoustic, computational and interactive music creation through concerts, workshops and interdisciplinary activities.
Its repertoire includes works by Greek and international composers, as well as original creations by members of the ensemble, often in combination with audiovisual media, improvisation and multi-channel sound diffusion. With a dynamic presence in events and collaborations with other academic institutions and artistic bodies, the ensemble constitutes a creative field of experimentation and innovation for the new generation of music creators.
OPEN JAZZ FUSION ENSEMBLE
The Open Jazz Fusion Ensemble of the Department of Music Studies is a diverse and inclusive musical group consisting of undergraduate students from all years of study who share a passion for contemporary jazz, improvisation, and intercultural musical expression. The ensemble’s repertoire features works from the jazz and jazz fusion tradition, including compositions by Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Duke Ellington, as well as contemporary Greek composers such as Kyriakos Sfetsas.
Combining both Western and traditional instruments (saxophones, trumpets, electric guitar, piano, drums, double bass, violin, oud, percussion, and more), the ensemble explores music with a multi-stylistic and research-oriented approach. It emphasizes collaborative musicianship, ensemble sensitivity, and the development of individual artistic identity through improvisation and creative experimentation.
Participation is also open to students from other departments of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, as well as external collaborators with relevant experience or interest in jazz-based music creation. The ensemble performs regularly in concerts both within and outside the university.
Musical Direction – Arrangements: Tilemachos Moussas
TRADITIONAL AND URBAN-FOLK MUSIC ENSEMBLE
The repertoire of this ensemble will be shaped according to the individuals who will participate in it, choosing from a rich pool of musical material from the anonymous and eponymous, "rural" and "urban" creation of the Greek area, without limitation to musical instruments. The purpose of the ensemble is primarily educational. Therefore, in the various concerts that will be presented, during each academic year, on or off campus, it will not be presented as a single entity, but in various forms and with a variety of instrumental arrangements, so that its members are all active.
GREEK SONGWRITING MUSIC ENSEMBLE
This particular musical group, without any instrumental restrictions, is going to study and interpret well-known musical works of Greek songwriting from the beginning of the 20th century until today. Participants will study together throughout the academic year, although the aim is not to create a single orchestra, but to allow for the possibility of smaller ensembles (trios, quartets, etc.) depending on the concert situation.
