Event dedicated to authentic Ionian Islands Ecclesiastical Music
CORFU. The event will be held for the 200th anniversary of the foundation of Ionian Academy.
The Ionian University, as part of the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Ionian Academy, is organising, in collaboration with the Metropolis of Corfu, Paxos and the Diapontian Islands and the 'Agios Spyridonas' Choir, an event dedicated to the authentic Ecclesiastical Music of the Ionian Islands, in remembrance of the fact that ecclesiastical music was among the subjects taught at the Ionian Academy from its earliest years of operation.
Participating in the event are the 'Agios Spyridonas' Children's-Youth Choir, under the direction of Christina Kalliaridou; a group of students specialising in 'Conducting Children's, School, and Youth Choirs' from the Department of Music Studies; the 'Theodoros Kourkoumelis - Kothris' Ecclesiastical Vocal Ensemble from Zakynthos, under the direction of Panayiotis Marinos; and the Lixouri Ecclesiastical Choir from Cephalonia, under the direction of Nikolaos Valsamos.
On Saturday, October 12th, in the ceremonial hall of the Ionian Academy at 8:00 p.m., melodies from Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia will be performed, drawing from both the immediate oral tradition and research into older sources, both written and oral. The programme will be curated and presented by Efstathios Makris, Associate Professor at the Department of Music Studies and Vice Rector of the Ionian University. The transcription and traditional harmonisation was done by Makris for Corfu, by Panayiotis Marinos for Zakynthos, and by Nikolaos Valsamos for Cephalonia.
On Sunday, October 13th, at the Holy Shrine of the Apostles Jason and Sosipater in Anemomylos, starting around 8:45 a.m., the ensembles from Zakynthos and Cephalonia will chant the Divine Liturgy, alternating between the local musical traditions of the two islands, under the direction of Panayiotis Marinos and Nikolaos Valsamos respectively.
This is the first time that the main ecclesiastical musical traditions of the Ionian Islands are being presented together live, in a comprehensive and well-documented way. This long-ignored and well-hidden gem of our musical and liturgical culture is being showcased with the goal of highlighting and further cultivating this unique genre.
