Lead Donor of the GNO
The CHÓRES female choral ensemble presents a unique concert at the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera, on Wednesday 5 June 2024 at 20.30. Featuring their full line-up, CHÓRES propose a dynamic programme of polyphonic music where classic choral adaptations of traditional Greek and international melodies are intertwined with newer arrangements and compositions, many of them written especially for the ensemble by distinguished contemporary composers.
After an explosive season full of exciting performances in iconic Athens venues such as the Zappeion Hall, the Panathenaic Stadium, the Stoa of Attalos and the Acropolis Museum, and momentous occasions such as the Opening Ceremony of the Olymp'Arts Arts Olympiad, the Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony and the 2nd GNO Sacred Music Festival, the CHÓRES female choral ensemble returns to the Stavros Niarchos Hall and the core of its basic repertoire. With the onstage participation of over 120 women, CHÓRES approach these diverse compositions with the fresh and unconventional spirit that characterises this up-and-coming, unique ensemble, illuminating traditional musical material in modern and unexpected ways, and highlighting the uncommon vocal skills of their members.
The concert programme includes works by composers Michael Adamis, Alkis Baltas, Lajos Bárdos, Simela Emmanouilidou, Yannis Ioannidis, Zoltán Kodály, Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis, Nikos Kypourgos, Martha Mavroidi, Margarita Papadimitriou, Christos Samaras and Philippos Tsalahouris, as well as traditional songs. Marina Satti is the artistic director of the ensemble, which is led by its regular choirmistresses Eirini Patsea, Christina Poupalou and Simela Emmanouilidou, and choreographed by Stavros Alexandros Ikbal.
About the CHÓRES female choral ensemble
CHÓRES is an artistic incubator created by Marina Satti in order to cultivate its members' skills in music, dance and acting as well as to develop artists with a broad education and social awareness. CHÓRES experiment on the interconnection of diverse aesthetic and cultural elements, transcending the boundaries of geography or age and utilising various means of expression. More than 150 women aged between 15 and 60 years regularly practise the whole spectrum of performance arts. Their eclectic repertoire includes traditional Greek songs, songs from the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, original compositions and folksong arrangements by numerous Greek and international composers, several of which were written expressly for the ensemble. CHÓRES regularly collaborate with the Greek National Opera as a resident ensemble, having taken part in many concerts, productions and choral festivals in Greece and abroad. In the context of the 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, an educational and performing activity, with the title Mystery_96 CHÓRES, was organised; it comprised the formation of a local choral ensemble, weekly choral and broader artistic training courses, as well as special performances in Elefsina and the surrounding area, culminated in the ensemble's appearance in the Opening Ceremony in February 2023. In April 2024, the choir took part in the Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony of the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Panathenaic Stadium, Athens, singing the Olympic Anthem in collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.
