The Lullaby Project: Eternal bonds of love

The Lullaby Project is back at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) for the seventh year running, in partnership with the musical social inclusion project El Sistema Greece and New York's Carnegie Hall on Monday, May 27 at 19.30

The Lullaby Project social music program provides an open space of expression for participants who, together with composers and songwriters, turn their personal narratives about their relationship with children into music. The music created celebrates parenthood, as well as the diversity of human experience.

In this year's edition, El Sistema Greece is highlighting stories that celebrate eternal bonds of love. A love that is not necessarily defined by gender or biological kinship. Original musical creations present unique stories that focus on a host of topical societal issues, aimed at vigilance and acceptance.

Alexandra Makou, the mother of Garyfalia who was murdered by her partner in Folegandros; a refugee mother who lives alone with her child in the Controlled Access Facility for Temporary Accommodation of Asylum Seekers Schisto; a woman who mothered a child at an older age than what is considered "ordinary," overcoming the challenges associated with having a child; a mom who lost her partner during her pregnancy and is raising her child alone; a single parent family; the multidisciplinary team of the Pediatric Palliative Home Care Service of the civil nonprofit "MERIMNA - Care for Children and Families Experiencing Illness and Death"; and fathers who are temporarily detained in Korydallos prison, trying to maintain their presence in the lives of their children-these are the protagonists of this year's Lullaby Project.

Renowned composers and songwriters Spiros Grammenos, Mihalis Kalkanis, Nefeli Liouta, Melentini, Mira, Sophia Bardoutsou, and Martha Frintzila, along with Vassilis Mantzoukis, take on the task to convey these stories through original music compositions.
These musical stories will be presented to the public on Monday, May 27, at 19:30, at the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera at the SNFCC, in one more musical celebration of parental love. The orchestra will be directed by Zoe Zeniodi and Kyriaki Kountouri, and El Sistema Greece Youth Choir will be participating in the concert.

The innovative community program The Lullaby Project was created in December 2011 in New York City by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI), bringing new mothers and pregnant women from vulnerable social environments together with musical artists, in order to write and sing lullabies to their babies. Since then, these songs have been performed at the well-known concerts of The Lullaby Project, which have featured celebrated artists such as mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, Fiona Apple, Natalie Merchant, Catherine Zeta-Jones, et al.

In pursuing its objective to promote social inclusion through music, Carnegie Hall has been working together with El Sistema Greece since 2018 in the implementation of the Greek edition of The Lullaby Project, with El Sistema Greece innovating and expanding the concept beyond maternity and biological ties to include stories of parental love in all its forms, affectionately dedicated to all the children of the world. The SNFCC has joined El Sistema Greece on this beautiful musical journey since the very first year, 2018, supporting its effort to celebrate the love for children through the universal power of the lullaby.

Monday 27/05 | 19.30
GNO Alternative Stage

The concert is staged with free admission thanks to a grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).