GNO Learning & Participation Programme 2021/2022 Announced

The GNO Learning & Participation Department returns and launches the new 2021/22 season with a renewed, rich programme for children, teenagers, young people, schools of primary and secondary education, adults, persons aged 65 and over, amateur and professional artists in Athens and other regions of Greece.

Educational programmes for schools, activities for the whole family, intercultural education for teenagers, intercultural amateur ensembles (Choir, Orchestra, Dance Group), diverse activities for persons aged 65 and over, programmes for new artists, and workshops in collaboration with the Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People compose the new, rich programme of the GNO Learning & Participation Department from October 2021 to July 2022.

Over the course of the next ten months, the GNO venues at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, from the Choir Hall to the Ballet Rehearsal Hall and the Alternative Stage, will turn for one more season into a wide, flexible, experimental and viable space for artistic innovation and research, where a network of acclaimed artists/educators will reintroduce opera, ballet, and music theatre to the wider audience.

• After the success of last year's programme How Did A Raven End Up In The Belly Of The Whale?, the pilot programme of interdisciplinary artistic and pedagogical activities continues with the workshop The Talisman, which is targeted at schools of primary education in the Region of Attica, under the guidance of composer Dimitra Trypani.

• Activities for the whole family that were abruptly interrupted due to the pandemic return to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center with a series of workshops: Opera From The Cradle for infants and toddlers, Dad... shall we dance? an invitation to dance with your dad, Meet the Nutcracker for the fans of classical ballet, StOpera Motion: Rigoletto, a workshop that brings operatic stories to life through the stop motion animation technique, as well as two new separate workshops in collaboration with the Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People: Opera Filmmakers and Stop Motion Animation: The Nutcracker. Moreover The Magic Pillows/Sleepover workshop comes to offer children a unique experience: a sleepover at the GNO on the occasion of the performance The Magic Pillows by Evgenios Trivizas.

• Intercultural education for teenagers includes the programme Co-OPERAtive, which was awarded the Fedora Prize for Education 2019. It is the first opera hub for a mixed group of young Athenians and unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors aged 14-18 from across Attica.

• After a long pause in live meetings, the Intercultural Orchestra and Intercultural Choir of the GNO continue their unique musical journeys, while the Gamelan Orchestra aims to create the first Indonesian Folk Music Orchestra in Greece. This year, the Intercultural amateur ensembles are further enhanced with the creation of an Intercultural Dance Group.
• Projects for persons aged 65 and over continue with intensive rehearsals on a weekly basis for two of the most popular workshops of the Learning and Participation Department, the 65+ Choir and Guitar Express. One more project is now added to this category, the Third Stasimon, which is based on theatre and music ensemble techniques.

• As part of the GNO's outreach policy and the need to bring our projects closer to the public in regions all over Greece, the Learning and Participation Department continues its collaboration with the Municipality of Skiathos by implementing a multitude of educational and artistic projects on the island, prepares the entry of a short film that will be created as part of the workshop Lyric Short Filmmakers in the Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People, and fosters many more partnerships with regional municipalities and organisations all over Greece.