Thessaly Chamber Music Festival Returns This June

Chamber music comes to the mythical land of the centaurs this June 14th to 24th, 2019!

The program for the 2019 Thessaly Chamber Music Festival was announced today by Chamber Music Hellas President Vasos Papagapitos, and Artistic Director, Lowell liebermann. Set in the mythical land of the gods in central Greece, the Thessaly Chamber Music Festival, now in its second year, will take place June 14-24, 2019 and will offer seven concerts of iconic masterpieces of the chamber music literature alongside compositions of Greek classical composers, as well as other neglected and unusual masterworks. The performances will be offered free of charge to the residents of the region and Master Classes are planned at the music conservatories in Larissa and Volos.

The accomplished artists violinist/violist Ida Kavafian, violinist Daniel Phillips, violinist Cathy Meng Robinson, violist Steven Tenenbom, cellist Keith Robinson, flautist Tara Helen O'Connor, and pianist William Hobbs will concertize in such unique venues as a 3rd-century BC theater and an 18th-century church covered with Byzantine frescoes.
Chamber Music Hellas has organized a tour for American visitors who, in addition to attending the concerts, will enjoy a nine-night stay in the ancient land of Thessaly, home of Mount Olympus, as well of that of the god-like Achilles, the hero of Homer's Iliad, and Jason, who led the Argonauts in quest of the Golden Fleece. The tour will explore its most interesting towns, villages and historic sites, including Larissa, Thessaly's vibrant and cosmopolitan capital; awe-inspiring Meteora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, gigantic rocks on top of which are monasteries built by hermits some 600 years ago; the progressive city of Trikala, the reputed birthplace of Aesculapius, the god of healing; the dynamic port city of Volos; and spectacular Pelion, with its unspoiled villages. They will also visit the area's ancient sites, including Dion, at the foot of Mount Olympus, and Dimini, whose existence dates from the Neolithic period. These will be interspersed by talks by Guest Lecturer Prof. Jeremy McInerney, Professor of Classics and Chair, Graduate Study in Ancient History, University of Pennsylvania, as well as by pianist William Hobbs, who will discuss the Festival's musical selections.

For more information on the Thessaly Chamber Music Festival and the tour, contact www.chambermusichellas.org or call 866-633-3611.

Concert Programs Sunday June 16th: Ancient Theater of Larissa (outdoors) Theodorakis: Sextet for Flute, String Quartet and Piano O'Connor, Phillips, Meng-Robinson, Tenenbom, Robinson, Liebermann Moszkowski: Suite for Two Violins and Piano in g minor Op.71 Phillips, Kavafian, Hobbs _ Liebermann: Sonata for Flute and Piano Op.23 O'Connor, Liebermann Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major Op.44 Hobbs, Kavafian, Meng-Robinson, Tenenbom, Robinson
Monday June 17th: Folklore Museum, Larissa: William Hobbs Piano Recital Constantinidis: Danses Chopin: Mazurkas Hadjidakis: Ionian Suite Debussy: Suite Bergamasque _ Hatzis: Through a Glass Darkly Schumann: Fantasy in C major
Tuesday June 18th: Archaeological Museum, Dion Theodorakis: Petite Suite for String Quartet Phillips, Meng Robinson, Tenenbom, Robinson Beethoven: Serenade in D major Op.25 O'Connor, Kavafian, Tenenbom
_ Bach: Suite No.3 in C major BWV 1009 Tenenbom Mozart Flute Quartet in D major K.285 O'Connor, Philips, Tenenbom, Robinson Wednesday June 19th: La Veranda, Portaria Liebermann: Sonata for Violin and Piano Op.46 Kavafian, Liebermann Bax: Sonata for Viola and Piano Tenenbom, Hobbs _ Chopin: Sonata for Cello and Piano in g minor Robinson, Hobbs

Thursday June 20th: Aghia Marina, Kissos Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Christ Op.51 Phillips, Meng-Robinson, Tenenbom, Robinson
Friday June 21st: Volos Conservatory Liebermann: Chamber Concerto No.1 Op.28 Kavafian, Liebermann, Phillips, Meng-Robinson, Tenenbom, Robinson Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.5 BWV 1050 O'Connor, Phillips, Hobbs, Kavafian, Meng-Robinson, Tenenbom, Robinson _ Chausson: Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet Kavafian, Hobbs, Phillips, Meng-Robinson, Tenenbom, Robinson

Sunday June 23rd: Aghios Nikolaos, Portaria Widor: Serenade for Flute, Violin, Cello, Piano and Harmonium O'Connor, Phillips, Robinson, Hobbs, Liebermann Dimitris Gouzios: The Battle of Marathon for Cello and Piano Robinson, Liebermann Bach: Orchestral Suite No.2 in b minor BWV 1067 O'Connor, Phillips, Meng-Robinson, Tenenbom, Robinson, Hobbs _ Hermann Mohr: Zigeunermusik Phillips, Kavafian, Meng-Robinson, Hobbs, O'Connor, Robinson, Tenenbom, Liebermann Hubert Leonard: Serenade Humoristique a l'Espagnole for Three Violins and Piano Kavafian, Phillips, Meng-Robinson, Hobbs Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals Kavafian, Phillips, Meng-Robinson, O'Connor, Tenenbom, Robinson, Hobbs, Liebermann

About Chamber Music Hellas

Chamber Music Hellas (CMH) is a non-profit organization that organizes and operates classical chamber music festivals in regions of Greece that remain outside the country's main tourist destinations. CMH aims to contribute to the cultural, educational and economic life of the regions where the festivals are held, while introducing travelers to places in Greece that have retained their original character, with the added dimension of enjoying concerts of classical music held mostly in unique historic venues

Vasos Papagapitos, President, was born on the Greek island of Rhodes. He moved to New York in the early 1960s to continue his education. In 1969 he co-founded a travel company whose mission was to create and operate educational and cultural voyages and journeys, which were sponsored by many of the country's foremost educational, cultural and scientific institutions. In 2018 he became one of the founders of Chamber Music Hellas.

Lowell liebermann, Artistic Director, is one of America's most frequently performed and recorded living composers. He has written over one hundred thirty works in all genres, several of which have gone on to become standard repertoire for their instruments. His Sonata for Flute and Piano and Gargoyles for piano are among the most frequently performed contemporary works for their instruments.
He has been commissioned by a wide array of ensembles and instrumentalists, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Emerson Quartet and flautist Sir James Galway. His full-length ballet Frankenstein was co-commissioned by London's Royal Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet and has been released on Blu-Ray and DVD. Mr. Liebermann has written two full-length operas, both enthusiastically received at their premieres: The Picture of Dorian Gray, the first American opera commissioned and premiered by l'Op ra de Monte-Carlo, and Miss Lonelyhearts, after the novel by Nathanael West, commissioned by the Juilliard School to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Mr. Liebermann acted as Composer-in-Residence for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for four years, a role he also pursued with the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan; the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and many other organizations. He joined the composition faculty of Mannes School of Music of the New School in 2012, where he founded the Mannes American Composers Ensemble, devoted to performing works of living American composers.

Mr. Liebermann maintains an active performing schedule as pianist and conductor. Among his many awards are a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and awards from ASCAP and BMI and a Grammy nomination. He was the first winner of the Van Cliburn Invitational Composers Competition, and in 2014 became the inaugural recipient of the Virgil Thomson Award for vocal composition.

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