Musical Christmas Narratives for narrator and orchestra

Set on creating repertoire, HELLENIC PLAN commissions new works for children and the whole family every season. Which is how Dimitris Papadimitriou's “Aesop's Fables” came into being along with the “8 Tales for Narrator and Orchestra” composed by Achilleas Wastor, Kostis Kritsotakis, Nefeli Liouta, Dimitra Trypani and Tasos Rossopoulos.

This year, two musically-trained authors, Marivita Grammatikaki and Katerina Schina, and two outstanding composers active on the contemporary music scene, Kostis Kritsotakis and Tasos Rossopoulos, responded to our call. Which is how an elf and a little boy came to be telling their stories with flutes, clarinets, tubas, trumpets, triangles and timpani, bathing us in the magic and the spirit of Christmas as they do.

The two new musical narratives are scored for an unusual combination of brass, percussion and piano and are performed by the Ventus Ensemble, a group of young and dynamic musicians conducted by the distinguished Michalis Economou.

Two young and talented actors, Giorgos Katsis and Konstantinos Bibis, narrate the tales as an integral part of the musical works, which are further enhanced by the set designs of Paris Mexis and lighting by Giorgos Tellos.