A tribute to Georges Aperghis
Dates
Venue
Time & Date
Introduction
Onassis Stegi and the Athens Conservatoire continue their successful collaboration by honoring the distinguished Greek composer, Georges Aperghis, who will celebrate his 75th birthday with us. Events include a months’-long seminar, a master class, and concerts.
After the lasting impression made by the tribute to Olivier Messiaen in 2019, Onassis Stegi once again joins forces with the Athens Conservatoire for a tribute to Georges Aperghis’s music theater universe.
The composer Nicolas Tzortzis, who studied under Aperghis and masterminded the entire program for the tribute, will lead a team of musicians, actors, and dancers in the creation of a new version of “Énumérations” (1988) based, of course, on Aperghis’s original work (26.3).
Françoise Rivalland, percussionist and close collaborator of Aperghis’s, will teach a master class on his works for music theater works in addition to participating in a concert for voice, percussion, and accordion with Angèle Chemin and Vincent Lhermet (27, 28/3).
Lenio Liatsou, who recently recorded Aperghis’s works for piano, will perform a recital. The tribute will close with a concert by participants in the master class (29/3).
For the first time in Greece, Aperghis, along with his hand-picked collaborators, will teach his oeuvre to a younger generation of artists.
A celebration of the distinguished Greek composer, Georges Aperghis’s, 75th birthday.
Program
18:30
Discussion between Georges Aperghis, Nicolas Tzortzis (composer) and Maria Gyparaki (stage director, publisher of Exantas editions), coordinated by Christos Carras, on the occasion of the upcoming publication of the book "Pupil of Music," featuring discussions between Georges Aperghis and Nicolas Tzortzis.
20:30
Georges Aperghis, "Énumérations" for musicians, vocalists, actors and dancers, with the participants of the workshop for the staging of the piece, supervised by Nikolas Tzortzis
19:00
Video projection
Georges Aperghis: "The Little Red Riding Hood", music theater for children and six intrumentalists (2001), 40'
20:30
Georges Aperghis: "Le corps à corps"* (1978) for zarb, "Ligne de fissure"* (2008) for cymbalum, "5 couplets"* (1988) for voice and accordion (excerpts), "Tingel Tangel"* (1990) for voice, cymbalum and accordion
Performed by: Angèle Chemin (soprano), Françoise Rivalland (zarb, cymbalum), Vincent Lhermet (accordion)
10:30 – 13:00, 14:00 – 17:00
Masterclass conducted by Françoise Rivalland on Georges Aperghis pieces and musical theater works
20:30
Piano recital by Lenio Liatsou
Oliver Messiaen: “Canteyodjaya” for piano (1950), 13΄
Georges Aperghis: “Secrets élémentaires” for piano (1998), 14΄
Manos Tsangaris: "ATHINA RETURNS" for piano**, 12'
Intermission
Georges Aperghis: “Conversations X” for voice and prepared piano* (1985), 3΄
Matthew Shlomowitz: “See my logic/Popular Contexts” for piano* (2010), 4΄
Georges Aperghis: “SIMATA” for untuned/prepared piano (1970), 20΄
Featuring the actress Athina Alexopoulou
19:00 – 20:00
Discussion on the performance of Georges Aperghis’ works, with Georges Aperghis, Françoise Rivalland, Lenio Liatsou
Moderated by Lorenda Ramou
20:30
Concert of the participants at Françoise Rivalland’s masterclass
Vinko Globokar: “Toucher” for percussion (1973), 10΄
Theo Vazakas, percussion
Georges Aperghis: “Récitation IX” for female voice (1978), 6΄
Anna Pangalou, mezzo-soprano
Georges Aperghis: “Retrouvailles” for two percussionists-actors (2013), 13΄
Panagiotis Ziavras & Marinos Tranoudakis, percussion
Georges Aperghis: “Quatre pièces febriles” for marimba and piano (1995), 17΄
Kostas Seremetis, percussion
Thalia Papadopoulou, piano
Georges Aperghis: “Fuzzy trio” for violin, percussion and piano (2008), 10΄
Swaantje Kaiser, violin
Kang-Jung Sung, percussion
Elena Ralli, piano
* Greek premiere
** World premiere
Georges Aperghis presents “Tingel Tangel” (1990, 35’), an orchestral composition for voice, percussion, and accordion, as an “idiosyncratic, expressionistic, odd and riotous work that resurrects the 1930’s cabaret.”
Aperghis accepted our invitation to adapt his original “Énumérations” to the idiosyncrasies of the Greek language. This is the first time that his work has been adapted for a Greek audience.
Performed in Greece for the first time, “Énumérations” has also been adapted for film by Aperghis and Hugo Santiago. A derelict building, left half in ruins by an unspecified disaster, is the setting for a recital created out of the remains of sound in the memories of the men and women who populate the space. They perform a musical rite of sorts, an attempt to exorcise catastrophe.
The tribute will include work by the early-career composers enrolled in the seminar, which will focus on the use of techniques adopted by Georges Aperghis.
Watch Nicolas Tzortzi’s talk on “Énumérations”.
Watch Francoise Rivalland’s performance of Aperghis’s “Corps à Corps”, a work included in the tribute.
