Heptapyrgion Festival | 21 June – 19 July
Heptapyrgion Festival, a big celebration of Culture with music performances, theatrical narrations and poetry was “born” in Thessaloniki in 2019 on the initiative of the Cultural Center of the Regional Government of Central Macedonia in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Thessaloniki. Heptapyrgion Festival is under the auspices of UNESCO and takes place at the inner courtyard of Heptapyrgion fortress.
During this year's Festival that will take place from Wednesday 21 June to Wednesday 19 July, 12 performances, including 6 major productions, will be held.
Program
June 28- 29, 21:15: An evening of poetry and music, Anna Mykoniou - Odysseus Elytis "With Greek light"
Two evenings of poetry and music, signed by Anna Mykoniou , dedicated to the Nobel Prize winning poet Odysseus Elytis . Through narrative texts, excerpts, poems set to music and visual material, it presents the bright side of the poetry of Odysseus Elytis, the one that is read with the senses and with the eyes of the soul.
July 3-4, 21:15: "Tonight... We're JAZZING"
Three subversive artists of the new generation, Thodoris Marantinis, Eurydiki and Myronas Stratis "jazz" with the New Thermi Saxophone Orchestra, conveying explosive vibes with their experimentation and creating a unique atmosphere. With an innovative repertoire, for the jazz scenes, where the best-known songs of the rock repertoire will be orchestrated for a big band in jazz and swing rhythms, presenting a heretical approach to their musical history. Favorite sounds of modern rock music will be reworked by Konstantinos Payatis for a band of 20 wind instruments, piano, drums and electric guitar, giving new freshness, but also illuminating musical points that we might not have noticed until now.
July 7, 21:15: “Kostas Matsigos, Guitar recital with 8 voices”
A magical evening where the virtuoso guitarist and teacher Kostas Matsigos will set up a repertoire that will include from artistic Greek sounds to well-known Argentine tango.
Kostas Matsigos, in his long artistic career, on a recording and concert level, has collaborated with great composers, lyricists, performers with the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Thessaloniki as well as with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki, in Greece and abroad. Great artists such as Stavros Kougioumtzis, Roland Dyens, George Dalaras, George Kazantzis, Nikos Papazoglou, Manolis Rasoulis, Antonis Kalogiannis, Vassilis Lekkas and others, have entrusted him with their songs, either as an arranger or as a guitar-bass and mandolin performer. He will share the stage with some of his closest associates and friends to perform their well-known songs together.
July 11-12, 21:15: “Maria Farandouri, 60 years of singing”
Maria Farantouri celebrates 60 years of stage presence at the iconic Heptapyrgion Fortress with a selection from her wide repertory. It was in 1963, at the Municipal Theatre of Peiraeus, that Mikis Theodorakis first heard her singing as a soloist -with the the choir of the Association of Friends of Greek Music- and decided that she would become his priestess and her voice would give life to his greatest works.
Soon, the interpreter of the great poets is associated with Manos Hadzidakis and the works he writes for her voice (The Age of Melissanthi, The Irrationals, Dark Mother, Amorgos), Manos Loizos (The Negro Songs), Eleni Karaindrou (The Great Vigil), Zülfü Livaneli, Lucio Dalla, Vangelis Papathanasiou, Lena Platonos and other composers, Greek and foreign. Maria Farantouri will sing songs from the above cycles and other albums.
July 18-19, 21:15: "Dimitris Zervoudakis – Blocked in Thessaloniki"
As part of the evening dedicated to Thessalonian Creators, this year the Eptapyrgio Festival honors the great composer and songwriter Dimitris Zervoudakis. Dimitris Zervoudakis signed several personal discographies: "A life in the same class" 1996, "Close your eyes and look" 1998, "Full moon country" 2001, "Low and high" 2006, "How to breathe" 2010, "The breath of the madman" 2020, endless participations in the works of other creators and has given us some of the most beloved artistic songs.
In the evening, the symphonic ensemble of strings Jovenata ensemble, (which is the ensemble in residence of the Municipal Conservatory of Pylaia-Hortiatis) and the folk music ensemble Prikipessa , as well as the Choirs "Mixed Choir of Thessaloniki" and "Choir of the Conservatory of Nikopolis" participate , apparently contradictory mosaics but which perfectly capture the special musical path of Dimitris Zervoudakis.
