Lighthouse Sessions | Elli Paspala - Εικόνα

Shortly before the advent of spring, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) Lighthouse Sessions resume with the third scheduled meeting of the year, in this series that has gained plenty of traction among both the public and the music community of Greece.  

Staged before a live audience and livestreamed over the SNFCC’s online platforms, this second year of the Lighthouse Sessions presents four different musical partnerships, aiming to highlight the power of the language of music by merging elements from its entire spectrum: Greek traditional music and rebetika songs with jazz and classical music, during performance sessions that are open to improvisation and experimentation. 
 
Composer and drummer Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis talks with his guests about their lives and musical explorations, while at the same time inviting them to a musical dialog, accompanied by a jazz trio and a string quartet.

On Sunday, April 3, at 21:00, the Lighthouse Sessions’ third guest, after Nikos Xydakis and Orfeas Peridis, is Elli Paspala, one of the most distinguished Greek female singers. Widely recognized since her collaboration with Manos Hadjidakis, Paspala takes the stage at the SNFCC Lighthouse for a unique joint performance bringing together distinct musical worlds that are less far apart than one might think. Milestone songs from the singer’s discography, as well as her lesser-known musical moments, are transposed to the present day through the contemporary, and at times subversive, orchestrational approach of Ktistakis. 

Elli Paspala was born in New York City to Greek parents who had emigrated there from Thessaloniki. After studying classical singing under lyric soprano Judith Raskin at the Manhattan School of Music, she came to Greece to embark on her great musical journey under the guidance of Manos Hadjidakis. Since then, she has worked with creators of every generation and genre, ranging from Mikis Theodorakis and Stavros Xarchakos to Evanthia Reboutsika, Panayotis Kalantzopoulos, and bands Raining Pleasure and Active Member. Boasting a musical production that spans beyond singing, she has composed the score of Valerie Kontakos’s documentary Mana. 

Having previously served as teacher at the Department of Music Studies of the Ionian University, composer, orchestrator and drums virtuoso Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis is currently one of the key performers of the Greek jazz scene. Born in Heraklion, Crete, he began playing professionally with various ensembles when he moved to Athens as a university student. In late 2015, the “Alex Drakos Trio,” the band he created with bass player Dinos Manos and pianist Yannis Papadopoulos, released the LP Tora, while Ktistakis’s latest recording, titled Circles, was released in 2021. Guided by improvisation and rock musical influences, as well as traditional and classical music, he is currently inspiring a new generation of jazz musicians with his teaching, creativity and general attitude.

 

Credits:
Dinos Manos – bass
Yannis Papadopoulos – piano
Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis – drums 
Kostas Panagiotidis – violin 
Panagiotis Tziotis – violin 
Dimitris Travlos – cello

Strings Composition & Arrangement: Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis
Adaptations: Elli Paspala & Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis

 

Event information:
The concert will be held with live audience, but it will also be livestreamed on this page, as well as on SNFCC’s Facebook page @SNFCC, and on SNFCC’s YouTube channel. 

 

Sunday 03./04 | 21:00
LIGHTHOUSE

 

Advance Ticket Sales Points:
•    online on Ticket Services website here
•    by phone: 210 7234567 (Ticket Services)

Ticket Prices: 
General entrance € 10, reduced € 5

Concession tickets of 5€ are available to students, people aged 65+, children and young people aged up to 18 years old, the unemployed, companions of Persons with Disabilities, multi-child families and residents of the Municipality of Kallithea.

On the day of the event, concession ticket holders will be asked to show their ID, as well as supporting documentation (student card, unemployment card, family status certificate for multi-child parents, utility bill for residents of Kallithea)

Free tickets are available to Persons with Disabilities, by contacting the call center at 210 7234567 and by showing their ID and certification of disability on the day of the event.

 

Important information:

  • Doors open at 20.00
  • We suggest that you be at the location no later than 30' minutes before the commencement of the event.
  • Entrance will be possible up to 10 minutes before the event's commencement.
  • Pre-sale is required. No order of priority will be available on-site.
  • All SNFCC areas are accessible to people with disabilities.
  • For more information or clarifications, please contact the SNFCC switchboard on 216 8091000.

According to the latest measures to protect public health from the risk of spreading COVID-19, a valid vaccination certificate or a valid disease certificate, is required for the public to enter the event venue, as the venue operates as a pure venue. The above applies to adults. Μinors from 4 to 17 years old may, alternatively, submit a statement of negative self test (24 hours), a certificate of PCR (72 hours) or rapid (48 hours) diagnostic test, in accordance with the recent government measures.

A parallel identity check will be carried out on the persons who show the required certificates, as provided by law.
 

 Participants must wear a mask and keep their distance both during attendance and during events and in accordance with the instructions of NPHO.

Due to public health measures, there may be changes regarding either the staging of the event, or the maximum number of participants.

This event comes under a grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). Alongside the majority of its events, which are free thanks to a series of SNF grants, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center also organizes a number of events with affordable tickets, thus enriching its income sources and securing its long-term financial integrity.

See also

Sunday 23/01, 21:00

Lighthouse Sessions | Nikos Xydakis

More

Sunday 13/02, 21:00

Lighthouse Sessions | Orfeas Peridis

More

Sunday 20/02, 17:00

Parabases: Mourning Becomes Electra (Part A' Homecoming)

More