The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) is announcing its program of events for the 2022–23 season. Every year, the SNFCC proposes a rich, diverse, multi-disciplinary program of events for all ages, which is carried out thanks to a grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
This year’s programming offers a wealth of cultural experiences, builds on successful series of events that have grown popular over the years, proposes new musical series with an emphasis on Greek creation and contemporary classical music, passes the theatrical baton to the younger generation of creators, fosters Greek dramaturgy with new commissions in the context of the SNFCC Christmas World, and offers new visual stimuli and a plethora of opportunities for leisure and learning, with no financial, social or other constraints that prevent open public access to culture.
The curtain is lifted on the long-established Cosmos concert series at the Stavros Niarchos Hall (SNH), a series covering a wide range of music genres, from classical music to jazz improvisation and folk music, with the great jazz performer Dee Dee Bridgewater, an Athenian public’s favorite and three-time Grammy winner, who will appear on November 14, setting the tone for what will follow. The Cosmos concert series will continue until April, and featured artists will be announced soon.
Understanding jazz as the “music of the here and now,” the Jazz Chronicles concert series returns to the Lighthouse, hosting concerts by Greek artists — Kepler is Free (Nov. 6), Harper | Xylouri (Dec. 11), Silver Lining by Giovanni Mirabassi and Christos Rafalides (Jan. 15), Martha Mavroidi Quartet (Feb. 05) — and suggesting old and new sounds, improvisational and classic beats, instrumental and vocal bands.
In discourse with Cosmos, a new series of concerts will be coming to the SNFCC Lighthouse starting October 23. The series called Microcosmos will feature contemporary classical music composers from the international stage, who use or build on electronic elements to develop their work. The series will be kicked off by Suzanne Ciani (Oct. 23), a pioneer of electronic music for 50 years who has contributed pivotal work in both music and sound design, to be followed by Swiss accordionist Mario Batkovic (Nov. 20), Italian multi-instrumentalist Federico Albanese (Dec. 04) and American Peter Broderick (March 05).
Parabases, the SNFCC's readers’ theater, is resuming at the Lighthouse under the general title Love's Labours and the artistic direction of Ektoras Lygizos. Four of Shakespeare’s funniest hallmark comedies (The Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Twelfth Night, and The Taming of the Shrew), dealing with love, deception and gender identity, are presented by four directors of the younger generation (Manos Vavadakis, Eva Vlassopoulos, Katerina Giannopoulou, and Aris Balis), each of whom is distinguished for their highly personalized gaze and method, while they all share a love for the text and for fruitful experimentation with theatrical speech. This year's Parabases will be based on an expanded ensemble of young actors alternating within the repertoire, while the works have been delightfully translated by prominent poets and translators (Dionysis Kapsalis, Stratis Paschalis, Katerina Angelaki-Rooke, and Nikos Hatzopoulos).
Christmas World lies, as always, at the heart of the SNFCC program. Upholding the yearly tradition, on December 1st the SNFCC will be illuminated to celebrate the beginning of the festive season, hosting a participatory musical event under the baton of American conductor, composer and artistic director of the Young People’s Chorus of New York (YPC), Francisco J. Núñez. A revamped Ice Rink will return to the Canal, while LED light installations by top international creators (Light Piano by Arion de Munck and Mark Ridder, Submergence by Squidsoup, Halo by Venividimultiplex, Light Holders by Jonas Vorwerk) and one Greek entry that was selected, for the first time ever, through an open call, will make for a magical Christmas setting at Stavros Niarchos Park.
Christmas Stories will come to life at the Lighthouse featuring a new play by Vangelis Hatzigiannidis, specially written for the SNFCC: The Suitcase of Ourania Celeste will be staged on December 23, directed by Sofia Vgenopoulou and starring Elena Topalidou in the lead role. Music is, of course, another Christmastime must and will be flooding the Stavros Niarchos Hall: Alexia will be joined on stage by the El Sistema Greece orchestra (Dec. 19), while the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation’s ERT Contemporary Music Orchestra will hold a special concert featuring tunes from beloved musicals (Dec. 26). Last but not least, New Year's Eve at the SNFCC, already a tradition for thousands of Athenians, will be celebrated with a spectacular fireworks show, a huge party at the Agora, and the trademark SNF RUN: 2023 FIRST RUN by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) in cooperation with the nonprofit “Regeneration and Progress.”
On April 1–3, 2023, the SNFCC will be presenting the first WOW – Women of the World festival in Greece. The festival will be held in co-operation with the UK-based WOW Foundation, organizer of the world’s largest event dedicated to cis or trans women and girls. WOW Foundation was founded by Jude Kelly in 2010, when the first WOW Festival took place at Southbank Centre, London. Since then, WOW Foundation has organized festivals and events in more than 30 cities across six continents, attracting 5 million people and featuring speakers such as Angela Davies, Malala Yousafzai and Annie Lennox.
WOW Athens, presented in Greece in cooperation with the British Council, will include speeches by guests from Greece and abroad, discussions, workshops, mentoring sessions, educational programs, concerts, and much more, in a major celebration aimed at empowering cis or trans women and girls in tackling the barriers and inequalities they encounter daily. More details to be announced soon.
Staying true to its commitment to invest in education and in bringing children into contact with art, the SNFCC has also included in its program a brand-new visual arts activity: starting on October 30, every last Sunday of each month, children aged 4 to 12 will have the opportunity to create a collaborative artwork, under the guidance of a visual artist and the motto, “Lighthouse Ahead!” A visual arts installation will already be in place at the Lighthouse, under the care of the visual artist of the month, who will then welcome the children to the artwork and guide them through the process of expanding on it. The activity will be facilitated by Maro Michalakakou, Giorgos Gyparakis and Vasilis Gerodimos.
Furthermore, over the course of the year, the SNFCC is daily offering a host of sports and educational programs, Book Clubs and workshops for all ages.
