Panagiotis Andriopoulos: Musa Hellenica Festival Brings Rhythms and Musical of Boston to Chios

Alexandros Kalogeras 

THE NATIONAL HERALD

July 13, 2024 

By Panagiotis Andriopoulos* 

CHIOS – For the eighth consecutive year, the Musa Hellenic Festival was presented in Chios under the artistic direction of philologist and musician Eleftheria Lykopanti. The artistic advisor of the festival is composer Alexandros Kalogeras, professor at the Berklee College of Music of Boston. 

The festival is held in collaboration with the ALEA III orchestra of Boston University, founded by the Greek composer, conductor, and educator Theodore Antoniou at Boston University in 1979. 

The Musa Hellenic Festival that was held from June 27 to July 9, 2024 is inspired by the fourfold theme ‘Creation – Education – Research – Entertainment’. 

The Festival organizes numerous educational activities related to music, visual arts, and theater. Specially designed programs for all ages provide the opportunity for everyone not only to attend but also to participate in the festival’s events. At the same time, programs of the Volunteer Group THALIA are integrated into the festival and offer exceptional opportunities for creative activity, individual expression, and entertainment to the elderly. 

Panagiotis Andriopoulos

Each year there is a central theme, aiming for those participating in the festival, whether actively (musicians, artists of Chios, visual artists, actors, directors) or as listeners/viewers, to become aware of some significant aspect of contemporary art. 

For 2024, the spotlight is on America, where in the 19th and 20th centuries, scientists, artists, and intellectuals from various parts of the world created a ‘colorful’ cultural mosaic, leading to unique conditions for the development of arts and sciences. Marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of American composer Charles Ives, the festival will explore music in the U.S. from the late 19th century to the present day. 

The lecture topics of the festival are characteristic: 

‘American Romanticism up to Charles Ives’, ‘The thinkers/writers of the Transcendental Movement: Emerson, Hawthorne, The Alcotts, Thoreau’, ‘The New Americanism of the Interwar Period: George Antheil, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Gunther Schuller’, ‘Jazz and the Third Stream’, ‘Dance and Martha Graham’, ‘American Minimalism: Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Adams’,

‘Neo-Romanticism: Del Tredici, Schwantner’, ‘American Female Composers: Florence Price, Amy Beach, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Joan Tower, Ketty Nez, Jennifer Higdon, Gabriela Lena Frank, Jessie Montgomery’, ‘Electronic Music: Mario Davidovsky, John Chowning, Paul Lansky’, and ‘The Transforming Piano and other Experiments in Algorithmic Composition’. 

The lectures and specific topics are presented by: Alexandros Kalogeras, professor at Berklee College of Music, Giannis Tselikas, oboist, theorist, professor at Hellenic American University, doctoral students at Boston University, students at Berklee College of Music, and others. 

At the Musa Hellenic Festival spectators enjoyed, among many other events, the woodwind quintet Aiolos and the Frall Trio, presenting an unique program of Greek and American composers, where classical music alternates with advanced Jazz (Internal and Avant-garde). Chios pianist Konstantinos Destounis taught young pianists and presented unusual works of Greek and foreign composers and audiences also enjoyed works by American composers and others who lived or worked in America.

Participating musicians included those from the ALEA III orchestra based at Boston University, the woodwind ensemble Aiolos, the State Orchestra of Athens, the Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens, the University of Macedonia, the Philharmonic of Athens, and the Forum of Young Composers and Performers. 

The Festival combines its international character with local flavor, highlighting the people and places of Chios in an imaginative and creative way. 

Notable this year was the tribute to actress and singer Zoe Fytousi that was held in her native village of Pityos, with performer Daphne Panourgia and Yiannis Filippoupolitis on the piano. 

This year again featured a Byzantine music concert. First, chanters of Chios spoke about their live and aspects of their apprenticeship with their teachers. They will also chanted pieces by Chios composers, both solo and as a choir, with the support and participation of the Chios Chanters Choir. 

The conception and realization of the events and programs had an academic foundation, being research-oriented, creative, educational, and laboratory-based. They utilized the strengths of those living in Chios or the Chian Diaspora, within and outside Greece, an initiative engendered in Chios for Chios, primarily aimed at its residents – but the endeavor already exceeds its boundaries, becoming a Greek center where study, creation, and education are supported, and the results are presented to the public with the standards of a top music festival. 

The events and programs are not imports but new productions of the festival. The Musa Hellenic Festival is the festival of our time and place. Participation in it constitutes a musical-poetic act. 

Panagiotis Andriopoulos is a theology professor, author, musician, and director of the Greek religious new agency FOS FANARIOU – Light of the Phanar.