CULTURE

A musical celebration in Thessaloniki

A two-day celebration organized by ATHOC, the Olympics organizers, will pay tribute to Thessaloniki, the city where the Athens 2004 Games will – unofficially – open with soccer preliminaries on August 11. On the cultural agenda will be jazz, rock, classical and Greek music, as well as dance, poetry and cinema. More than 150 Greek and foreign artists will gather during the August 9 and 10 cultural events, under the artistic direction of musician Sakis Papadimitriou. At the Thermi dam a tribute to contemporary Greek song will be led by composer Giorgos Kazantzis. He will be accompanied by a group of 10 musicians as well as singers Lizeta Kalimeri and Pandelis Theoharidis. Also performing at the Thermis dam will be popular Mode Plagal, Elli Paspala, David Lynch, Stavros Lanchias and Panayiotis Kiourtsoglou. Christos Thivaios, Italians Emilia Ottaviano and Michele Vurchio as well as the Etno Drums ensemble will present a panorama of works as part of the «Greek and Italian contemporary song» tribute. At the Museum of Byzantine Culture pianist Lola Totsiou will perform alongside two classical music ensembles, while the Kipos Theater will host jazz music featuring Five Winds, saxophone player Takis Paterelis, the Carlo Actis Dato Quintet and the Lakis Jimka and Oleg Chaly Quartet. The Thessaloniki port will host a tribute to cinema and music. This includes the «Visual Symphony,» a performance featuring 22 musicians interpreting themes and songs from films. Meanwhile, at the Eptapyrgio, six performers – using language and body – will interpret works by Cavafy and Yiannis Ritsos, with music composed by Thanos Mikroutsikos and interpreted by Georgias Syllaiou and Costas Thomaidis. At the Kodras camp, a concert featuring five bands will present the city’s new rock scene.

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