An evening dedicated to Maria Kallas and also to Mikis Theodorakis gave his audience o Olympus Festival Organization organizing a unique event last Saturday (September 2), in the ancient theater of Dion. Arias from the most well-known operas performed by Kallas during her artistic career “flooded” the venue from the treble speaker Ioulis Karagounis, while in the second part of the program the folk oratorio “Axion Esti” by Mikis Theodorakis was presented on the occasion of the anniversary of two years since his death.

The event was opened by the award-winning Greek pianist Paris Tsenikoglou, originally from Katerini, who currently teaches at the Municipal Conservatory of Innsbruck and has received important distinctions, such as the 1st Steinway Prize in Munich and the 1st Mozart Prize of the Salzburg Mozarteum University.

In the second part of the event, which took place under the artistic direction of Efthimis Mavridis, the stage of the ancient theater was filled to the brim with the children’s choir, the choir and orchestra of the Pieridon Museum of Katerinis, the mixed choir of the Alexandria Municipal Conservatory of Giannitsa and of the musicart orchestra of the New Conservatory of Kozani. More than 100 choristers, the singer Kostas Kapsalis and the baritone Athanasios Batala performed “Axion Esti”, with readings by Kostas Mystakidis.

All the proceeds of the concert will be allocated to the BENIAMIN association for the acquisition of a private space and the operation of a Child Day Care and Family Support Center (KIF). In fact, at the event, the association’s work over the last 30 years was mentioned and its pillars, who financially support children from vulnerable families, were awarded.

Today, in the courtyard of the Katerini Smoking Station, at 9:00 p.m. the cycle of film screenings of the 52nd Olympus Festival, as well as the program of performances of the festival organization for 2023, is completed with the screening of a film from this year’s honored country, India. In particular, the film “BLACK”, produced in 2005, written by Sanjay Leela Bhansali/Bhavani Iyer/Prakash Kapadia and directed by: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, will be screened.

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The weather is an “ally” at this year’s Festival

Making a rough assessment of this year’s Festival – as it will be followed by a complete one with detailed information in the coming days, the president of the Organization, Grigoris Papachristos, speaking to journalists, spoke of a good year for the institution that “counts” 52 years of presence.

“This year was our best year, almost everything went smoothly, we had no special postponements and cancellations, the weather was our ally, so we finished without having the bitterness of not having some events every time” he said characteristically. As he explained, because the institution includes about 40 events and takes place in the summer, the weather, with possible rains, can contribute to the postponement of events, something that did not happen this year.

“This year we didn’t have that except for one play, Twelfth Night, which was canceled not because of weather but because of production company reasons” pointed out Mr. Papachristos, who praised the work and contribution of the volunteers in the organization and operation of the Festival and thanked those who financially support the organization as it is a production with a large budget, since the events are similar to large festivals.

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