OPUS ALEXANDRINUM: THE MUSIC OF THE GREEKS OF ALEXANDRIA
5 SEPTEMBER | Time: 20:30
The George & Mary Vergottis Foundation presents, on Saturday, 5 September 2026, at 20:30, the musical evening “OPUS ALEXANDRINUM – The Music of the Greeks of Alexandria”. The event will take place at the Vergottis Cultural Centre in Kourkoumelata, Kefalonia, under the auspices of the Ionian Academy 1808.
“Opus Alexandrinum” explores the art-music activity of the Greeks of Alexandria from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, shedding particular light on the Ionian element that dominated the musical life of the Greek community. The study is the fruit of musicological research by flautist Natalia Geraki and was published as a collector’s book/CD by the Hellenic Foundation for Culture (now the Hellenic Foundation for Book and Culture).
Distinguished soloists Irini Karagianni (mezzo-soprano), Natalia Geraki (flute) and Apostolos Palios (piano) will perform at the Vergottis Cultural Centre works by Greek composers connected with Alexandria. These include the Corfiots Alexandros Greck and Panagiotis Tsampounaras, Spyridon Papastathopoulos and Petros Ioannidis, as well as the Alexandrians Maria Sideratou, Jani Christou, Michalis Rozakis and Yannis Avgerinos. The programme also features works by composers who set the poetry of Constantine Cavafy to music, such as Dimitri Mitropoulos, Argyris Kounadis, Theodore Antoniou, Nikos Athinaios and Kostis Kritsotakis.
Short stories about Alexandrian society and its art music will be interwoven between the musical works, serving as connecting threads and highlighting the contribution of Ionian musicians to the intellectual life of the flourishing city. Among them are the Corfiots Spyros Xyndas, Napoleon Lambelet, Spyridon Samaras and Efstathios Mastoras, Panagiotis Gritsanis from Zakynthos, and Georgios Molfetas from Kefalonia, who conducted the Choral Company of Kefalonia in Alexandria.
A rich collection of historical photographs of the city of Alexandria will accompany the musical narrative.
Interest in the musical life and creative output of the Greeks of Alexandria is bound up with a broader interest in the extraordinary history of this emblematic metropolis, its cosmopolitanism, and the decisive contribution of the Greek element to its flourishing, in antiquity as well as in modern times. The aim of the study is to demonstrate that the musical creation of modern Alexandria was the offspring of a cosmopolitanism with deep roots in the sophisticated, multicultural society of the ancient city.
The study was made possible thanks to the support of institutions such as the Department of Music Studies of the School of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), the “Lilian Voudouri” Music Library of the Friends of Music Society, the Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive of the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation (ELIA/MIET), the Archive of the Greek Community of Alexandria (GCA), the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA), the Kounadis Archive (KA), the Historical Archive of the Athens Conservatoire, the Thomas Tamvakos Archive of Greek Composers (TTAGC), and the Georgios Konstantzos Archive of Greek Music.
The recording of the CD took place at the Sound Studio of the Department of Music Studies of the School of Philosophy, NKUA. The book/CD, printed at the historic Greek printing house “Agyra” in Alexandria, is distributed exclusively to libraries and institutions in Greece and Egypt.
“Opus Alexandrinum” has been presented at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt and at Cotsen Hall of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. It has also received an honorary distinction from the Hellenic Association of Theatre and Music Critics.
Performers
Irini Karagianni | mezzo-soprano
Natalia Geraki | flute
Apostolos Palios | piano
Research/texts/editing
Natalia Geraki
Historical photographic material
Hellenism of Egypt Collection, ELIA/MIET
