Celebrating in the Great Village of Athens Discovering Music Gatherings in the Taverns, Traditional Music Venues and Performance Spaces of the City

The second cycle of the Museum’s programme series “Musical Villages in the City – Living Musical Heritage in the Urban Environment” (2024–2025) opens with the event:

“Celebrating in the Great Village of Athens: Discovering Music Gatherings in the Taverns, Traditional Music Venues and Performance Spaces of the City”

Musicians Myrsini Pontikopoulou-Veniéri and Alexandros Rizopoulos, photographer and traditional dance instructor Artemis Liagka, and traditional dance instructor Christoula Lykou discuss the musical communities that emerge around traditional taverns, small music venues and festivals throughout the city.

In the second part of the event, Kinteria, a musical ensemble actively performing in these venues and participating in this open musical community in Athens, will recreate the atmosphere of a traditional glenti (musical gathering and celebration) in the Museum garden.

The musicians shared their experience: “Young people in central Athens dance, sing, play music and celebrate every day in small taverns and traditional music venues, in pedestrian streets and parks, as well as on larger stages, while during the summer they come together in circle dances at major festivals. Musicians and regular attendees of these venues—as listeners, dancers and participants in the festivities—co-create a large and open musical community in Athens through traditional music and dance. This community acts as a bearer of living cultural heritage and contributes to its continued evolution within the contemporary urban environment. Upon the concrete landscape of the city and beneath the sounds of age-old music, young people connect through dance and celebration. Meeting again and again, they form new friendships, share values and common experiences, shape their identities and contribute to a collective memory. What is it that fascinates people of all ages about this music? How do dancers and musicians experience their role as members of this wider open community and, consequently, as bearers of living musical heritage?”

Programme
19:30 | Discussion

Participants:

Myrsini Pontikopoulou-Veniéri (musician)
Alexandros Rizopoulos (musician)
Artemis Liagka (photographer and traditional dance instructor)
Christoula Lykou (traditional dance instructor)

Moderated by:
Maro Panagi, musician and journalist

20:30 | Musical Performance

Kinteria:

Myrsini Pontikopoulou-Veniéri (violin)
Giorgos Christodoulou (lute)
Vangelis Pappas (clarinet)
Andreas Drakopoulos (percussion)

Contact:
+30 210 3254129
(Monday–Friday, 09:00–15:00)

Reservations may also be made through the more.com platform by obtaining a free admission voucher.

The events are supported by Bodossaki Lectures on Demand (BLOD), the Bodossaki Foundation’s online lecture library.