FRIDAY, JUNE 27 at 9pm

ARA DINKJIAN AND THE SECRET TRIO

Ara Dinkjian is an Armenian born in America in 1958 and is considered one of the best oud players in the world. In 1985, he formed his instrumental quartet, Night Ark, which recorded four CDs for RCA/BMG and Universal/PolyGram. The recordings of Night Ark and their global concert tours had a significant impact on musicians and music lovers worldwide.

His songs have been recorded by world-renowned instrumentalists and singers in 16 different languages, proving that music truly unites people and cultures. He has performed worldwide on concert stages, at oud festivals, seminars, and master classes, playing in 24 different countries. He has also had historic collaborations with iconic artists such as Sezen Aksu and Eleftheria Arvanitaki.

In recent years, Ara has formed the SECRET TRIO, a collaboration with Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet) and Tamer Pınarbaşı (qanun). They perform original compositions and traditional melodies that blend the microtonal scales and improvisation of the Middle East, Balkan dance beats, and elements of jazz, rock, classical, and world music. They released their first CD, Soundscapes, in 2012 and their second CD, Three Of Us, in 2015.

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 at 9pm

PERICLES KANARIS - NAFTODIA

Composer/performer Pericles Kanaris is presenting new, original material from the song cycle Naftodia. Following Aoratos, his first album with lyrics by the great Greek poet Manos Eleftheriou, Naftodia is an ode to Greek seafaring and its relationship to the Greek diaspora. It is based on new songs he composed on lyrics by notable Greek poets, as well as experiential verses from people belonging to the Greek maritime "family."
The new songs will be presented along with well-known songs that have already been written on the same subject by acclaimed Greek composers such as Tsitsanis, Theodorakis, Mikroutsikos, Loizos, Savvopoulos, Tokas, and others.

Pericles Kanaris will be joined by his Athens band, featuring: Krystallia Gaitanou on viola, Yorgos Kostopoulos on bass, Yorgos Skarpelos on bouzouki, laouto, mandolin and acoustic guitar.

Guest vocalists: Erriketi Katsani, Kalia Hadjiyannaki.

SUNDAY, JUNE 29 at 9pm

VASSIA ALATI - OPERA GALA

Soprano Vassia Alati was born in 1992 and showed an interest in music from a young age. In 2016, she graduated from the Vocal Studies Department (class of I. Troussas) at the Athens Conservatory with top honors, First Prize, and Distinction. That same year, she was awarded the "Maria Callas" Scholarship by the Maria Callas Association, which supported her further studies at the Vienna Music Academy. She graduated with honors and distinction, both in the Master of Opera with Professor Peter Edelmann and in the Master Lied & Oratorio with Professor Markus Hadulla.

She has studied with distinguished musicians such as Dimitris Kavrakos, Antonis Koronaios, Margreet Honig, Mariella Devia, Elly Ameling, Edda Moser, Gabriele Lechner, Eva Maria Westbroek, and others. She has performed opera roles such as Donna Anna, the Queen of the Night, the First Lady, Musetta, Servilia, and Galatea, among others. She has participated in concerts and recitals in Greece (Megaron Concert Hall, Athens Conservatory, Corfu, etc.) and abroad (Austria, Germany, the Netherlands (Concertgebouw Amsterdam), Hungary, Poland, France, South Korea, and more).

In 2022, together with pianist Yuto Kiguchi, she won First Prize and Special Awards at the International Lied Competition "Bolko von Hochberg" in Görlitz, Germany. In 2020, they won Second Prize at the International Lied Competition in Groningen, and in 2021, they received a Special Award at the 54th International Song Contest in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. She also studied at the School of Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).