KALAMATA, Greece – The International Kalamata Music Days make their dynamic return September 25-29, with a different event each evening, the concert series will feature innovative projects from acclaimed Greek and international artists.

This year turned out to be highly challenging for the arts and artists alike. After the cancellation of the organization’s masterclasses in July due to the developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, they did their best to reorganize a part of the concert program while adhering to all hygiene and safety regulations. This month’s festival edition is organized by the PHARIS – Kalamata Municipality Beneficiary Organization and the Municipal Conservatory of Kalamata with the co-production of the Region of Peloponnese and was adopted under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Among the artists performing this year is one of the most brilliant cellists of our times, Jean-Guihen Queyras, together with his son, a talented young painter Jérémie Queyras. They will intertwine Baroque and contemporary music with live painting performance. Violinist Jonian-Ilias Kadesha and his Caerus Ensemble will be another highlight of the festival. With a colorful variety of ensemble formations and solo violin pieces, this concert will concentrate on 20th-century and contemporary chamber music.

Pianist Manos Kitsikopoulos will perform compositions for piano solo by Liszt, Chopin, and Konstantinidis. Furthermore, Arionas Gyftakis and his Jazz Trio will present a fresh concept of moving image accompaniment while aesthetically interacting with the film Daphnis and Chloe (1931) by poet and early Greek film pioneer Orestis Laskos. The film screening is a co-production with the Filmhouse – New Film Club of Kalamata and the Greek Film Archive.

Finally, pianist Alexia Mouza, violinist Felix Froschhammer and cellist Indira Rahmatulla will return to Kalamata to explore a world of Beethoven and Shostakovich, two revolutionary composers in their own right.

The full concert program is available online: https://kalamatamusicdays.com.

Admission is 5 euros.