The Contemporary Piano IV: Impressions from Greece March 15, 2012

The National Hellenic Museum in collaboration with the Modern Greek Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are pleased to present award-winning pianist Konstantinos Papadakis, a native of Heraklion Crete, Greece, for a special performance of works from six different composers, highlighted by Rhythmology from the legendary Manos Hadjidakis. Rhythmology has never been published and is rarely performed. Papadakis will perform this work from Manos Hadjidakis’ autographed score, which was kindly given to him by the composer’s son, Yorgos Theophanopoulos-Hadjidakis. Parts of the work were performed and recorded in 1972, and Mr. Papadakis was the first pianist to give a performance of the complete work in Boston in 1996.

While folk and pop Greek music is frequently performed, and with great success, in concert halls across North America, contemporary music by Greek composers is scarcely known and rarely performed. This may create the false impression that such music is not being produced, when in fact many young Greek composers enjoy considerable acclaim among their peers worldwide. “The Contemporary Piano IV” aims to challenge these stereotypes. Konstantinos Papadakis is a foremost champion of contemporary Greek music, who regularly performs and records these works in venues across the world. Significantly, the program includes works by non-Greek composers inspired by Greek themes that will be premiered at this concert. Presented alongside the other works in the program, these works materialize the dialogue between contemporary Greek music and the wider musical production of the past 50 years that this concert hopes to help take root.

Papadakis, a graduate of the Hellenic Conservatory of Athens and the first pianist to receive the prestigious Yannis Vardinoyannis Award, has played the world’s major concert halls, including London’s Wigmore Hall, Jordan Hall, the Athens Concert Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall and St. Petersburg’s Grand Concert Hall. In 2008-2009, he recorded Theodore Antoniou’s complete piano works for NAXOS. He holds the prestigious Motoko and Gordon Deane Principal Chair with Boston’s Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and recently joined the faculty at the New England Conservatory in Boston. The Boston Globe has described Papadakis as “displaying great variety of attack, poetic lyricism and wrists of carbon steel.”

An intimate reception with wine and refreshments and “meet and greet” with the artist will follow the performance.

“The Contemporary Piano IV: Impressions from Greece" has received an Innovative Initiatives award by the Modern Greek Studies Association. The National Hellenic Museum presents the concert with the Modern Greek Studies Program at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the auspices of the Greek Consulate of Chicago. This event has been endorsed by the Hellenic Professional Society of Illinois.