Summer Nostos Festival draws crowds to the SNFCC in Athens

ATHENS – The Summer Nostos Festival (SNFestival) returned this summer to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in Athens June 17-24. The great summer celebration for the entire city, open and free to every resident and every visitor, is organized and exclusively funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

During the Festival, multiple spaces in the SNFCC, both indoors and outdoors, host a variety of events.

Music, singing, dance, theater, modern art, sports, the SNF RUN: Running into the Future, a unique chess match, family activities, talks, the SNF Conference on Philanthropy, performances, fireworks, as well as live broadcasts of football matches set the stage for this year’s SNFestival – a week of events free and open to all.

Among the names included in this year’s program, John Cale & Band, Animal Collective, Lianne La Havas, Seu Jorge, Joyce DiDonato, Kronos Quartet & Sam Green, American Contemporary Music Ensemble, Theatre of Voices, Paul Hillier, Alexi Murdoch, The Barr Brothers, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Theater of War, and Garry Kasparov.

The second day of SNFestival 2018 started on June 18 at 10 AM with sports and recreational activities for children and adults at SNFCC’s new Outdoor Games Area.

Participants discovered the sport of fencing and rowing, tested their climbing skills, and enjoyed a unique piano concert by Simone Dinnerstein.

Third day of SNFestival features sports and recreational activities including kayaking

The folk band concert by The Barr Brothers on the Canal Stage and the 60 minute Oratorio Drone Mass In memoriam Johan Johannsson at the Stavros Niarchos Hall were not to be missed. Later that evening, on the Stavros Niarchos Park Great Lawn, the crowd gathered for the highly anticipated concert by the Greek band, Stereo Nova.

The third day of SNFestival featured sports and recreational activities including kayaking which attracted a large crowd thanks to the excellent summer weather, and rowing which offers a unique view of the wonderful SNFCC building.

Many children also showed interest in badminton, an Olympic sport, but not widely popular in Greece. The day continued with painting, math, play, and many small climbers demonstrating their skills.

The most interesting workshop for children in the “Nostos University,” was presented by John Edmark, inventor, artist, and 14-year lecturer at Stanford University’s Design Program, who explained to his little friends everything about the spiral.

 Dynamic collaboration between the Greek National Opera’s Dance School and the ABT Studio Company 

The captivating choreography by Daphnis Kokkinos in a dynamic collaboration between the Greek National Opera’s Dance School and the ABT Studio Company was another highlight of the third day of the SNFestival. Later in the evening, DJ Kampire’s sets that mix East Africa’s classical music with western electronic sounds impressed the audience.

For one more day, the audience flocked to the show “The Birds – Karagiozis in the Country of Birds” by the award-winning director Ilias Karellas. The line outside the Labyrinth for the show was quite large.

Stavros Niarchos Hall welcomed the live documentary A Thousand Thoughts, presenting the history of the emblematic Kronos Quartet, while legendary John Cale and his band performed live on the Great Lawn stage with a song set spanning his half-century career. The value of Kronos Quartet in the history of music is immeasurable, with over 45 years of recorded works from almost the entire spectrum of world music.

On the other side of the SNFCC, the audience was fortunate enough to enjoy the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), featuring John Cage, one of the greatest music geniuses of all time.

All SNFestival events are free and open to all, organized and funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

For more information about the Summer Nostos Festival visit the festival’s website at www.SNFestival.org.

Read more at thenationalherald.com

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Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: John Karakatsanis  License: CC-BY-SA