Marios Papadopoulos, Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic, and Friends
October 30, 2018,  at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Music Center

The concert focused on the work of the Greek conductor and pianist, Dr. Marios Papadopoulos MBE, founder and music director of the Oxford Philharmonic, resident orchestra at the University of Oxford in England. In 2014, he was named a Member of the British Empire in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for his services to music.

The evening, divided into two parts, started with an introduction to the new production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, which Maestro Papadopoulos will be conducting in Athens in March 2019 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in collaboration with the Greek National Opera. The director Alexandros Efklidis briefly spoke about his groundbreaking production with visuals depicting the design and sets, followed by a performance of arias and duets from the opera performed by the Greek National Opera’s coloratura-soprano Vassiliki Karayanni and baritone Dionysios Sourbis, who came from Athens.

In the second portion of the evening, Maestro Papadopoulos was joined by two principals from the Oxford Philharmonic, concertmaster Natalia Lomeiko, who played the famous Ida Haendel Stradivarius violin, and solo cello Mats Lidström, in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s epic Piano Trio in A minor.

A reception with Dr. Papadopoulos and the performers followed the concert. The magnificent concert was reviewed in the National Herald.

Twelfth Annual New York City Greek Film Festival
October 18 – 23 2018, at Florence Gould Hall

Presented in cooperation with The Hellenic-American Cultural Foundation, the festival aspires to bring the best work of Greek filmmakers, past and present, to New York City and its environs. 

Reenvisioned: The Color and Design of the Parthenon Frieze 
June 14, 2018, at the Rubin Museum of Art

Pavlos Samios, renowned Greek artist and professor at the Athens School of Fine Arts, presented a short film and discussed the composition, scale, colors, and techniques used in the frieze of the Parthenon. Having studied the frieze for many years, Samios suggested how it would have been in ancient times and how the Greeks envisioned and created the decorative tableaus of the magnificent temple built in honor of the city’s patron deity Athena. 

Pavlos, after graduating from the Athens School of Fine Arts and starting his career in Athens, moved to Paris where he received international acclaim. Upon his return he explored how to combine traditional techniques with contemporary concepts. In 2000, he was offered academic tenure at the Athens School of Fine Arts to lead the lab of Byzantine Art and Traditional Techniques. 

Samios’ work has been shown in over 75 solo exhibitions internationally, including Athens, London, Paris, New York, Boston, Hanoi, Beirut and Nicosia. His work can be found in several museums and private collections around the world, and he has painted numerous chapels using the fresco technique. He is also a well-known portraitist and his portrait of Maria Callas is displayed at the Metropolitan Opera House here in New York. A reception with Pavlos Samios followed the program.

Charmed Lives in Greece: Ghika, Craxton and Leigh Fermor
April 25, 2018, at The University Club

The Hellenic-American Cultural Foundation, with the support of the Benaki Museum, welcomed a presentation by renowned art historian Evita Arapoglou on the exhibition currently at The British Museum “Charmed Lives in Greece: Ghika, Craxton, Leigh Fermor.” Ms. Arapoglou helped create, and served as co-curator for, the exhibition, which was previously shown at the Benaki Museum in Athens and the A. G. Leventis Gallery in Nicosia.

The Greek painter Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, the British painter John Craxton and the British writer Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor first met at the end of World War II. Their close friendship endured for more than fifty years, and their shared love of the Greek world deeply influenced their respective works. Images of Ghikas’ glorious landscape paintings and of Craxton’s vividly evocative scenes from everyday life, and excerpts from Leigh Fermor’s eloquent texts, are combined in a narrative of this trio’s remarkable friendship and of the unforgettable charm of life in Greece. The presentation was a vivid stroll through these artists’ intertwined lives in Mani, Crete, Hydra and Corfu. A brief video introduction featuring Ms. Arapoglou, produced by the British Museum to accompany the exhibition "Charmed Lives in Greece", can be found here. A reception with Evita Arapoglou followed the program.