In an exclusive Australian concert, the Hellenic Museum welcomed and celebrated international musicians Vassilis Tsabropoulos and Nektaria Karantzi in Melbourne for a one-night-only, live performance titled Between East and West on Saturday, 1 April.
Sarah Craig, CEO of the Hellenic Museum, warmly welcomed Vassilis and Nektaria with a speech highlighting the historical importance of Byzantine ecclesiastical music and its synergies within modern Western culture.
Tsabropoulos and Karantzi’s two-hour live performance filled the Hellenic Museum pavilion with mesmerising grand piano and voice, which culminated in an emotional standing ovation and cries for an encore. The duo was supported by performances from the Psaltries Choir of Melbourne, a choir founded by Nektaria Karantzi herself, and the Holy Trinity Brunswick – Serbian Orthodox Choir.
The duo filled the Museum’s courtyard pavilion with mesmerizing grand piano and voice over a two-hour live performance. They left not one dry eye in the house, as the audience described their performance as “God-inspired, beautiful, soul-touching moving music”.
An emotional standing ovation inspired Vassilis Tsabropoulos to masterfully lift the spirits of every audience member in a breathtaking piano finale after cries for an encore.
WHO THEY ARE
Their performance was supported by the Holy Trinity Brunswick – Serbian Orthodox Church Choir and the Psaltries Choir of Melbourne, who recently won an Award in Chanting Excellence at the international Orthodox Arts Festival. The choir holds regular rehearsals under the direction of Nektaria Karantzi and locally coordinated by Ioanna Nikoloulea.
Vassilis Tsabropoulos is a virtuoso pianist, composer and conductor who has collaborated with several of Europe’s most prestigious orchestras.
Nektaria Karantzi is one of the world’s most influential voices in Byzantine and wider Mediterranean music traditions, and the founder of the Worldwide Association of Women in Byzantine Music.
Together, Tsabropoulos and Karantzi are an inspired marriage of Western musical culture and Eastern tradition. Since forming their artistic partnership in 2013, they’ve released their joint studio album ‘Eleison’ which has seen them tour extensively across Europe. It is this album which formed the foundation of Saturday’s performance, titled Between East and West. The evening was a triumph, with more than 150 people braving inclement weather to hear the virtuoso musicians.
THE BYZANTINE MUSIC MASTERCLASS WITH NEKTARIA KARANTZI
The following day, Sunday 2 April, Nektaria delivered an intimate Byzantine Music Masterclass which delved into this historic art form in greater detail. Nektaria is a highly regarded Professor of Byzantine Music, having taught at some of Europe’s most prestigious universities and devoting her vocal practice to Byzantine ecclesiastical music since the age of nine. Sunday’s masterclass was her first to be delivered in Australia.
The Byzantine Empire was one of the most influential forces in the Mediterranean basin for over a millennium, with its capital Constantinople serving as the nexus of Europe and Asia, of east and west. Byzantine music reflects the Empire’s cosmopolitan nature and combines its diverse poetic and musical influences – including ancient Greco-Roman styles, Jewish sacred music, Syriac chant, and western polyphony.
In turn, traces of Byzantine musical influence are today reflected in Greek folk music, popular genres such as Rebetiko, in the work of composers such as Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, and even in the surf rock culture of the 1960s.
Though Byzantine music may now be considered niche within the mainstream collective psyche, its transcultural origins remind us that, like the music’s diverse and complex origins, we too are the product of intercultural connections spanning thousands of years. As their masterful piano and vocals filled the Hellenic Museum this weekend, it was clear that Nektaria and Vassilis understand this deeply, and that although these stirring events have now passed, they will continue to resonate long after.
This project was made possible with the support of Joanna Nikoloulea of Social & Media, and the Worldwide Association of Women in Byzantine Music.
Note: The Psaltries Choir of Melbourne accepts requests for new members and hearings via email: women.byzantinemusic@gmail.com
