One of the most impressive areas of Chios, Kampos, with its 14th century mansions built by Genoese and local merchants, the high walls of stone from Thymiana and the fragrant citrus orchards, will be the natural setting for a special musical walk with the participation of about 100 performers. It is a new production of the Chios Music Festival, a concept by the Artistic Directors Olga Holdorff Myriangou and Eleftherios Veniadis, directed by Ioanna Lioutsia: a treasure hunt of a different kind that will take place in the labyrinthine streets of Kampos.
Divided into three groups and accompanied by actors-guides, the spectators-participants will answer riddles and solve puzzles that will lead them to landmarks of the area, which is protected by the Ministry of Culture. Along the way, the walkers will encounter short musical and theatrical surprises with a strong sensory element; the wilting, the flowering, the sweetness of the mastic and the zest of the citrus fruits are the fertile ground on which the scenario of the walk is built. The experience concludes at the estate of Spyros Stefanou, where the musical link with the 16th century and the heyday of Kampos will be drawn through a concert by the early music Nocturnalia Ensemble with works by the composer and Baroque violinist Giuseppe Michele Stratico (1728-1783). Although he spent most of his life in Italy, Stratico was originally from Chios, and the evening’s programme is a rare opportunity to highlight this unique Baroque composer and revive his music on his mother’s island.
In parallel, at the Spyros Stefanou estate, the exhibition “Composts in Kampos” by the anthropologist, director and artist Stratis Vogiatzis will complement the magic of the route. Through photographs, soundscapes, installations, writings, videos and objects, the exhibition invites us to enter the inmost world of Kampos and, as Alec Soth notes, to wander through an “enigmatic labyrinth of heightened entropy”.
Contributors
Ioanna Lioutsia: Director-writer
Yannis Varvaressos: Associate director
Olga Holdorff Myriangou, Eleftherios Veniadis: Conceptual design-musical dramaturgy
Early music Nocturnalia Ensemble
Mojca Jerman: Baroque violin
Pablo Tejedor-Gutiérrez: Baroque cello
Alex Mastichiadis: Harpsichord
Chios Music School Choir
Michalis Pilavas, Georgia Apostolidi: Instruction-Conductor
Chios Choir
Faidra Giannelou: Instruction-Conductor
Armolia Choir of the cultural association “The Castle”
Andrianna Neamoniti: Instruction-Conductor
Philharmonic of the Municipality of Chios
Evgenia Voria: Instruction-Conductor
“Chios Youth Music Workshop”
Theologos Michelis: Instruction-Conductor
Isidoros Voukounas: Clarinet
Maria Kalogirou: Santouri
Taxiarchoula Karapournou: Qanun
Giannis Kyriakopoulos: Clarinet
Chara Psychi: Oud
Teachers of the Aegeas Conservatory
Fotis Pezos: Viola
Themis Salasidis: Double bass
George Boukaouris: Drums
with music by Giuseppe Michele Stratico (1728-1783) and traditional songs of Chios.
Stelios Makrias: Actor
Christina Zamagia, Maria Zannikou, Antonia Tassopoulou: Actors-guides
Performer: surprise appearance
Renia Pournara: Instruction-acting coach
Dimitris Theodoropoulos: Curator of the exhibition “Composts in Kampos”
*The performance includes excerpts from the book “Kampos” by Stratis Vogiatzis (Agra Publications).
We would like to thank Samson Fytros for creating the hats and Lia Forou, Dimis Mylonadis, Lucy Kardasilari and Spyros Stefanou for their warm hospitality.
