Wyrd/ Άτροπος Μοίρα
We continue our activities connected to the 2025 guiding theme at the Lab: that is, meetings in an international spirit. This time we turn our attention to what is happening in contemporary music in Greece.
The Greek female Pythia Trio creates a polyphony of stories about fate, beginnings and the chaos that precedes order. Playing on a specially prepared piano, the artists create a musical space in which mythology and sound interpenetrate, drawing on the ancient figures of the Moirai, the Norns and Wyrd — guardians of fate from various traditions.
The program features premiere compositions by Alexandros Markeas, Danai Belosinof, Filippos Raskovic and Giorgos Chanos — four individual musical languages, four perspectives on the ungraspable, woven into a dramaturgical whole under the direction of Georgina Daliani. The narrative is complemented by an electroacoustic layer of previously recorded material, becoming the common thread running through the entire concert.
This is an evening full of tension and symbolism, a ritual of sound and form — equally rooted in myth and in the intuition of contemporary listening.
Program:
George Chanos CLAT (2024)Alexandros Markeas Nimata (2024)George Chanos pléxi (2024)Danai Belosinof Nyx (2024)Filippos Raskovic Numbness Underneath (2024)Andys Skordis Da…REM (2021)George Chanos KNOT
Performers:
Pythia Trio:
Myrto AkrivouIro MenegouThalia Papadopoulou
Production:
Artistic director: Giorgina Dalianiartistic concept, text: Pythia Trioproduction: Lilianna Krychvisual identity: Aleksandra ŒdakSound engineering: Kosma Standeraco-organization: Pythia Trio, Artivistas
The Hashtag Lab Contemporary Music Space is co-financed by the Capital City of Warsaw. The media patron of the Hashtag Lab Contemporary Music Space is Dwójka Polskie Radio and POLMIC.PL.
More about the artists:
Pythia Trio — comprising Myrto Akrivou, Iro Menegou and Thalia Papadopoulou — is an ensemble of three Greek pianists, gaining increasing recognition on the contemporary music scene in Greece. The trio aims to promote new piano music, presenting works by both young and established composers from Greece and abroad.
In their artistic activity, Pythia Trio goes far beyond traditional performance frameworks, exploring space, light, movement and narrative. Music becomes for them a multidisciplinary medium — a meeting ground of different genres and artistic fields, where sound interpenetrates with visuality and performance.
The ensemble was formed as a natural extension of the “Piano in the 20th and 21st Century” workshops led by Lorenda Ramou at the Athens Conservatory. The artists began their collaboration in 2020 after participating in the Énumérations workshops organized by Giorgos Aperghis, under the direction of composer Nicolas Tzortzis (Stegi Onassis / Athens Conservatory).
In 2021 the trio presented its first project, “The Hippocratic Oath,” in Athens, Thessaloniki and Kalamata, commissioning seven young composers to create new works — with the support of the Greek Ministry of Culture. The following year, with the project “TANANTIA TOUTEOON,” the ensemble performed in Cyprus, Romania, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and France. In 2023 the trio presented its most recent project “Three Lears” in Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Cyprus.
Pythia Trio has performed at, among other events, the Expressions d’elles festival organized by Hanatsu Mirror Ensemble in Strasbourg, at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, and at the MoMus Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki.
Myrto Akrivou — Greek pianist specializing in contemporary music. She trained at the National Conservatory in Athens and at the London College of Music. For years she has focused on new music of the 20th and 21st centuries, collaborating with composers and performing numerous premieres in Greece and abroad. She is a member of Pythia Trio, with which she realizes interdisciplinary concert projects supported by the Greek Ministry of Culture, and she co-creates a piano duo with Thalia Papadopoulou. Since 2008 she has performed in a duo with flautist Amalia Kountouri, and as pianist of the chamber orchestra Nuovarte she has given over a hundred concerts.
Her album Beauty and Hope in the 21st Century (Musica Ferrum, 2015) features works by contemporary composers from around the world. She has performed in projects at Onassis Stegi and on the 3rd programme of Greek Radio.
Iro Menegou — pianist, performer, curator and educator, deeply committed to contemporary music. As a soloist and ensemble member — including in Pythia Trio, Methexis Ensemble and the film ensemble Bouche Fermée — she collaborates with composers on realizing new music, often engaging also in educational and curatorial activities.
She has performed in Greece and across Europe, including in Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Cyprus. She was a member of the Enumerations workshop ensemble inspired by the work of Georges Aperghis. She has long been active in the development of music education and international artistic exchange — she is, among other things, co-creator of the festival “Women Composing in the Balkans,” nominated for the Classical NEXT Innovation Award (2019), and artistic director of the Cypriot Toyful Music Festival.
Menegou graduated with distinction from the Athens Conservatory in the piano class of Eleni Alakiozidou; she also has training in music theory, double bass, musicology and economics. She currently teaches and coordinates international projects at the Pylaia-Hortiatis Municipal Conservatory and serves as artistic director of the College De La Salle Conservatory in Thessaloniki.
Thalia Papadopoulou — pianist, chamber musician and educator from Athens, specializing in contemporary music. As a soloist and ensemble member she performs premieres of new works, records contemporary music and collaborates with composers from Greece and abroad. She is co-founder of Pythia Trio, forms a piano duo with Myrto Akrivou and collaborates with flautist Eva Stavrou, focusing on 20th and 21st century repertoire.
She has co-created projects realized with the support of, among others, the Onassis Foundation and the i‑Portunus program (Creative Europe), working with composers in Paris, Bucharest and Munich. In 2023 she began a collaboration with Sofia Kamayianni, performing in her children’s opera “I Am a Tree That Speaks,” presented in theatres and schools in Greece, Germany and Belgium. She is the founder of the cultural organization Artivistas. She studied in Maastricht, Athens and Lyon, and holds diplomas in piano, harmony and counterpoint from Greek conservatories. She regularly attends masterclasses and workshops in contemporary music performance, including those led by Lorenda Ramou and Nicolas Tzortzis. As accompanist and musical director she collaborates with theatres, foundations and educational projects. She teaches piano and works as an accompanist at Athens conservatories.
Composers:
Danai Belosinof (b. 1993, GR/BG) — composer combining contemporary music with elements of theatre, video art and performance. Her sonic language draws on Karnatak rhythm and gamelan music. She is interested in the subjective perception of time and space and in the role of the human voice. She is also a curator, composer of theatre and film music, and co-creator of interdisciplinary artistic projects.
George Chanos (b. 1990, Athens) — composer, designer and sound engineer, creating instrumental, electroacoustic and theatre music. His works have been performed at, among other venues, the Greek National Opera and the National Theatre of Greece. He is also active in film music, and his work has been presented at international festivals. He also works in sound design for the performing arts.
Alexandros Markeas — French-Greek composer and pianist, graduate of the Paris Conservatory and IRCAM. He creates instrumental, electroacoustic and stage music, often combining it with theatre, text and visual arts. He is valued for works featuring elements of improvisation and inspiration from traditional music. He teaches improvisation at CNSMDP, and his work has received multiple awards, including from SACEM and SACD.
Filippos Raskovic — composer and improviser from Athens, living in Vilnius. His works often have an interdisciplinary and site-specific character, and he treats sound as a tool for exploring space and matter. He collaborates with visual artists and artistic collectives. He is co-founder of the collective KRAMA, the trio illucid, and host of a programme on the independent Radio Vilnius.
Andys Skordis (b. 1983, Cyprus) — contemporary music composer, author of operas, orchestral works and site-specific sound installations. He studied at Berklee, in Amsterdam and in Bali. His work draws on the musical traditions of various cultures and has received numerous awards, including BUMA Toonzetters and the Berlin Opera Prize. He is the founder of the ensemble PATSIAOURA and an active improvising musician.