An opera was orchestrated on Saturday at the Peter G. Patridis Culture Center in Astoria, New York. The opera was co-organized by Saint Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Church; whose Saint day is on the 26th of October, and with the Greek Music Foundation. The musicians included ten distinguished Greek lyric artists accompanied by a thirty-two member orchestra from the Greek Music Foundation. The concert was led by Ioannis Ksilas.
The Peter G. Patridis Culture Center hosted the opera in hopes to preserve memorable Greek folk songs by great Greek composers. These include among others, the Attik, Hadjiapostolou, Sakellaridis, Giannidi, and Spartacus.
Greek Australian researcher and academic professor Vasso Apostolopoulos has been honored as the “Greek Australian of the Year” by the Peloponnesian Confederation of Australia.
Vasso Apostolopoulos has been conducting research for years for the development of a vaccine against breast cancer.
Community volunteer worker Vicky Paranomoswas awarded with the title of “Peloponnesian of the Year”.
“The main issue is to find a solution within the legal framework and constitution of Turkey and we are seriously working in this direction”, stated Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. His statement was in response to a question if his ministry is working towards the reopening of the Theological School of Halki.
After his meeting on Saturday in Istanbul with EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule, Davutoglu proceeded to make the following comments.
When he was asked about Halki Theological School, Fule stated that the discussions with Turkey: “are under development with the focus being fundamental rights and freedoms. The Theological School is part of this framework. In case positive steps are made in this issue, our response will be positive. Soon, the European Union will be discussing the issue of enlargement and other relevant issues”.
Prime Minister George Papandreou, speaking in an interview broadcast live on state and private TV channels on Monday evening, stressed that: “It’s not my intention to call national elections, but if the situation hinders the ability of the government to make changes, then the there must be a decision by the Greek people.”
The prime minister noted that a package amounting to 110 billion euros was secured, the biggest to be secured historically. He added: “today, after these sacrifices we can hope and the first light has appeared at the end of the tunnel.”
Papandreou additionally stated: “if we delay or stop the course towards the big changes, all these sacrifices will be lost and what is most probable is that we will return to the past and to an even worse fate. We have escaped from the storm, but it cannnot be ruled out that we shall return to it.”
Papandreou underlined that he was not interested in the political cost and that his personal wager is to clash with the aim of change, with those forces that are keeping the country behind.
Referring in particular to the challenges in the local government elections, Papandreou said that there are two very important issues: “the first is that never in the past have the citizens being called on to elect local rulers with such power and for this reason we want capable and wise candidates to emerge.”
“The second is that the country is in a state of emergency and for this reason responsibility and seriousness is required.”
The first target is the salvation and reshaping of the country and this message must reach those who are undermining the country’s course and to make it clear that the course for salvation cannot be checked, the PM claimed.
Papandreou ruled out the possibility of new economic cuts, that will deal a blow at salaries and pensions. He stressed that new measures will concern the curbing of extravagance and cracking down on tax evasion.
He added that 2010 was the year of averting bankruptcy and 2011 will be the year of the completion of large structural changes. As regards the next two years, 2012 will be the year in which growth will acquire a positive index and 2013 will be the year from exiting from the memorandum.
Today the Greek Government requested from FRONTEX -the EU Agency for the Management of the Operational Cooperation at the External Borders, for the deployment of Rapid Border Intervention Teams. This request is for assistance to Greece in controlling its external land border with Turkey.
Recently the number of irregular migrants crossing the border has steadily increased, particularly at the 12.5 kilometres stretch near the Greek town of Orestiada.
The Rapid Border Intervention Teams was created in 2007 and is activated today for the first time. This mechanism aims to provide rapid operational assistance to member states that are facing a situation of urgent and exceptional pressure at points of its external borders, due to large numbers of third country nationals trying to enter in an irregular way on the territory. The Teams are coordinated by FRONTEX and will be deployed at the external border. They will ensure mutual assistance between member states of the European Union; they will act under the authority of Greece and will be in place for a limited period of time.
Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström stated: “The situation at the Greek land border with Turkey is increasingly worrying. The flows of people crossing the border irregularly have reached alarming proportions and Greece is manifestly not able to face this situation alone. I am very concerned about the humanitarian situation. I trust that proper assistance will be given to all person crossing the border and that the request for international protection will be considered, in full compliance with EU and international standards.”
For the next three days Thessaloniki will be celebrating various Greek holidays for the month of October. The 26th is the holiday of the city’s patron saint, Saint Demetrios and the day of the city’s liberation and the country’s national anniversary is on October 28th.
On Tuesday the 26th, at St. Demetrios church, there will be a ceremony to honor the saint. Prime Minister George Papandreou, Leader of New Democracy Antonis Samaras, Minister of National Defense Evangelos Venizelos, the leadership of the Armed Forces, along with additional ministers, local authorities and representatives of political parties will all be present. On Thursday the 28th there will be a military parade at the city center where all of the previously mentioned including the President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias will be present.
On Wednesday at 11:00 am there will be a student parade on Tsimiski Street. Karolos Papoulias will attend the parade. He will also attend a parade at the memorial of the Third Army Corps and at 10:30 he will lay a wreath. In the evening there will be an inauguration at the First International Exhibition of Defense and Security (DEFENCYS 2010) at the John Vellidis Convention Center where the festivities will end.
A trial regarding the murder of media tycoon Andis Hadjicostis in Cyprus has restarted. Now a fourth person has joined the defendants.
The proceedings have attracted intense interest with a TV presenter Elena Skordelli; among those on trial.
She is accused of paying for the contract killing of Andis Hadjicostis who is the former head of the Dias media group.
The trial opened in June but a re-trial was ordered after the man alleged to have pulled the trigger was arrested in Moldova.
Gregoris Xenophontos, who was extradited from Moldova in August, appeared alongside the three other defendants in a court in Nicosia on Monday.
The four pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to commit a crime. They were ordered to remain in custody until the court reconvenes on the 9th of November.
Puma, the German maker of sportswear and casual clothing, accused its Greek associates on Monday of financial irregularities and said it had dismissed the two managers of its subsidiary in Greece.
It blamed the two Glou brothers, who each owned 15% of Puma Hellas SA; a joint venture where the Puma company owned the other 70%. At Puma’s head office in Herzogenaurach in southern Germany, a spokesman said they had withheld or misappropriated millions of euros from the unit. He said this was revealed in an initial report from auditors.
In a separate ad hoc statement Puma said it would rebuild its distribution infrastructure in Greece because of the ‘irregularities’ and the general market situation in the country.
The two chief executives of Puma Hellas SA were immediately dismissed and replaced.
‘”This report led to a situation where we had to act immediately” stated the Puma spokesman. The joint venture had been formed in 2005.
The spokesman did not say exactly how much money had been lost but said a charge of 115 million euros or 161 million dollars would be retroactively placed on the 2009 accounts. There would be a writedown of 15 million euros in the 2010 business year.
A restructuring of Puma Greece which has already begun would cost another 15 million euros.
On the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Puma stock declined 1.35% to 248 euros but recovered. Luxury brands company PPR of France controls a majority of Puma.
The company said that changing the top management at Puma Hellas had prevented further irregularities. Auditing firm Deloitte has been commissioned to conduct a complete extraordinary examination.
Puma’s supervisory board has ordered lawyers to pursue criminal and civil claims against the executives accused of misappropriation.
In Athens one of the dismissed executives Giorgos Glou, told reporters he knew nothing of the Puma company statement and had no further comment at the moment.
In San Francisco, Greek choreographer John Antoniou brings to fruition the “Rembetiko”. This is something he has been working on for years in Germany and has now along with the Kunst-Stoff team, brought to America’s west coast. Along with Antoniou, the team will be conducter Minos Matsas, singer Katerina Klabaneva, and Leonidas Hassapides who is a master of shadow play. Hassapides lives and works in San Francisco. Dancers from Taiwan, America, Japan and Brazil will also participate.
“It’s impressive how the bodies of foreign dancers, who do not use words and emotionally charged, react to rembetiko music,” said Minos Matsas about the “Rembetiko”, which brings together dancers from America and Taiwan. “No matter how many times I played these songs for people who are not of Greek origin I saw the same reaction: a sparkle in their eyes and their expression changing immediately. Something hits really deep inside of them.”
All of the scenes are filled with strong feelings such as refugees from the lost homeland along with Greek dancing traditions. The performance will start off playing for three nights and will play another three nights by the end of the month. It will be staged at the renovated ODC Theater, one of the most important and oldest theaters for dance in San Francisco.
Rembetiko music comes from the soul, states Katerina Klabaneva. A big part of my work is my passion to show people what this type of music is. For Katerina, Rembetiko music is an idiom of geographical and cultural borders. She has been singing this type of music for years in the U.S., Britain and Greece.
The “Rembetiko” which was suggested to be brought to San Fransisco by the ODC theater organization and the Foundation CounterPulse, has been invited to stage performances in New York next year. Discussions are underway for performances in Athens.
For more information:
“Rembetiko” with choreography by John Antoniou, music by Minou Matsa will be staged at the ODC Theater in San Francisco October 21st-24th and 28th-30th. Visit their website at: www. odcdance.org/
An initiative to create the largest mandolin orchestra in the world is being attempted by organizers in Iraklion, Crete. According to its coordinators, in addition to the excitement of participating in the Guinness Book of World Records, this attempt also allows participation from all Greek people. The idea for the creation of this mandolin orchestra is targeted towards beginners and enthusiasts of the mandolin. The formation is expected to have many roles to include beginners as well as advanced musicians. Once at least four hundred people show interest, a song for the concert will be sent out to participants so that they may practice the song on their own or with help from their music teachers.
After everyone is divided into teams there will be final rehearsals with the conductor and director of the orchestra Michael Maramichelaki. The organizer’s wish is that Iraklion, Crete will be the venue for the orchestra with the performance for the Guinness Book of World Records in Crete.
Further information can be found in the Facebook group “Η ΜΕΓΑΛΥΤΕΡΗ ΜΑΝΤΟΛΙΝΑΤΑ ΤΟΥ ΚΟΣΜΟΥ ΣΤΟ ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ ΚΡΗΤΗΣ”, blogspot:mandolinguinessrecord.blogspot.com, by telephone at 698 560 61 13 or by leaving your FULL name and telephone number via email to the following email addresses: mix12@windowslive.com & enyaik@gmail.com.
An opera was orchestrated on Saturday at the Peter G. Patridis Culture Center in Astoria, New York. The opera was co-organized by Saint Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Church; whose Saint day is on the 26th of October, and with the Greek Music Foundation. The musicians included ten distinguished Greek lyric artists accompanied by a thirty-two member orchestra from the Greek Music Foundation. The concert was led by Ioannis Ksilas.
