Greece in USA’s new cultural venue in TriBeCA presents GALAN TRIO and Petros Klampanis

Greece in USA launched the new cultural venue “The Opening Gallery” in Tribeca (42 Walker st) that will host a concert by composer and bassist Petros Klampanis on the 7th of November 2022. The Opening Gallery is currently featuring the group  exhibition “Collective Brain” with Greek Visual artists: Alexandros Georgiou, Yioula Hadjigeorgiou, Peggy Kliafa, Artemis Kotioni, Eleni Mylonas, Vasilis Zarifopoulos, Dimitris Tragkas, Adonis Volanakis. Proceeds support neurodiversity and the autistic community via the American non-profit “Luv Michael.”

Greece in USA’s new initiative will be presented this week in Athens. The Hellenic American University (Nashua, NH, USA), with the support of the Terra Foundation for American Art (Chicago, USA) and the Hellenic American Union, presents from November 10 to 13, 2022, the 1st International Conference Terra (in) Cognita: Dialogues between Greek Culture & Modern American Art.Researchers and artists will meet in Athens to explore the influence of central pillars of Greek culture, such as myth , Symbolism and Ancient Tragedy in Contemporary American Art. According to the organizers of the conference, Dr. Ermioni Karahaliu and Dr. Panagiotis Kalozoumis, the aim is to highlight the basic elements that shaped this cultural dialogue within a single conceptual and cultural framework. Particularly important for the work of the Conference is the presence of Dr. Sozitas Gouduna, founder of the non-profit organization Greece in USA. In her opening speech, on the evening of Thursday, November 10, Dr. Goudouna will talk about the representation of Greek art in the contemporary American cultural scene and the work of the organization Greece in USA, an innovative cultural platform, which aims to promote contemporary Greek artists in the USA, through exhibitions and educational programs to establish a strong «artistic diplomacy ».

GALAN TRIO IN THE US

GREECE IN USA also presents the Greek Music Ensemble Galan Trio and its project “Kinesis,” a survey on the music of contemporary American composers in an original, multifaceted concert program that will be performed in seven distinguished universities in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois presenting new commissions in collaboration with prominent composition professors.

Kinesis is an undirected movement of a cell, organism, or part, in response to an external stimulus. In Greek, Kinesis means movement, motion. Motion is a fundamental characteristic of all living beings; motion is what all musicians worldwide have desired during the last couple of years; motion alludes to continuity and it’s a promise for the future of “Kinesis” itself.

The first edition of the project featured the work of composers Nikitas Demos, Martin Gendelman, Paul Richards, Scott Robbins and Yiorgos Vassilandonakis who contributed one original work for piano trio reflecting on the period of the pandemic. The second edition featured the work of Matthew Greenbaum, Todd Groves, John Levey, David Martynuik, Ken Steen and David Thomas. The November 2022 edition features the work of Alex Lubet, Mary Ellen Haupert, Daniel Powers, Jeffrey Kowalkowksi, Pantelis Bolarakis, Dylan Findley, Navid Bargrizan and Brooke Joyce.

The Galan Trio concert is part of GREECE IN USA’s new program GREECE NOW under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture focusing on Greek artists who experiment with «nowness» and reflect upon the ubiquity and social ramifications of “nowness” in their work.

Concert Schedule:

Tuesday 11/01/2022 @ 8:00 pm: Mairs Concert Hall, Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN

Thursday 11/03/2022 @ 8:00 pm: Loyd Ultan Recital Hall, UMN, Minneapolis, MN

Friday 11/04/2022 @ 7:30 pm: Jenson-Noble Hall of Music, Luther College, Decorah, IA

Saturday 11/05/2022 @ 3:00 pm: Nola Starling Recital Hall, Viterbo University, La Crosse, WI

Monday 11/07/2022 @ 7:30 pm: Duesenberg Recital Hall, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN

Tuesday 11/08/2022 @ 7:30 pm: Boyce Recital Hall, ISU, Terre Haute, IN

Wednesday 11/09/2022 @ 7:30 pm: Fine Arts Center Recital Hall, NEIU, Chicago, IL

Program:

Daniel Powers “Before the Fragile Gradual Throne of Night”

Dylan Findley “Animo”

Brooke Joyce “Mirror/καθρέπτης”

Navid Bargrizan “Tuning Exercise No. 8”

Jeffrey Kowalkowski/Pantelis Bolarakis “Enin Modnar”

Mary Ellen Haupert “Variant”

Randy Bauer “Moto”

Alex Lubet “Elusive”

Artists and Organization Bios

PETROS KLAMPANIS:

Petros Klampanis, is a Greek bassist, composer, arranger, producer, and educator. Named a “Bass Ace” by Bass Player Magazine, composer and bassist Petros Klampanis grew up in Greece. In addition to his appearances in the US, he has performed at the JazzAhead Festival in Bremen, XJazz Festival in Berlin, and others.

GALAN TRIO:

Known for the passionate and energetic way they perform classical compositions, the Athens-based Galan Trio is active both in Greece and internationally. Focused mainly on presenting new compositions, Galan Trio also creates original programs, the most recent being «Kinesis». For this project, the trio commissioned five distinguished composers from the United States to compose on this theme. This collaboration led to two concert tours at eleven universities on the east coast in October 2021 and April 2022.  In July 2016, the ensemble travelled to Gulangyu, China, the so-called “Piano Island,” for the series of concerts “Greek Inspirations in China,” the first festival in China that featured Greek music. In 2017, they released their debut album «Switch,» a musical  blend of cultures with works  composed for and dedicated to Galan Trio by Thomas Bramel (U.S.A.), David Haladjian  (Armenia), Vincent Kennedy (Ireland), Vasco Pereira (Portugal), Harald Weiss (Germany), and  Nikos Xanthoulis (Greece). The album presentation took place in Athens at Megaron Concert Hall. Switch received critical acclaim and was broadcasted on the radio in Greece, Switzerland, the United States, Portugal, Germany and Armenia. In 2019 Galan Trio composed and recorded the original soundtrack for the documentary Y1:  Silence of the deep directed by Philippos Vardakas. Collaborations with other accomplished composers include: mezzo-soprano Alexandra Gravas and flutist Jessica Quinones, Dirk Brosse, Igor Vorobyov, Yorgos Vassilandonakis, Paul Richards, Arthur Aharonian, Martin Gendelman, Scott Robbins, and Nickitas Demos. Schott Editions published “Secret Dancing” by Harald Weiss with a dedication to the Trio. Recently, the trio presented their work in Spain, Armenia, the Netherlands and in Greece as the prestigious Athens & Epidaurus Festival, the Komitas Festival, the fourth online festival of the Greek National Opera, the Onassis Foundation’s Open Day and the Megaron Concert Hall series Music Portraits. In December 2021, Galan Trio premiered their project Ararat at the Archaeological Museum of Athens, which will be presented in various countries. The trio returns to the United States in November for the third part of Kinesis.

Greece in USA is a New York 501 © (3) non-profit organization with a global reach that promotes knowledge of contemporary and ancient Greek Culture while fostering international cultural cooperation, experimentation and social engagement. The organization’s extensive programming includes commissioned artists’ and curators’ projects, residencies, educational and ecological initiatives and the commitment to cultivating a sensible culture of innovation and thought leadership. We are dedicated to offering innovative and unique programs in education and the arts, exploring the evolving diversity and richness of Greek and Cypriot cultures. The non-profit organization seeks to generate new thinking about the arts and promote cross-cultural dialogue through partnerships and new creative platforms. The organization fosters an international exchange of practice and knowledge in the arts – visual and sound art, dance, architecture, theatre – research on the methods used in curatorial and performing practices and investigation of points of intersection between the arts, science and the public sphere employing interventions, collective actions, educational programs and publications. Greece in USA has presented projects at the MET Metropolitan Museum of Art, French Embassy, French Institute FIAF, John Jay College CUNY Undercurrent.nyc, Seneca Village Central Park NYC, and aims to collaborate and build long-lasting partnerships with leading institutions and individuals who actively engage with Greece and its culture and convey a comprehensive and distinctive representation of Greece and Cyprus by producing cultural and educational programs that encourage intercultural dialogue and enable cultural involvement. greeceinusa.com

Kinesis in the context of GREECE in USA, under the auspices of the  Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports