“GREEK SONGS BY NON GREEK COMPOSERS” ALBUM WINS MUSIC CRITIC AWARD

At A ceremony held ON MONDAY at the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre “Maria Callas”, the Greek Association of Theatre and Music Critics, in collaboration with the Municipality of Athens, awarded the Prize for “Greek-Interest Recording 2024/2025” to the album Greek Songs by Non-Greek Composers, released by Etcetera Records.

The award recognizes the album’s original artistic concept, the excellence of performance, the meticulously prepared accompanying booklet, and the international reach ensured by a distinguished record label.

The recording features MEZZO-SOPRANO Elena Marangou, ALONGSIDE YORGOS ZIAVRAS AT THE PIANO, AND VIOLIST ANGELA GIANNAKI presenting a repertoire that reveals how composers from outside Greece have engaged with Greek language, poetry, and cultural identity. Rather than treating Greek art song as a closed national genre, the album highlights a tradition of admiration, translation, and artistic dialogue, showing how greek music acquires new expressive meanings when filtered through different musical perspectives.

The album includes works by Maurice Ravel, Lennox Berkeley, dmitri Shostakovich, herman reutter, ANTONIN dVORZÁK and other composers who turned to Greek poetry or Greek-inspired themes at pivotal moments in their creative development. Some songs set modern or classical Greek texts directly; others draw on mythic or cultural imagery. The program—unified by Ziavras’ interpretive clarity and pianistic refinement—offers a cohesive journey from early 20th-century European modernism to contemporary art-song traditions.

The accompanying booklet provides historical commentary, poetic context, and translations, offering a framework for understanding how each piece navigates the intersection of language, culture, and musical expression.

“I sincerely thank the Greek Association of Theatre and Music Critics for this honor. This album is built on a simple idea: that Greek culture does not belong only to those born into it. When composers from outside the country choose to write FOR GREECE, they reveal aspects of Greek identity that we ourselves sometimes overlook. Working on this repertoire at the piano was an act of discovery—of sound, of text, of shared artistic curiosity. I am deeply grateful to Elena Marangou for initiating the project, and to our collaborators, and to Etcetera Records for believing in it.”, SAID YORGOS ZIAVRAS

The award ceremony at the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre “Maria Callas” underscores the album’s broader message: Greek identity is dynamic, porous, and capable of inspiring artistic creation far beyond its borders. The recognition by the Association and the Municipality affirms the cultural value of initiatives that promote international dialogue and expand contemporary performance practice.