Hermoupolis Guitar Festival is one of the longest-standing institutions in the cultural events of Syros. With a fanatical audience in Greece and abroad, for 28 years now he has managed to place Syros at the center of musical events every summer and to leave satisfied all those who participate in its events.

The artistic director of the festival, Angelos Nikolopoulos, spoke to “Koini Gnomi” about this year’s event: “We have hopefully arrived at the 28th guitar festival, one of the first festivals that took place in Syros and, like every year, this year too, has as central musical axis the guitar. It includes various types of music and seminars by musicians and teachers. There is also a competition for three different age groups. For children up to 14 years old, for children from 14 to 17 and for people from 17 and over”

The festival does not want to be repeated and each time it tries to highlight new beautiful places in Ermoupoli with appropriate musical suggestions. This is also the reason why the events take place in different places. “This year, the opening and closing of the festival will take place at the Apollon theater, while we will also try a new venue, the ground floor of the town hall, which the Syrian friends of the festival have suggested to us. We will also use for two days the excellent courtyard of the Cyclades Labor Center, something we did last year as well and it gave an excellent atmosphere,” said Mr. Nikolopoulos, while being asked afterwards how the festival manages to exist for so many years and mark every once such a success, he explained to us: “The festival has been created with passion and has been loved by the people of Syros, while it has also made a sensation in the rest of Greece and abroad. We try to consistently create a friendly atmosphere without eccentricities, egos or arrogance, something common in artistic events. Our contact with the children is also very important, because the festival, in addition to the concert, also has an educational character. With the lessons, the concerts, the ensembles and the competition in terms of noble starch, we have created a unique musical atmosphere something that has been passed on by word of mouth all these years”.

KOINI GNOMI – Friday, July 1, 2022 / Editor: Lina Theologitou

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The audience was enchanted by the concerts of the 27th Ermoupolis Guitar Festival in the courtyard of the Labor Center of Cyclades

Hermoupolis Guitar Festival was worthy of facing the current situation that significantly limit the work of culture, managing to adapt its program without “disagreements” and to offer unique musical moments to its friends for the 27th year.

The concerts of this year’s event, from 27 to 31 July 2021, took place in the courtyard of the Labor Center of Cyclades, which best served the needs of the festival, while contributing to the return to natural sound.

“Holding the events in this difficult time for everyone was admittedly a challenge for us, as special manipulations are required to control the people, the performers and everyday detail”, said to “Koini Gnomi” the artistic director of the Hermoupolis Guitar Festival, Angelos Nikolopoulos. As he characteristically mentioned, due to the separation that should be made between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, the two scheduled concerts at the Apollo Theater took place like the others at the Labor Center. “The whole festival was held in a single place, which proved to be ideal”, noted Mr. Nikolopoulos, giving special emphasis to his excellent acoustics. “We did not use any microphones in the yard of the Labor Center. Everyone listened perfectly to everything that was played there and that was something that worked in their favor. We heard the natural sound such as the instruments without amplification, as in most open-air events, microphones are used, so the sound is altered to some extent “.

Apart from the functionality of the space and the controls, the online reservation system that was followed performed just as well. “Although there was more interest, for security reasons, the audience was limited to around 70 people to keep the required distances. We were full every night, while the respective cancellation system helped us put in the concerts and people who expressed the desire to attend them “.

The lessons of the festival took place in the meeting room of the Labor Center with open windows and distances. In this year’s cycle participated 30 children from all over Greece divided into sections of 5-10 people. The lessons were held in order and specific appointments in order to avoid synchronicity.

The highlights of this year’s event

The program of the 27th Ermoupolis Guitar Festival opened on Tuesday, July 27, with “12 Madrigalia” by Michalis Tranoudakis, in poetry by an unknown Cypriot of the 16th century. The cycle of songs, which is also of literary interest due to the timeless poetic power of the texts, was presented for the first time in the courtyard of the Labor Center of the Cyclades by Nikos Hatzieleftheriou and Dimitris Voutsas.

According to Mr. Nikolopoulos, “it seemed that even in the confinement we all experienced, there were people who took advantage of it creatively to make and suggest something new. This work was much loved by the public “.

On Thursday, July 29, a solo recital was held by the Syrian Angeliki Doulgeri who attended the lessons of the Ermoupolis Guitar Festival 5-6 years ago. She then moved to Athens to study sociology, attended music studies, received her degree and through this year’s event made her first public appearance. “For our part, we wanted to give a step to a child from Syros to gain experience and be able to transmit what he knows to other children of the island in the future. It is nice that the place itself shows its talents “, said the artistic director of the Festival.

Among the strong moments of this year’s event is the concert that took place on Friday, July 30, in collaboration with the Embassy of Austria. Christina Bazili and Daniel Marx presented works for cello and guitar, among them some were heard for the first time.

“We are very happy that in our program this year we had the first global performances”, concluded Mr. Nikolopoulos, who renews his appointment with the friends of the festival for the summer of 2022.

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KOINI GNOMI/ Monday, August 2, 2021/ Author: Antonis Boubas

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The strong links between Hermoupolis Guitar Festival and the capital city of Cyclades are once again demonstrated through the unbelievable attendance of locals and visitors to the events of this year’s 26th event.

Thanks to its high quality and unique friendly atmosphere, the festival under the artistic direction of Angelos Nikolopoulos has managed to gain admiration from fans who follow it every year with the same love and devotion.

Aim of Hermoupolis Guitar Festival, which besides being a “strong cultural paper” of Syros is considered one of the leading festivals in Greece, is to present every year fresh ideas that will inspire and entertain a diverse audience.

Friday, July 26 “ΚΟΙΝΙ ΓΝΟΜΙ”

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During all these years each festival had something unique, but the 19th … was something special!
Maybe was the magic concerts, maybe the fantastic company between  the participant students and musicians, maybe the wonderful and overcrowded audience but the 19th, was an unforgettable festival.

Concerts

We had an extraordinary guitar recital by George Tosikian the 1st day at Apollo theatre followed by a dynamic concert for violin and guitar duo with Nikolaos Pylarinos and Evangelos Nikolaidis.

The second day the famous Greek guitarist and songwriter Vasilis Kazoulis played at Metamorfosis garden at overcrowded audience.

The 3rd night was a mystic experience at  Cyclades Gallery, a place with perfect acoustic!

At first half Nikos Zarkos played a demanding recital with contemporary Greek composers while at the second one the French guitarist and composer Sebastien Vachez played his own compositions and latin transcriptions.

At Metamorfosis garden we were astonished by “Solvista” ensemble next evening, a trio for mandolin, guitar and percussions.

At the final concert at Apollo theatre, the festival guitar orchestra conducted by Angelos Nikolopoulos played transcriptions from rock music. The demanding music by Rolling Stones was among them.
There were also a concert by the competition  winners.

Master class – Competition

At inspiring Gallery of Cyclades students had some valuable master classes with:
Sebastien Vachez, George Tosikian and Nikos Zarkos.

At Cyclades Gallery were held  also the competition. This year we had only 2 categories (A and B).
You can see 2012 competiton results here >>

Café concert

At the friendly café ‘delice’,  we had a marvelous solo and duet concert with students from  Letta Vasileiou class. Letta is making a great job with his students while she builds a unique friendly relation between student and teacher.

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Concerts

• Leon de Kroes and D&A guitar duo at Apollon theater.
• Alexandros Kalkos and Malekaki – Papoutsaki Duo at Cyclades Gallery
• Celtoi – Irish band at Metamorfosis Garden
• Andromidas group at Villa Tsiropina and
• Final concert with orchestra and competition winners at Apollon Theatre

Master class – Competition

At inspriring Gallery of Cyclades Students had some valuable master classes with:
Leon de Kroes, Dimitris Kourzakis, Angelos Botsis and Alexandros Kalkos

At Cyclades Gallery took place also the competiton.

You can see 2011 competiton results here >>

Orchestra, Workshop, Collaborate study

The participants orchestra with the direction of Angelos Nikolopoulos played pieces by Xatzidakis and Bregovic at the final concert in the marvelous Apollon Theater.

This year we introduced collaborate study between students with great succes.

Also Alexandros Kalkos gave a presentation on Tablature. These activites were hosted at the friendly “Delice” cafe

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This is a short summary of Hermopoulis Guitar Festival 2011 in Syros where I had the chance to take part.
It was a very well organised festival with a friendly competition for young guitarists and instructive masterclasses with helpful, friendly masters. There was an opportunity to take part in the work of the small festival orchestra, it was fun to prepare some easy pieces for the final concert which took place in the Apollon Theatre.
We recorded some of these at rehearsals and you can hear them in this video.
You can also hear Artemis Armakolas, George Anagnostopoulos and me playing a few seconds from our programs, and at the end Marcos Vamvakaris, who used to live in Syros.

I hope I will be able to go there again, I enjoyed my stay there very much.

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Could the sound of classical guitar music ringing through the clear night air on a remote island warm your heart? Do daydreams of peaceful or romantic evenings on a moonlit beach play in your mind? Do you enjoy trying new foods, meeting kind people, or walking narrow historic streets lined with stone houses and interesting shops? If these images make you smile, you should consider vacationing on the Greek island of Syros by attending the annual Hermoupolis Guitar Festival in July.

The festival focuses on guitar music. There are concerts every evening by world-class performers and classes in the mornings to help beginning, intermediate, and advanced players hone their skills. Afternoons are free time that most use for beach, bed, or practice.

The festival is not aimed only at professional guitarists. It is for anyone who loves hot days, cool nights, beaches and beautiful music. Whether you are a starting student, an advanced player, or simply love to hear others play, this festival makes for a great vacation. Participants range from teenagers to old timers like myself. They include people who simply enjoy hearing the music, beginning students, advanced students, and world-class performers. All are brought together for a week of music, sun, great food, and relaxation.

James Beall – September 2001

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We would like to point out the European dimension of this event, which seems to us a very valuable contribute to the unification and artistical communication between musicians and audience, It ‘s a most precious contribute to the European cultural landscape.

The artists, coming from Europe, America and Asia held their performances in different locations all over the city of Hermoupolis in splendid scenografies such as public gardens, neoclassic houses and villas, which guarantee a good affluence of the audience.

One of the most important peculiarities of Syros is, that it has perfectly conserved its traditional shape as it was ever; influences of modern seaside-tourism is few, so that the island is of interest prevalently for its cultural aspects in the city of Hermoupolis with its two hills, the beautiful neoclassic architecture and the flair of a vivid city, able to offer hospitality without loosing its Greek identity.

“Duo Ghiribizzo” – November 2000

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This Festival had a unique personality that was completely in accord with the setting – friendly, relaxed and non-competitive. The participants were there to spend a week communing with other musicians, making music and thoroughly enjoying the entire experience. The evening concerts and the daily master classes, presented a variety of the guitar’s aspects.

Perhaps due to the variety of venues, perhaps due to the different types of concerts, perhaps due to the association with a general arts festival, this festival was most unusual in attracting large general audiences. Every performance was crowed with townspeople and general music lovers, not just guitarists and not just festival participants. The audiences were responsive, enthusiastic and always there for the right reason -just to enjoy the music.

This was exactly the kind of event that can help the guitar grow and reach outside its small enclave to the broader mainstream of those who appreciate good music.

“Sounboard” magazine – Fall 1997

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