As part of the Greek-Austrian Music Summer 2025, the international youth ensemble finds an ideal platform in Thrace.

The Greek tradition of hospitality and the experience in highlighting our archaeological heritage can function as hubs of cultural synergy for the creation of artistic experiences of international renown. A tangible and significant example is the concert by the ensemble “Strings in Motion” on the evening of July 9, 2025, at the ancient theatre of Maroneia, a few kilometers outside Komotini. In this landscape of historical importance and rare natural beauty, we attended a magnificent evening as part of the Greek-Austrian Music Summer, the result of an institutional collaboration with a European spirit and high artistic level.

Rehearsal Day at the Komotini Music Hall

Strings in Motion is a cross-border educational program for strings, initiated and guided by violinist and pedagogue Christos Kanettis, professor at the Mozarteum University Salzburg and the University of Music Innsbruck, Austria. They are active in Northern Italy, Western Austria, and Southeastern Bavaria (Euregio region). The program also has a component that takes place during the summer in Greece. The initiative aims to provide young performers with musical and general professional skills, enabling them to become responsible and self-sufficient artists.

This is achieved thanks to their unique working method. On the morning of the concert day, I visited the Komotini Music Hall with them to observe their rehearsal. For me, it was the first time I witnessed how they prepare their concert, and for all of us, it was the first and impressive encounter with the amazing building and the truly excellent acoustics of the main hall.

video: Dimitris Kiousopoulos

Once inside, the first thing the musicians did was an acoustic exercise in the space. Initially, they dispersed across the seemingly vast stage. They played without a conductor, coordinating from a distance. The concertino gave the cue; with a shared breath, they began the prelude from Grieg’s Holberg Suite with perfect attack. They then repeated the exercise, but started to move. They played while walking, crossing paths with each other, and the sound moved through the space. The end of the piece found them quite satisfied. And me too.

Afterwards, they discussed the details of their rehearsal organization: which pieces needed more work, when the break would be, and all related matters. The most experienced musician coordinated the discussion, but the final decision was collective. Their pieces are familiar, so the rehearsal had few interruptions. It concluded successfully and with enthusiasm for the wonderful hall they had just discovered.

During the rehearsal, Christos Kanettis observed, sometimes even from outside the hall, but at this stage, he intervened minimally, if at all. Only at the end would he make some observations. Essentially, corrections were made by the musicians themselves, who monitored each other while playing. The more experienced ones helped more, reminiscent of the mutual teaching method in schools during Kapodistrias’ era. All musicians could suggest how the group could play better, and if a proposal was initially accepted, it was tested and judged by its outcome.

Some have been there since the first year they came to Greece in 2014; some are new. This year, 16 musicians are participating, from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Ukraine, China, Malaysia, and Greece. The international ensemble’s working language is English and, secondarily, German (any other language is common among the respective participants), but as many members have repeatedly participated in the Greek part of the program, they have started to use some short Greek words within the group: Come on. Okay. Let’s go. Hello.

The Komotini Music Hall

The Komotini Music Hall is the third in the country, after Athens and Thessaloniki. The architectural study was carried out by the distinguished architects Nikos Valsamakis and Sthenis Molfesis. Construction was completed in 2010, but unfortunately, only about half of the original design was realized, without the auxiliary halls or essential equipment such as theatrical lighting, and without the Hall ever systematically operating. This year, it will finally acquire systematic artistic activity, as explained by Mr. Konstantinos Katsimigas, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Macedonia – Thrace Cultural Foundation, the company of the Region of Eastern Macedonia – Thrace to which the use of the Komotini Music Hall and the Xanthi Thought and Art Center (a building known as the house where Manos Hatzidakis was born and lived) was granted.

Incidentally, the plot of the Hall is located next to the Iliopoulou military camp, which was granted by the Ministry of National Defense, and from its large windows, one can see… cannons and armored vehicles, as well as the neighboring historic building from the early 20th century, located within the granted land area. A study for the restoration and reconstruction of this building is underway, aiming to create auxiliary halls, conference spaces, workshops, studios, and exhibition rooms for visual arts, which will concern the activities of the Cultural Foundation and the Komotini Music Hall.

An Evening in Ancient Maroneia

Coastal Ancient Maroneia is about half an hour’s drive from Komotini and overlooks the Aegean Sea. When we arrived quite early, the first audience members were already there before 7:30 PM to secure seats, and rightly so, as by 8:45 PM, when the concert began, the theatre was packed. Those who did not secure one of the available 350 seats (a limit that could not be exceeded for safety reasons) watched standing from the adjacent area.

The concert began uniquely with the musicians taking positions standing around the audience to play Iason Tzanakos’ (*1986) Improvisation on a Byzantine Theme / Melody of Petros Peloponnesios, which started strictly and evolved a little more oriental-like – it was perfectly suited for the occasion, music that reflected the long and varied history of the place hosting us. Then the musicians descended and took their places on the low but convenient platform to begin the main concert with Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite – the entire suite this time and always with a very emphasized first attack, as everyone enters together with enthusiasm.

The theatre has excellent acoustics, and the concert was given without technical sound support, which was very satisfactory. The space is evocative, and Strings in Motion highlight it not only acoustically but also visually. For their summer tour, they all wore linen and cotton clothes in white and beige colors, not all identical, each their own. The result is that each musician expresses their personality within a harmonious ensemble, which pleases the eye without distracting from the listening. When I asked who the “stylist” was to congratulate them, they replied: all of us.

A series of solo pieces followed, most notably Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major. It was clearly an approach with minimal Rococo elements, in the spirit of the Sturm und Drang movement, full of pre-Romantic momentum – after all, when E.T.A. Hoffmann first spoke of romanticism in music, he had Haydn in mind as the founder of the style, with Mozart and Beethoven as his successors. The soloist Paolo Tedesco performed the cello solo part with impetus, grace, and impeccable virtuosity. The entire piece flowed without hesitation or any interruption, as the slow movement was omitted.

We also had the opportunity to witness the advanced soloistic virtues of additional ensemble members in a series of shorter works with concertante characteristics. The triptych Meditation – Scherzo – Melodie, Op. 42, for solo violin and strings by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, with soloists Denis Vasylynets, Dimitris Kosmas, and Yik Liang Soo successively. The Andante e Rondo ungarese transcribed for solo viola (originally written for bassoon) and strings by Carl Maria von Weber with Marinus Kreidt, and the Ionian dance for solo violin and strings by Dimitris Dragatakis with soloist Stylianos Mastrogiannis. And the Valse Scherzo Op. 34 for solo violin and strings, also by Tchaikovsky, with soloist again the now very experienced Denis Vasylynets.

In all the pieces, we had the opportunity to ascertain the high level of performances from all the soloists, among whom special mention should be made of Stylianos Mastrogiannis. However, I was particularly moved by the Malaysian Yik Liang Soo, who amazingly combines Asian and European styles: a polished melodic surface with a simultaneous exploration of the underlying levels of music and emotion. Of course, a male dominance among the soloists was observed in this concert, but it was coincidental, as this was not the case in the previous concert and will not be in the next either.

This year’s participating group was as follows:
– violin: Stella Lea Brandl, Julia Braunhofer, Zhonghan Fiona Chen, Laokratis Dimopoulos, Dimitris Kosmas, Stylianos Mastrogiannis, Ena Morgenroth, Maurizia Schmid, Yik Liang Soo, Denis Vasylynets;
– viola: Marinus Kreidt, Nicolas Mair, Lena Maria Schuster; cello: Alexander Koeck, Paolo Tedesco; double bass: Benjamin Lampert.

As an encore, Strings in Motion played the last of Nikos Skalkottas’ 36 Greek Dances, the Mazochtos. I remember very well when they first played Greek Dances by the Greek composer at their debut performance at the Byzantine Christian Museum in 2019 (September 2). Back then, they played them a bit like Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, and I found it amusing, but certainly interesting: a different perspective. Now they have learned the Greek style, which could perhaps be characterized as a loss, if they weren’t playing with such a good balance between the folk-traditional and the expressionistic elements. The latter could be even more emphasized in the characteristic glissandi of the violins.

The concert was attended by the Austrian Ambassador to Athens, Gerda Vogl, the Consul General of Turkey in Komotini, Aykut Ünal, with his wife, the Deputy Regional Governor of Rodopi, Manolis Tapatzas, the Metropolitan of Maroneia and Komotini, Panteleimon, the Mufti of Komotini, Dr. Cihad Halil, as well as two mayors – I sat with them at the concert and we introduced ourselves: they were the Mayor of Komotini, Mr. Giannis Gkaranis, and the Mayor of Maroneia-Sapes, Mr. Apostolos Ioannou. Both watched with genuine interest and, as one confided to me, although not at all familiar with classical music, he truly enjoyed the concert.

The organization by the Eastern Macedonia – Thrace Cultural Foundation – Komotini Music Hall (President Konstantinos Katsimigas, Director Paschalis Xanthopoulos) and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Rodopi and the responsible archaeologist Dr. Nagia Dalakoura was truly impeccable. The audience also made a significant contribution to the success. Not only for the large turnout but also for the attention with which they watched: an exemplary audience.

I wish for the same turnout and attention for the next scheduled concert of Strings in Motion at the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus, on September 28, at the event organized by the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation to celebrate 30 years of operation, having already had an extremely successful appearance with the support of the Foundation in the same venue a year ago. The official link for the concert is expected to be announced soon.