The Athens Conservatoire () is the oldest educational institution for the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

in modern

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It was founded in 1871 by the

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Music and Drama Association.

History

Initially, the musical instruments that were taught there were limited to the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and the

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, representative of the ancient Greek

Apollonian The Apollonian and the Dionysian are philosophical and literary concepts represented by a duality between the figures of Apollo and Dionysus from Greek mythology. Its popularization is widely attributed to the work ''The Birth of Tragedy'' by Fri ...

and

Dionysian The Apollonian and the Dionysian are philosophical and literary concepts represented by a duality between the figures of Apollo and Dionysus from Greek mythology. Its popularization is widely attributed to the work ''The Birth of Tragedy'' by Fri ...

aesthetic principles. Significantly,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

lessons were not included in the program. In 1881 its new

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-taught director Georgios Nazos, in a move that was controversial at the time, expanded the conservatoire's program by introducing modern Western European-style instruments and theory material. Among the musicians who have taught at the Athens Conservatoire are

Constantine Psachos Konstantinos Psachos ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Ψάχος; 1869 – 1949) was a Greek scholar, educator, musician, composer, cantor and musicologist. Biography He was born in the village of Mega Revma near Constantinople in 1869. He was ...

Manolis Kalomiris Manolis Kalomiris ( el, Μανώλης Καλομοίρης; December 14, 1883, Smyrna – April 3, 1962, Athens) was a Greek classical composer. He was the founder of the Greek National School of Music. Biography Born in Smyrna, he attended sch ...

Felix Petyrek Felix Petyrek (14 May 1892 in Brno 1 December 1951 in Vienna) was an Austrian composer. He wrote stage works, songs, piano music (including duos and duets) in a Romantic style. Petyrek was a pupil of Franz Schreker and Guido Adler in Vienna. Du ...

Elvira de Hidalgo Elvira Juana Rodríguez Roglán (December 28, 1891 – January 21, 1980), known professionally as Elvira de Hidalgo, was a prominent Spanish coloratura soprano, who later became a teacher and vocal coach. Her most famous pupil was Maria Ca ...

. Prominent personalities and artists who were taught at Athens Conservatoire include

Spyridon Samaras Spyridon-Filiskos Samaras (also Spyros, Spiro Samára; el, Σπυρίδων Σαμάρας) () was a Greek composer particularly admired for his operas who was part of the generation of composers that heralded the works of Giacomo Puccini. His com ...

(1875–1882),

Maria Callas Maria Callas . (born Sophie Cecilia Kalos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her ''bel cant ...

(1938),

Dimitri Mitropoulos Dimitri Mitropoulos ( el, Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος; The dates 18 February 1896 and 1 March 1896 both appear in the literature. Many of Mitropoulos's early interviews and program notes gave 18 February. In his later interviews, howe ...

(1919),

Nikos Skalkottas Nikos Skalkottas ( el, Νίκος Σκαλκώτας; 21 March 1904 – 19 September 1949) was a Greek composer of 20th-century classical music. A member of the Second Viennese School, he drew his influences from both the classical repert ...

(graduated 1920),

Gina Bachauer Gina Bachauer (Greek: Τζίνα Μπαχάουερ; May 21, 1910, AthensAugust 22, 1976, Athens), was a Greek classical pianist who toured extensively in the United States and Europe. Interested in piano at a young age, Bachauer graduated from t ...

(graduated 1929),

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He Film score, scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek (film) ...

Dimitris Sgouros Dimitris Sgouros ( el, Δημήτρης Σγούρος; born 30 August 1969) is a Greek classical pianist.Loukas Karytinos Loukas ( el, Λουκᾶς/Λουκάς) is a Greek (male) first name. It is the Greek form of the Latin name Lucas. This name is often given to honor Luke the Evangelist. People with the given name Loukas * Loukas Apostolidis, a Greek footballe ...

. The first

Drama School A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School); which specializes in the pr ...

in Greece was also founded in 1871 on the premises, with many prominent theater personalities were included in its teaching staff, such as:

Aimilios Veakis Aimilios Veakis ( el, Αιμίλιος Βεάκης; December 13, 1884 – June 29, 1951) was a Greek actor. An active member of the National Liberation Front during the Axis occupation of Greece, he was persecuted for his leftist beliefs durin ...

Dimitris Rontiris Dimitris Rontiris ( el, Δημήτρης Ροντήρης; 1899 – December 20, 1981) was a Greek actor and director. Biography Rontiris was born in Piraeus. He began his education at a military school and left to study law at the University o ...

, Kostas Mousouris, Dimitris Myrat and others. The institution also runs a Dance School which originated from the establishment of a rhythmic dance school in 1935, which however seized operations a few years after. The school reopened as a fully fledged Dance School in 2011 and in 2018 it gained an official professional accreditation status by the Greek Ministry of Culture.

Building

The Athens Conservatoire is located on Rigillis Street and Vasileos Konstantinou Avenue. The building's facade measures 160 meters the whole building is 13,000 square meters in size. It is an exceptional example of the

Bauhaus school The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 2009 ...

and the modern movement in

. Designed by the Greek architect

Ioannis Despotopoulos Ioannis Despotopoulos ( el, Ιωάννης Δεσποτόπουλος, 7 January 1903 – 1992), also known as Jan Despo, was a Greek architect born in Smyrna (modern Izmir), Aidin Vilayet, Ottoman Empire. Biography Despotopoulos was born in Sm ...

(also known as Jan Despo), the only Greek to have studied under

founder

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in conne ...

, the Conservatoire is the only completed part of an ambitious large-scale cultural complex commissioned in 1959 by the then government for

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, for which he earned the top architectural prize of its time. The construction begun in 1969 and stopped in 1976, due to a lack of funding, leaving the building unfinished. In 1980, the Greek state undertook the cost of completing the work in exchange for ownership of the conservatory's old headquarters on Pireos Street. Despotopoulos' complete proposal for the Athens Cultural Center involved remodeling the space that stretches from Vasilissis Sofias Avenue to Vasileos Konstantinou Avenue, and from Rigillis Street all the way to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, spanning an area of nearly 150,000 square meters. According to Despotopoulos' archives on file at the Modern Greek Architecture section of the

Benaki Museum The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in downtown Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the ...

, in addition to the Athens Conservatoire, his plan foresaw the construction of an 1,800-seat opera house, a circular theatre stage, an extension to the National Gallery, a new Byzantine Museum, a Byzantine-style church, a hotel, a hall for classical dance performances and the state orchestra, a playhouse for experimental theater, underground garages and more. A large part of the underground floors of the building was used to host the

National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST Εθνικό Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης (ΕΜΣΤ)), established in October 2000, is the sole national institution focused only on collecting and exhibiting contemporary Greek and in ...

(EMST), between September 2008 and May 2015. The venue still hosts important events and cultural exhibitions in Athens. Since 2013 the Athens Conservatoire entered a new chapter with a series of renovations and the hosting of important cultural events. In 2016, a particular space, located in the first basement area of the building, was fully refurbished and used for the first time since construction, thanks to a generous donation from NEON Organisation, a cultural non-profit institution founded by the art collector and businessman

Dimitris Daskalopoulos Dimitris Daskalopoulos ( el, Δημήτρης Δασκαλόπουλος; born 1957, Athens) is a Greek entrepreneur who is known as founder and chairman of DAMMA Holdings SA, a financial services and investment company. He served as the Chairman ...

. The space, since named Polihoros Ω2, is completely transformed into an exhibition space which also contains a small theatre stage and regularly hosts various cultural and artistic events. Between 8 April and 16 July 2017, the Athens Conservatoire was one of the four main partner venues of the

documenta 14 documenta 14 was the fourteenth edition of the art exhibition documenta and took place in 2017 in both Kassel, Germany, its traditional home, and Athens, Greece. It was held first in Athens from 8 April to 16 July, and in Kassel from 10 June ...

international art exhibition which was, for the first time in its history, hosted in Athens along with its main and original location in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

, Germany. For the needs of the exhibition, most open public spaces inside and outside the building were dedicated to the artistic events, needs and exhibits of documenta 14. One of the spaces used for this exhibition is the ''Amphitheatre'', situated underground, which is architecturally inspired by the ancient theatres of Greece. The space hosted a sound installation art project by the Nigerian artist

Emeka Ogboh Emeka Ogboh (born 1977) is a Nigerian sound and installation artist best known for his soundscapes of life in Lagos. Trained as an artist, he began working with sounds that characterize cities following an Egyptian multimedia art program. He p ...

named ''The Way Earthly Things Are Going'' and was one of the rare occasions where the space has been open to the public. In December 2017 the ''Aris Garoufalis'' Concert Hall, situated on the upper level of the building, was also completely renovated, architecturally and acoustically, thanks to a donation by the ''Friends of Aliki Vatikioti for Music and the Arts'' Foundation. The concert hall now regularly hosts concerts, music competitions, music exams, rehearsals and other cultural events. Since 2020 a much wider in scope publicly funded construction project for the “Renovation and Modernization of the Building Infrastructure of Athens Conservatoire” is well under way and construction is expected to be completed around springtime 2022. In its final form, important new facilities will be added to the current building infrastructure, such as an underground Amphitheatre with a 600-seating capacity, a multi-purpose experimental black-box stage of a 200-seating capacity, spaces for conferences, exhibitions and other events, studio suites for sound technology, as well as a public café-restaurant.

References

External links

Official site
{{authority control Music in Athens Music schools in Greece 1871 establishments in Greece Educational institutions established in 1871