Maria Matrem

The Ex Silentio ensemble conducted by Dimitris Kountouras, along with the Children's Chorus of the Greek National Opera led by Konstantina Pitsiakou revive medieval devotional music dedicated to the Virgin Mary, featuring the Cantigas de Santa Maria and pieces from the Llibre Vermell.

Medieval devotional music dedicated to the Virgin Mary is a very distinctive musical genre from that era. Notable examples include the Spanish repertoire of the Cantigas de Santa Maria collection from the court of Alfonso the Wise and Montserrat’s so-called Red Book. This music did not accompany church service rituals but was associated with a secular manifestation of worship and pilgrims while also involving singing, dancing, and, at times, musical instruments. It was a secular testament to the phenomenon known as “Marianism”, which swept throughout Southern Europe in the late Middle Ages. Ex Silentio, in collaboration with the Greek National Opera’s Children’s Chorus, showcases this unique repertoire using period instruments.

— Dimitris Kountouras

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Dimitris Kountouras medieval flutes, musical direction

He specializes in historical flute genres and music up to the 18th century, while he teaches at the Ionian University and coordinates the Centre for Early Music at the Athens Conservatory. He studied recorder, baroque flute and early music performance practice in Utrecht, Milan, Vienna and Trossingen, and holds a doctorate in historical musicology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He has performed in venues and festivals in Europe, the Middle and the Far East, including Sala Verdi (Milan), Pablo Casals Hall (Tokyo), Vienna Concert Hall, Athens Concert Hall, Blumenthal Hall (Tel-Aviv), Bahrain Festival, etc. He founded the music ensemble Ex Silentio, which he also conducts, and coordinates a series of events called Ostium, Medieval Music Days. He has collaborated with the Harmony of Nations Baroque Orchestra, Camerata – Armonia Atenea, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. He has published studies and essays on the history and interpretation of music for publishing houses such as TIBIA, Brepols, Nefeli, and Orfeos, among others.

Ex-silentio
It specializes in early music performance practice with period instruments, being founded and artistically directed by the flutist Dimitris Kountouras. It appears regularly in festivals and venues in many European countries and has recorded 6 digital albums for companies such as Carpe Diem, Talanton and Nefeli. It has performed at Styriarte (Graz), Banchetto Musicale (Vilnius), Riga Early Music Festival, the Italian festivals Mousiké (Bari) and Marco Fodella (Milan), Via Medieval (Mainz), Mozaik (Albania), the Swedish festival Trollhaetan etc. In 2018 it presented the rare Codex of Cyprus in Nicosia supported by the Levendis Foundation. It has collaborated with Athens Concert Hall, Thessaloniki Concert Hall, GNO Alternative Stage and the St Ruprecht Early Music Festival in Vienna. Ex Silentio is Ensemble in Residence at the Athens Conservatory and organizes the Ostium medieval music series.

Konstantina Pitsiakou

A graduate of the Music Department of the University of Cardiff (Wales), she studied with a scholarship methodology of teaching, chorus conducting, classical singing and piano at the International Pedagogical Institute Zoltán Kodály (Franz Liszt Academy, Kecskemét, Hungary). Moreover, in Athens she studied singing (diploma) with Christina Giannakopoulou. She has sung with the Patras Contemporary Music Ensemble and the String Quartet of the Municipal Conservatory of Patras, while she has given concerts of Early music with the ensembles Ex Silentio and Os Orphicum. She has collaborated with the Choruses of the GNO and the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, as well as with the Patras Municipal Conservatory Chamber Chorus. She is a member of the Equábili vocal ensemble. She has taught at the Municipal Conservatory of Patras, as well as at the Drama Schools of the National Theatre of Greece and the Patras Municipal and Regional Theatre. Since September 2017 she is the mistress of the GNO Children’s Chorus with numerous productions at the Stavros Niarchos Hall and the Alternative Stage, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Athens Concert Hall.

GNO Children’s Chorus

Founded in September 2012. It has an exclusively educational character and its goals, among others, are the study of choral singing, the cultivation of the wider musical education of its members and the development of the feeling of partnership and cooperation. Till today, the GNO Children’s Chorus has participated to great acclaim in such productions of the Greek National Opera in such venues as Olympia Theatre, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Alexandra Trianti Hall (Athens Concert Hall), Stavros Niarchos Hall and Alternative Hall of the GNO (SNFCC), etc. and has given numerous concerts, performing a very extensive repertoire, at the Presidential Mansion, the Acropolis Museum, the Pnyx, the Archaeological site of Brauron (Vravrona), the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, etc. The Children’s Chorus’ first mistress was soprano Mata Katsouli, while since autumn 2017, the ensemble has been directed by Konstantina Pitsiakou. The Chorus comprises about one hundred children aged 6 to 15 years old from all Attica.