2025 Review

The “Yannis Mantakas” choir and the Friends of the “Yannis Mantakas” Choir Association welcomed 2025 with the traditional cutting of the New Year's cake. At the simple celebration, which took place in the choir's rehearsal room, active members of the choir, as well as members of the Friends Association, enjoyed homemade delicacies and fine sweets, accompanied by music and dancing. As every year, the traditional exchange of gifts took place. The Association's Vasilopita, kindly sponsored again this year by Mrs. Eleni Mantaka, was cut by our conductor, Erifili Damianou. For the second consecutive year, the coin fell to the alto section, while the lucky winner of the individual Vasilopita was Petros Stefanakis, a student at the School of Music of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, who received a copy of Ernst Hans Gombrich's book "The Story of Art." We look forward to seeing you again next year!

The official celebration of the national holiday of March 25 took place, as every year, in the Ceremony Hall of the Aristotle University, in the presence of the Rector's Office, members of the Senate, representatives of political and state leadership, and a large crowd. The day's speech was delivered by Ms. Evangelia Amoiridou, professor in the Department of Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The musical part of the event featured the Aristotle University Symphony Orchestra performing with the “Yannis Mantakas” choir, conducted by Vladimiros Symeonidis. The ceremony concluded with the choir and orchestra performing the national anthem.

The academic year ended with the traditional spring concert of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki choirs, featuring the "Yannis Mantakas" choir, the SMS Choir Workshop, and the SMS First-Year student choir "Trisevgeni Kalokyri" under the musical direction of Erifili Damianou. The event also featured the choir of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Alumni Association "Expression," conducted by Yannis Chouliaras. As every year, this concert provided an opportunity for SMS-AUTh students who had completed the full course "Vocal Ensemble Conducting" to conduct the "Yannis Mantakas" choir as part of their practical training. The choirs honored the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Greek composers Manos Hadjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis by selecting, among other works, important pieces by these two composers for their program.

The year 2025 marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. To celebrate this important milestone, AUTh organized events both on and off campus throughout the year. The official opening ceremony of the celebrations took place at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Mr. Konstantinos Tasoulas. The event was opened by the "Yannis Mantakas" choir, performing Aristotle's "Hymn to Virtue" set to music by Menelaos Pallantios. This work was selected and designated as the official anthem of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1957, following a competition organized by Yannis Mantakas.

Before the summer holidays officially began, the “Yannis Mantakas” choir was invited to perform at the 4th International Choir Festival of Igoumenitsa. The Festival is organized by the Cultural and Social Association of Igoumenitsa "Rena Kotsiou," in collaboration with the Regional Unit of Thesprotia, the Municipality of Igoumenitsa, and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Thesprotia. The concert took place at the ancient theater of Gitana, with Alexis Kostalas as the main presenter. The choir performed choral songs from around the world, with great success.

The start of the winter season was marked by a tribute event organized by the Municipality of Thessaloniki to celebrate 100 years since the founding of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The “Yannis Mantakas” choir collaborated with the Thessaloniki Municipality Symphony Orchestra at the Garden Theater, conducted by Haris Iliadis. The program opened with the "Hymn to Virtue" conducted by Erifili Damianou and continued with works by W. A. Mozart. The soloist was a member of our choir, Kiki Kalaitzidou.

The “Yannis Mantakas” choir responded to the invitation of the International Medical Olympic Association to provide musical accompaniment for the conference organized in memory of Professor of Medicine Filippos Grammatikos. The program included music by Mozart, Dvorak, Theodorakis, and Hatzidakis.

First-year students at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki enjoyed a very pleasant experience this year at the welcome event organized by the University's Volunteer and Student Activities Coordination Office. For the first time, the welcome event was held outside the university campus, at the nearby Palais des Sports. First-year students had the opportunity to learn about all the Schools of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, as well as the student groups that were invited to participate and present their work. The "Yannis Mantakas" choir was well represented, both during the official event inside the stadium by students of the School of Music, who organized a short but exciting karaoke session, and outside at its information booth, where a small group of choir members, together with our conductor, Erifili Damianou, ensured that first-year students were fully informed about the existence and activities of our choir.

The most important anniversary for the city of Thessaloniki is the triple celebration of the feast of our city's patron saint, St. Demetrius, the liberation of Thessaloniki in 1912, and the anniversary of the historic "NO" and the Epic of '40. In 2025, the celebration also included the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjidakis. On the occasion of these multiple anniversaries, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki organized a splendid ceremony attended by the Presidents of the Hellenic Republic and the Republic of Cyprus. It should be noted that, for the first time, the day's celebratory speech was not delivered by a member of the Aristotle University faculty, but by His Excellency Nikos Christodoulides, President of the Republic of Cyprus. The "Yannis Mantakas" choir opened the ceremony by singing the Apolytikion of Saint Demetrius, arranged by M. Adamis. We then collaborated with the Aristotle University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vladimiros Symeonidis, performing excerpts from Mikis Theodorakis' "Spiritual March" with soloists Mela Gerofoti and Apostolos Sotiroudis.

In 2025, the “Yannis Mantakas” choir embarked on another remarkable journey abroad, this time to wintery Vienna. As part of the festival organized by Choralspace – International Academy for Choral Arts, the choir had the opportunity to give a successful concert at the Catholic Church of St. Elisabeth. The program included works by W. A. Mozart and Greek choral music.

The highlight of our trip to Vienna was our concert in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein. In this magnificent hall, where the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert is broadcast every year, the “Yannis Mantakas” choir took to the stage and sang two Greek songs, "With the star-lantern" by Mikis Theodorakis, arranged by Panagis Barbatis, and "The Rose" by Manos Hadjidakis, arranged by Kostas Tsougras. It then joined 1,000 other choristers from around the world in performing Franz Schubert's last “Mass in E flat major”. It was a historic moment for our choir and a unique experience that will remain etched in all our memories.

Immediately after returning from Vienna, the “Yannis Mantakas” choir was back at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Ceremony Hall for the penultimate major concert of 2025, as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of our University's founding. This time, the event was dedicated exclusively to the great Mikis Theodorakis. The choir, in collaboration with the Aristotle University Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimiros Symeonidis, performed the entire "Spiritual March" based on the poetry of Angelos Sikelianos, as well as three well-known excerpts from "Axion Esti" with poetry by Odysseas Elytis. The soloists were once again Mela Gerofoti and Apostolos Sotiroudis.

The event for the lighting of the Aristotle University Christmas tree is becoming an annual tradition, highlighting the University's extroversion and its relationship with the city of Thessaloniki. This year, the SMS First-Year student choir "Trisevgeni Kalokyri," accompanied by members of the "Yannis Mantakas" choir, had the opportunity to make its first appearance, performing traditional carols and favorite Christmas songs. The concert was conducted by Erifili Damianou.

The “Yannis Mantakas” choir and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Symphony Orchestra were invited by the Serres Association of Letters and Arts to present the "Spiritual March" at the Municipal Theater "Asteria" of the Serres Municipal Theater. It was with great enthusiasm that we found ourselves on this small but very welcoming stage, performing once again Mikis Theodorakis' masterpiece, together with soloists Mela Gerofoti and Apostolos Sotiroudis. The audience's response to the concert by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki music ensembles was truly moving.

The year 2025 ended in traditional fashion with the grand Christmas concert performed by the musical ensembles of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The “Yannis Mantakas” Choir, the SMS Choir Workshop, and the SMS First-Year Choir "Trisevgeni Kalokyri" opened the evening by performing traditional Greek carols and songs under the direction of Erifili Damianou. This was followed by a rich musical program performed by student members of the Aristotle University Symphony Orchestra, and the event closed triumphantly with the Aristotle University Choirs and Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimiros Symeonidis. We look forward to seeing you again next year with the same energy and even greater creativity!

Participation in SMS educational programs

• As part of the presentation of our choir member Pantelis Terezakis's master's thesis, entitled "Polyphonic ecclesiastical music in the Greek-speaking Orthodox Church and the arrangement of hymns by Vasilis Papakonstantinou," members of the choir "Yannis Mantakas" joined forces with former members of the Holy Trinity Choir to provide musical accompaniment for the event, which was dedicated to the memory of the late Vasilis Papakonstantinou. The musical part featured arrangements of Byzantine hymns by Vasilis Papakonstantinou. The event was greeted with very warm words by His Eminence, the Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Mr. Philotheos. Pantelis Terezakis himself was responsible for the musical preparation and direction. Click here to see the video and the photos of the event.
• Members of the “Yannis Mantakas” choir and the SMS Choir Workshop also participated in the presentations of the diploma theses of students Savina Maria Polyzou on the theme of Gabriel Faure's "Requiem" and Dimitra Manika on excerpts from Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana." Giorgos Dafos accompanied on the piano.

Media coverage of the choir

• Regular posts on the choir's and the Association's official social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have increased the choir's visibility. As a result of this initiative, ERT3 featured one of the most popular videos of the past year, showing the choir's arrival at Vienna airport, on its news program "Perimeter."
• As part of the events marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, ERT3 produced a series of documentaries entitled "Aristotle University: Footprints of a Century" about the university and its history. For the third episode of the documentary, entitled "Prattein Enthechnos" (Acting Artfully), the journalistic team interviewed the President of the Friends Association, Pavlos Kaimakis, and the secretary, Dimitris Milosis, while footage was also shot from the rehearsal for the concert on October 26. The series is available on Ertflix.
• After the concert in Serres, the online newspaper "Anexartitos" published a very positive review..
• The prestigious magazine "Thessalonikeon Polis" Digital published an extensive feature on the "Yannis Mantakas" choir entitled "From Thessaloniki to the great concert halls of Europe: 73 years later, the miracle of the historic choir of Aristotle University continues." Among others, our conductor, Erifili Damianou, Mrs. Eleni Mantaka, as well as Pavlos Kaimakis and Dimitris Milosis spoke in this feature.

Website updates

As the "Yannis Mantakas" choir gradually gains a profile that once again transcends the borders of Greece, we have revamped the official website of the choir and the Friends Association so that it is also available in English.