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.