News at the Cyprus Wine Museum
Commandaria Orchestra and The Orphean Singers perform Viva Vivaldi! in Paphos and Nicosia
Nov
Performed by The Commandaria Orchestra and The Orphean Singers Cyprus (Mixed Chorus)
Under the baton of Francis Guy Artistic Director / Conductor
Soloists: Vasiliki Konstanti (Soprano) and Nicoletta Ierides (Mezzo-Soprano)
Friday, 22 November 2019
Markideio Municipal Theatre, Paphos
| Starts at 20:00 | Ticket: €12
Saturday, 23 November, 2019
Holy Cross Catholic Church, Nicosia
| Starts at 20:00 | Ticket: €12 from
The event is under the auspices of the Municipality of Paphos
The Commandaria Orchestra and The Orphean Singers Cyprus (Mixed Chorus), under the baton of their artistic Director and Conductor Francis Guy, present a concert of the liturgical and secular classical hits of Antonio Vivaldi, colloquially known as the “RED Priest” because of his bright ginger hair!
The concert features well-known instrumental music by Vivaldi, with arias from his oratorio Juditha Triumphans and including his popular “Gloria” which is set for solo female voices, mixed choir and orchestra.
Francis Guy | Artistic Director – Conductor
Dr. Francis Guy is a dynamic conductor and musicologist with notable concert activity and publications. His repertoire and research field is focused on western and South-Eastern European medieval and contemporary music.
He has conducted a number of concerts in Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Poland and Russia. He is the Artistic Director and Conductor of The Commandaria Orchestra and Orphean Singers Cyprus
Orphean Singers Cyprus
No strangers to the Cyprus audiences, the Orphean Singers Cyprus have performed the Vivaldi “Gloria” on several occasions since its establishment in 1991. The choir has performed great choral works, not just in Cyprus, but in several European cities – Pucccini Messa di Gloria in Vienna, and also in Marseille and Paris, Karl Jenkins’s The Peacemakers in Patras University (Greece), Faure Requiem, Poulenc Glora and most recently Mozart Requiem in the Megaron Theatre, Athens and many others. Each performance has been enthusiastically acclaimed as a triumph for the musicians, singers and conductors.
Orphean Singers Cyprus
Τhe Commandaria Orchestra
www.cypruswinemuseum.com/commandaria-orchestra/
The Commandaria Orchestra was established in 2009 by The Cyprus Wine Museum and this concert season celebrates its tenth anniversary.
The appellation of the Orchestra directly references to the region where the Orchestra and The Cyprus Wine Museum are based, the Great Commandery of Cyprus (Kolossi Castle) which was founded by the Order of Saint John. Commandaria is also the unique sweet wine of Cyprus and one of the oldest wines in the world that Hesiod and Homer extolled.
The Commandaria Orchestra’s main target is the implementation of the visions of The Cyprus Wine Museum, including the spread of the musical culture of Cyprus. The rich repertoire of the orchestra includes masterpieces from the medieval ages until the present time. Number of premier compositions where performed and recorded, many of them dedicated to the orchestra. Their artistic Director and Conductors is maestro Francis Guy.
Viva Vivaldi!
This concert promises to be an exciting and uplifting evening, guaranteed to fulfill the expectations of all discerning music-lovers. The event is under the auspices of the Municipality of Paphos. As with all the Orphean Singers concerts, profits from ticket sales will be donated to charity, in this instance the Friends Hospice, Paphos.
Vasiliki Konstanti | Soprano
Vasiliki Konstanti was born in Limassol, Cyprus. She studied at the National Concervatory (Αnnex Fanagusta), where she received in 2007 her Diplom with honors. In 2013 she graduated from the Music Department of Ionian University, in the Singing sector under the guidance of Ms Roza Poulimenou. She continued her studies in singing in Berlin under the guidance of Mrs Janet Williams and afterwards at the International Opera Studio di Pesaro in Italy with Mrs Inga Balabanova.
From 2009 to 2017 she was a member of vocal ensembles participating in many productions such as in San Marco of Venice (A. Willaert – ‘Quaeramus Cumpastoribus’), in Greece at the Aegean Festival in Syros (G.Bizet’s opera ‘Carmen’), in Corfu the first hellenic performance of Monteverdi’s ‘Vespro Della Beata Vergine’, in Athens at the Athens Concert Hall and Odeon of Herodes Atticus (‘A tip in Lillipopolis’) in collaboration with the Musical Organisation of Arsakeia-Tositseia Schools, in Cyprus at Paphos Afrodite Festival: (‘Cosi fan tutte’-W.A. Mozart and ‘Don Giovanni’ – W.A. Mozart) and in Berlin at Berliner Philarmoniker (‘Symphonie No.9 d-Moll op 125 ‘- L.V. Beethoven and ‘Messe c-Moll KV 317 ‘-W.A Mozart).
In 2011 she sang the first hellenic performance of N.H. Mantzaro’s Cantata ‘Ulisse agli Elisi’ under the direction of Byron Fidetzis. The same year she interpreted the role of the ‘second woman’ in H. Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’ under the direction of Stanley Richie.
In 2013 she interpreted ‘Kostas’ role in Paul Carrier’s greek opera ‘Despo’ under the direction of Michalis Michalopoulos as well as Ariadne’s role in J. Haydn’s ‘Ariadne of Naxos’.
In 2017 was one of the finalists at the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Competition ‘Cypriot Soloists, the First Step’ where she performed under the direction of Petros Stylianou.
In 2017 she made her debut singing Giulietta in Bellini’s opera ‘I Capuleti e Montecchi’ at Urbania Bramante Theater in Italy under the direction of Salvatore Francavilla.
She has performed in Cyprus, Greece, Germany and Italy interpreting arias from the operas I Capuletti e I Montecchi, Dido and Aeneas, Carmen, Orfeo ed Euridice, Idomeneo, Fidelio, La figlia del reggimento, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, La Boheme, Die Zauberflöte, Cosi fan tutte, also oratorios from Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Faure, Purcell, Pergolesi, as well as lieder of Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Shumann, Chausson, Dvorak.
She has collaborated with acclaimed orchestras such as the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, the Athens City Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra and the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, as well as with renowned contuctors such as Agis Ioannis, Byron Fidetzis, Michalis Michalopoulos, Petros Stylianou, Peter Timboris, Stanley Ritchie, Salvatore Francavilla, Matteo Beltrami, Keita Matsui, Woche Ratchi.
She has attended singing seminars with renowned professors such as Janet Williams, David Jones, Fionnuala McCarthy, Andrea Reibenspies, Angela Nick, Carol Smith, Chistine Schwarz, Ettore Papadia, William Matteuzi, Daniel Gudlach, Markus Syperek, Walter Moore, Karola Theill, Carlo Morganti, Christophoros Stampoglis, Demetris Jakas and Christos Sakellaridis.
Nicoletta Ierides | Mezzo Soprano
Nicoletta Ierides was born in Nicosia in 1995. She began her first steps in music when she was 9 years old, by participating in the Musica Mundana Choir for youngsters. In 2018 she completed her studies with distinction at the Ionian University (Corfu, Greece), in the music department, in the direction of classical singing with Prof. Rosa Poulimenou. She attended numerous seminars with well renowned professionals such us Valerie Guillorit, Yuly Khomenko, Manfred Schiebel, Susan Bullock, Richard Berkeley-Steele, Michael Schuetze, Andreas Reibenspies, Georgia Michaelides, Maro Konstantinides- Charalambides and others. She participated in the operas ”Orfeo ed Euridice” by C. W. Gluck (role Orfeo), ”Brundibár” by H. Krása (role dog, childrens’ opera), and also in the oratorios ”Juditha Triumphans” (role Holofernes) and ”Gloria in D Major, RV 589” by A. Vivaldi, ”Te Deum in D Major H.14” by M.A.Charpentier, ”Vesperae Solennes de Confessore KV. 339” by W.A.Mozart. In 2017 she participated in a concert at Greek National Opera Alternative Stage, where she sang arias and parts from operas. She also collaborated with the French Strings Orchestra ”Les Cordes Enchantees”, the Symphonic Orchestra and the Vocal Ensemble of the Ionian University, the Greek Philharmonic Band ”Mantzaros” and the Corfu Chamber Opera as well as with conductors Constantinos Diminakis and Peter Seymour.
Nicoletta Ierides | Mezzo Soprano