EXPERIMENTAL CHOIR OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF RHODES

A BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The choir was established in 1992, an initiative of the present director and music teacher George Sakellaridis. The choir has performed extensively and participated at choir meetings in Rhodes, other parts in Greece and abroad: Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Turkey and the Czech Republic. The most important events are:

•  Cooperated with the National Orchestra and Choir of Filippoupolis in Bulgaria, for the presentation of Orff's "Carmina Burana".

•  Cooperated with the Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Cyprus, where it presented choral pieces from well known operas.

•  Cooperated with Symphony Orchestra of Greek Radio for the presentation of religious and secular music.

•  Cooperated with the Symphony Orchestra of the National Opera for the presentation of M. Theodorakis' "Zorbas" at the Music Hall in Athens, directed by Mikis Theodorakis and Loukas Kaprinos .

•  Cooperated with the Greek Festival of Athens for the presentation of "The Lord of the Rings" composed by Howard Shore and conducted by Marcus Huber, at Herodeio.

•  Cooperated with the Religious Music Festival in Patmos, where pieces of J. S. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Haydn and Schubert were performed.

•  Recorded pieces by Monteverdi, Rossini, Pergolesi, Telemann, Bach, Mantzaros, Theodorakis, Spirituals, traditional songs from various countries, etc.

Although in the recent years participation in the choir competitions is not included in the choir's main objectives, from 1994 till 2000, while participating in various choir contests, the choir won prizes in the following events:

•  The International Choir Festival in Rhodes, where it got the first prize.

•  The International Choir Festival in Athens, where it got the first prize in performing folklore music and the second prize in performing religious music.

•  The International Choir Festival in Cantonigros in Spain where it ranked 3 rd among 40 choirs from every continent.

•  The International Choir Festival in Preveza, Greece, where it ranked 2 nd at an international level.

Since the beginning of 2006, the Greek Cinema Institute started producing a documentary with subject the "artistic life" of the Experimental Choir of the Municipality in Rhodes and the choir's contribution to the social and cultural life of the whole country.

Finally, the approach to music not only with "aesthetic" but also with "anthropocentric" criteria led the Experimental Choir of the Municipality in Rhodes to:

•  Concerts - cooperation with various cultural groups in order to "connect music cultures" and to enhance the individual identities of the agents of these kinds of music.

•  Concerts at a Penitentiary House.

•  Music cooperation with elderly people.

•  Participation that aim at promoting world peace and antinuclear policies.

•  Concerts at small islands of the Aegean Sea where Choir music is not easily accessible.