“Of Love & of the Sea” MANIA VLAHOGIANNI soprano crossover in songs by Theodorakis, Plessas, Hadjinassios, Markopoulos, Loizos, Mikroutsikos, Katsaros, Spanos ELENI S. DAGRE dance – choreography ORCHESTRA & CHORUS OF ERMIONI MUSIC SOCIETY Direction – Orchestration GASPARIS MAMMAS
Much-loved songs of great Greek composers that combine Love and Sea, two almost identical concepts full of mystery and romance, transport us, excite us and revitalise us while at the same time intoxicate us, frighten us and drive us to melancholy.
Songs by Theodorakis, Plessas, Hadjinassios, Markopoulos, Loizos, Mikroutsikos, Katsaros, Spanos
Biographical notes
Mania Vlahogianni was born in Athens, with family ties from Porto Heli.
She holds a Piano Diploma with top honors and 1st prize from the National Conservatory of Athens, which she obtained at the age of 17. She has also studied at the Richard Strauss Academy in Munich where she additionally studied classical singing and Musical Theatre Performance. She attended the Dresden Music Academy Drama classes in Munich and completed 4 semesters in the Law School of Athens.
She has partaken in musical theatre performances in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and has been the deputy director of the National School of Music in Gaehring, Munich for 7 years.
Today she lives and works in Greece as a ‘crossover’ soprano with the Municipality of Athens Symphony Orchestra under conductor Eleftherios Kalkanis as well as with the Contemporary Music Orchestra of ERT, taking part in concerts at Herodes Atticus Odeon, Veakio, the War Museum, and various municipal theatres across Greece.
She takes part in theatrical and musical theatre performances alongside established artists of the classical and popular music scene. She has released 29 recordings internationally, many of which have climbed in the top greek and european charts.
The text of her literary work “Desert Star – Nalimar” has been put into music and transferred into the musical theatre scene in 2016 in two versions as New Modern Opera. They were performed in municipal theatres, Veakio, the Pierce American College theatre in Greece, the Ianos Publishing House, the Children’s Oncology Wing ‘Marianna Vardinogianni’ e.t.c.
She is Secretary General of the UNESCO Group of Arts, Speech and Sciences in Greece.
In 2019 – 2023 she acted as Special Councilor to the Mayor in matters of Arts and Culture and Vice President of the Cultural and Athletics Organisation of the Municipality of Aghia Paraskevi.
Conductor Gasparis Mammas is a multi-dimentional personage in the greek contemporary musical scene, combining academic excellence, artistic creation and longstanding teaching, mentoring and training. He holds a degree in composition from the Municipal Conservatory of Amfissa and has completed studies in all levels of Music Theory (instrumentation, fugue, counterpoint e.t.c.) with top honors. At the same time, he holds a Degree in Social Theology from the National Kapodistrian University of Athens.
As a clarinetist he has been active participant for the past three decades in various philharmonic orchestras in Greece and abroad, among which prominent position hold the ERT Music Ensembles, the Athens Philharmonic Orchestra and various Municipal Philharmonics in Greece. He has taken part in numerous Festivals and concerts and has cooperated with orchestras in France, Canada, Turkey, Brussels, Cyprus e.t.c. as a soloist and instrumentator.
His accomplishments in Orchestral Conducting are just as substantial. Since 2021 he is the conductor at the Philharmonic of the Municipality of Hermionida while he also leads mixed choirs and smaller ensembles. Since 2012 he has been conducting the Symphonic Orchestra of the Academy of Music and Arts in Livadia. He has been a clarinet, saxophone and music theory instructor for many years, teaching in esteemed conservatories in Athens and other regions of Greece.
He has cooperated with esteemed musicians like Maria Farantouri, Antonis Kalogiannis, George Moustaki, Sakis Rouvas, Evanthia Reboutsika, Sonia Theodoridou, Lavrentis Mahairitsas and many more, both in live performances and recordings. His works have been presented in such establishments as the Megaron, The Herodion, the Lycabetus theatre and the Theatre Petra.
As instrumentator he has tackled many genres from classical to modern. He has curated educational and artistic seminars for philharmonics and he is a certified examiner of the Ministry of Culture.
His creative course, his technical competency, his artistic sensitivity and his educational consciousness make him stand out as a point of reference in the musical world of Greece, promoting at all times the technical and musical excellence of young musicians.