international Pharos Chamber Music Festival
The Pharos Arts Foundation's Concert and Recital Series culminate each May
with the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival, which has gained
international reputation for its quality concerts and magnificent settings.
The Festival has become one of Europe's preeminent music festivals, guided
by a visionary spirit and dedicated to artistic excellence and innovation.
Contributing to its magic is the Festival's unique setting, the surrounding
of the magnificent ancient town of Palaipaphos. The majority of the concerts
take place at the Gothic Hall of The Royal Manor House at Kouklia, one of
the finest surviving monuments of Frankish architecture on the island and an
unparalleled venue for intimate chamber music performances. Concerts also
take place at the Foundation's venues, The Shoe Factory in Nicosia and the
open-air The Olive Grove in Delikipos. Exploring the many forms of the genre
of chamber music, the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival
encompasses an astonishing array of instrumental combinations and
repertoire, ranging from early Baroque to 20th century music, and maintains
a strong tradition of community service, with educational concerts organised
for students of the surrounding areas.
International Pharos
contemporary
Music Festival
In 2009, the Pharos Arts Foundation introduced the
International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival, the mission of which is to
propagate the music of 20th and 21st centuries and to present contemporary
works and newly-commissioned compositions. Under
the artistic direction of composer Evis Sammoutis, the Festival has so far
presented over 50 world premieres by a number of exceptionally gifted
contemporary composers from all over the world. Having already established itself as one
of the most cutting-edge and innovative annual events in the Eastern
Mediterranean, the Festival is dedicated to the promotion of new music: The
well-established masterpieces of the contemporary music literature of the
20th century as well as a great number of premieres by young leading
composers from all over the world who are commissioned by the Pharos Arts
Foundation to write new works especially for this occasion. Its objective is
to provide a forum for composers and performers to advance and develop new
projects and explore new sound worlds, as well as to endorse contemporary
music to the general audience of Cyprus, and elsewhere. As part of the
Festival's activities, a number of educational events are organized such as
master-classes for young instrumentalists and workshops for composers.
VENUES
The Royal Manor House in Kouklia is one of the finest surviving monuments of
Frankish architecture on the island and an unparalleled venue for intimate
chamber music performances. The building also houses an archaeological
museum, which records the rich history of human activity in the region from
about 2800 BC to the present day. The Royal Manor House, which is part of
the Cyprus Tourism Organisation’s “Aphrodite’s Cultural Route”, is also a
UNESCO World Heritage site. Palaipaphos, or Old Paphos, was a city-kingdom
of Cyprus and one of the most celebrated pilgrimage centres of the ancient
Greek world. It was the site of a famous sanctuary of Aphrodite, the oldest
remains of which date back to the 12th century BC. Join us in a leisurely
exploration of the history and cultural heritage of the western region of
Cyprus.
The Shoe Factory is situated in the old part of Nicosia, near the buffer
zone. Through it, the Pharos Arts Foundation is helping to revitalize this
beautiful and historic section of the capital city by attracting a wide and
diversified younger audience. All concerts are characterized by a unique
feeling of intimacy and music is performed in an exceptionally inspiring
setting: a modern venue decorated with contemporary art by mainly local
artists; a venue situated in the “run down” part of Nicosia that offers the
audience the unique opportunity to sit within an amazing proximity to world
famous artists and experience performances in a venue like no other.
The Olive Grove is a world-class, open-air concert venue, which aims to
deliver relaxed and informal events so that intimacy is developed between
the artists and the audience. The venue is surrounded by the idyllic forest
of Delikipos and is adorned with wooden decks, shallow pools of water, zen
landscaping and a uniquely atmospheric lighting. The audience can relax on
the chairs, blankets and pillows with a glass of wine.
