The first Festival of its kind to have been inaugurated in Cyprus, in 2009, the International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival has established itself as one of the most innovative and cutting-edge annual music 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 new works by the younger generation of composers. The Festival has so far presented hundreds of Cyprus premieres as well as a great number of world premieres by composers who have been especially commissioned by the Foundation to write new pieces for the occasion.

The Festival is rooted in the Pharos Arts Foundation’s deep commitment to music creativity and innovation. Pharos has been the first exponent of contemporary music in Cyprus, having identified important and hugely talented young Cypriot composers and commissioning them to write new works, which were subsequently premiered in Nicosia by international ensembles. Examples include, Réflexions by Vassos Nicolaou, which was premiered by Ensemble intercontemporain; et in terra by Yiannis Kyriakides, which was premiered by the London Sinfonietta; Echopraxia by Evis Sammoutis, which was premiered by Ensemble Modern, and went on to win the Royal Philharmonic Society Award and the prestigious Irino Prize.