TIRANA, Oct. 20 – Albanian and Greek choruses will come together in concerts in Tirana and Korà§a celebrating the serenades tradition in the two neighboring countries.
Organized by the Greek embassy in Tirana, the “Evenings of Serenades” concerts bring together Greece’s “Chorus and Mandolinata of Argostoli” and Albania’s “Lira” choir of Korà§a, the country’s eldest chorus.
The first concert will be performed in Tirana, on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at the cultural center of the “Resurrection of Christ” Orthodox Cathedral.
The two chorus will travel to southeastern Albania in Korà§a, nicknamed as the city of serenades, where they will perform at the local Orthodox cathedral on Oct. 26.
Established in 1980, the Chorus of Argostoli was created to uphold the great Cephalonian tradition in the choral music and choral groups. Today, the chorus is composed of 25 men-only members continuing the Cephalonian tradition in male choruses and is led by conductor Spyros Theotokatos.
Meanwhile, Korà§a’s Lira chorus was established in 1920 under the direction of composer Thoma Nasi who had studied composition in the U.S.
The art of choral singing – other than the ancient Albanian folk tradition – despite its comparatively short life-span of hardly more than a century, has played a very important part in the history of musical culture in Albania. Choral music is well-known and liked all over the country, maintaining a predominant role over other musical genres.
