From 1 to 5 October 2024, the church of St Francis in Rhodes hosts the twelfth edition of the Rhodes Organ & Music Festival: five evenings dedicated to organ music and culture, with free concerts.
The event has been organized by the Catholic Church of Rhodes and by the Terra Sancta Organ Festival, in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Culture in Athens, the Embassy of Hungary in Athens and the association Pro Terra Sancta.
A musical journey from Europe to the Middle East
The festival offers a rich programme which ranges from classical music to sacred music, with artists of international fame.
The first evening, Tuesday 1 October, is entrusted to the Hungarian Robert Kovács, organist of St Augustine’s church in Vienna and a partner of important musical institutions such as the Philharmonic Orchestra of Vienna. The musical repertoire he will be presenting ranges from Liszt to Bach.
On the following evenings, the Italian Gianluca Cagnani, a teacher of the organ and improvisation at the Conservatoire of Turin, proposes a journey through the great German and Italian composers.
A special event in the programme is scheduled for Friday 4 October, with an experience from the past: a film-concert as in the early days of cinema. A silent Italian film from 1918, “Brother Sun” on the life of St Francis, will be accompanied in music by Gianluca Cagnani.
The festival comes to an end on Saturday 5 October with the concert of sacred music offered by “Les Solistes de Beyrouth” (the Soloists of Beirut). The Lebanese vocal ensemble, conducted by Fernando Afara, presents both choral and soloist pieces, such as arias and duets.
The organ of St Francis: a musical gem
All the concerts will be held in the church of St Francis in Rhodes, home to one of the largest ecclesiastical organs in Greece, built by the “Pinchi” firm of Perugia in 1939.
Lucia Borgato
