Carnegie Hall concert celebrated the Greek National Opera’s remarkable rise with a program featuring music inspired by Kazantzakis.
“Reach what you cannot,” exhorts Nikos Kazantzakis in one of his novels. These words also open the program notes for a recent concert given by the Greek National Opera (GNO) Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York—and reflect the GNO’s yearslong journey to get to one of the world’s most storied stages with ongoing support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
The GNO has deep roots, extending back decades before its formal establishment in 1939, and counts performances by Maria Callas among its triumphs. Its recent ascendance as an internationally regarded force in opera began in earnest with its move to a state-of-the-art, purpose-built new home at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in Athens, created through a landmark SNF grant and given to the people of Greece in 2017.
Building on this momentum, SNF made a $22 million grant in 2018 to help it outline a bold new artistic identity that involved engaging a wider audience in Greece, developing strong international collaborations, and, consequently, commanding recognition of its artistic excellence far beyond a core constituency of Greek opera buffs. A cascade of notable international collaborations followed, and in 2024, seeing the impact of its previous grant, SNF followed up with additional support of up to $12 million to continue expanding the GNO’s global outreach efforts, to offer free tickets to people who might never have thought opera was “for” them, and to reinforce its institutional strength and sustainability.
All told, over and above the cost of creating its new home at the SNFCC, SNF has offered the GNO $44 million in grants since 2012. But the relationship runs far deeper than financial support. It’s based on a shared vision, shared values, and a shared commitment to making the arts accessible and meaningful to more people in Greece and beyond.
“For the past 14 years, we have had the privilege of standing alongside the GNO and supporting its remarkable journey. Building on a rich history and its great human capital, the organization has evolved from careful, measured steps to confident strides and, ultimately, bold leaps forward. One of those leaps brought the GNO to this stage today,” wrote SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos in his note of welcome for the Carnegie Hall concert.
That concert, entitled “Nikos Kazantzakis: An Odyssey in Music,” featured works inspired by Kazantzakis, one of Greece’s most celebrated writers, including the instantly recognizable theme from the film Zorba the Greek by Mikis Theodorakis as well as compositions by Manos Hajidakis, Nikos Skalkottas, and Dimitri Mitropoulos. It also featured a beautiful piece by Giorgos Koumendakis, who as Artistic Director of the GNO has been instrumental in guiding it to new heights.
“This is the destination of a road traveled step by step,” wrote Dracopoulos. “For the past nine years, Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis has led the GNO with the ambition of establishing a place for it among the world’s leading opera institutions. Throughout this journey, we have been proud to stand behind that vision and alongside the extraordinary people who bring it to life every day.”
In a little over a year, the GNO has travelled with SNF support from China to Italy to Cyprus to South Africa and all across Greece, and now on to the US. The Carnegie Hall concert, at a historic venue that has become a byword for superlative musical performance, represents a significant milestone in—though certainly not the culmination of—the GNO’s remarkable rise, a journey in which SNF is incredibly proud to have played its part.
The performance was rapturously received by the audience, who gave a standing ovation to the Greek National Opera Orchestra, conductor Vassilis Christopoulos, the Manos Hadjidakis Ensemble, and soloists Anita Rachvelishvili and Maria Kostraki. It had special resonance for the many members of the Greek American community in attendance, helping reinforce bonds between the Greek diaspora and Greece with collective pride while also inviting international audiences to learn more about modern Greek culture. That the program featured Greek music inspired by Greek literature vaulted the concert out of the category of musical performance into a broader showcase of Greek artistic achievement.
As a foundation with close natural ties to Greece, SNF shared in the immense pride of seeing an outstanding Greek production highlighting the talent and creativity of Greek artists on a prominent stage in the US. Added to this was the satisfaction of seeing years of hard work made up of individual contributions by hundreds of artists and arts professionals come to a beautiful fruition.
“While we have been fortunate to support this journey, the GNO’s success has never been a given. It has been earned. Performance by performance, the company has built its reputation through artistic excellence, dedication, hard work, and pure beauty,” wrote Dracopoulos.
This year, SNF celebrates 30 years of global grantmaking, and it has collaborated with the GNO for nearly half of this time. The concert was presented as part of the celebrations marking SNF’s 30th anniversary, a fitting way to celebrate for a foundation whose priorities include sharing Hellenic culture around the world and expanding access to the arts as a way to help us appreciate our shared humanity.
Though the Carnegie Hall concert was (for now) a one-time-only event, the same virtuosic talent, eddying currents of creativity, originality of presentation, and masterful artistry it displayed are always on offer at the GNO’s home at the SNFCC, ready to welcome and enchant all who walk through its doors.
In closing, a big thank you to all members of the GNO family, for all they do to bring artistic beauty to our lives.
