PRESS RELEASE

FOUR (4) IMPRESSIVE BAROQUE MUSIC CONCERTS HELD IN SOUTHERN ITALY BY NIKOS EFTHYMIADIS

Four significant Baroque music concerts, focusing on Neapolitan Baroque, were successfully held in Southern Italy (Naples, Avellino, Benevento) from April 8 to April 14, 2024, by Nikos Efthymiadis, invited by prominent Italian institutions led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy.

A remarkable tour concluded with four concerts featuring the Orchestra Internazionale di Campania and outstanding soloists on the evening of Sunday, April 14, 2024, in the advanced musical Italy, brimming with artistic, musical, and human life experiences. The performances included interpretations of two significant works of Neapolitan Baroque by Pasquale Caffaro and Johann Baptist Georg Neruda, conducted by Nikos Efthymiadis from Karditsa (with over 1,500 concerts worldwide).

Additionally, a small a cappella program was performed by the ten-member Mixed Youth Choir of Karditsa from the Karditsa Conservatory, consisting of professional musicians with a special emphasis on Byzantine Music, in an area strongly influenced by Greek and Byzantine heritage.

The first two concerts featured Pasquale Cafaro's Stabat Mater and Johann Baptist Georg Neruda's CONCERTO in Eb for trumpet and string orchestra, performed with Italian soloists Valentina Iannone (soprano), Michela Rago (mezzo-soprano), and Marco Napolitano, trumpet.

The first concert took place at the Church of San Giacomo di Puglianello in Benevento, in a packed church atmosphere.

The second concert was held at the Church of the Byzantine City of Santa Agatha dei Gothi, in Benevento, in a magnificent Cathedral with Byzantine roots. The program opened with two Byzantine music pieces in the presence of local Bishop Giuseppe.

It continued with the spectacular trumpet soloist Marco Napolitano in Johann Neruda's Concerto for Trumpet and Strings, a composition from the Baroque period, and concluded with the stirring Stabat Mater by P. Caffaro featuring two exceptional soloists, soprano Valentina Janone and mezzo-soprano Michela Rago.

The third concert took place in the beautiful Bacoli, Pozzuoli, Naples, on Saturday, April 13, 2024, and the fourth concert was held on Sunday, April 14, 2024, at 7:00 pm in the Historical Church - Dependency of the Montevergine Monastery in Mercogliano (Avellino), in Pietrastornina. The soloists for these concerts were soprano Luciana Distante and mezzo-soprano Deborah Colangelo.

It was a significant presence of high-level representation from Greece, Karditsa, and Nikos Efthymiadis with profound messages in a country with a great musical tradition like Italy, featuring a rare and demanding repertoire.