Greece breaks up an orchestra
OrchestrasThe Athens Camerata has been disbanded over an accumulation of debts.
Culture Minister Lina Mendoni told parliament that its musicians could apply for employment in other state-funded ensembles.
The orchestra, founded in 1991, originally had Neville Marriner as its artistic director.
UPDATE: We have received this clarification:
In response to your article GREECE BREAKS UP AN ORCHESTRA dated June 28th, 2024, we would like to clarify the facts regarding the Camerata – Friends of Music Orchestra (NOT the Athens Camerata), internationally known as Armonia Atenea.
The Orchestra was originally conceived and formed by Christos Lambrakis in 1991 as part of his vision for Megaron the Athens Concert Hall. The orchestra’s first Artistic director was Alexandros Myrat, who was succeeded by the late Sir Neville Mariner, and since 2012 the orchestra has been performing with maestro George Petrou at its helm.
From 1991 the orchestra was incorporated into an entity that shut its operations in 2015. From 2015 – 2022 the Orchestra appeared in Greece and abroad on an ad hoc basis. The complicated legal issues arising from the closure of the entity were finally resolved thanks to the legislative framework put in place by the current Minister of Culture Ms. Lina Mendoni in 2022.
Since then, the Orchestra has restarted its activities at Megaron and is currently in the process of hiring musicians to complete its core team which is based on several players who were under contract before the previous legal entity was dissolved and are now part of the Megaron staff since 2023.
The Camerata – Friends of Music Orchestra is now an in-house Orchestra at Megaron the Athens Concert Hall and has already given three major concerts during the 2023-24 season, to great critical acclaim! It will be performing on a more frequent and regular basis during the 2024-25 season, as well as resuming its international appearances as Armonia Atenea in Europe. This is a unique example of an Orchestra rescue in Greece.
Mr Lebrecht, are you sure this is current news? I read news to that effect a couple years ago. Nothing current in the Greek media online.
The founding music director was Alexandre Myrat, from 1991 to 2000. Neville Marriner was music director from 2000 to 2001.
https://greekreporter.com/2024/06/28/athens-camerata-orchestra-disbanded-unpaid-debts/
Nothing in the Greek language media. The article you are referring to seems from 2021, with a current date attached. The latter happens a lot in the internet.
There is even a shorter version of the same news on a 2021 SD post, with the same mistake about Marriner.
https://slippedisc.com/2021/07/greece-disbands-an-important-orchestra/
Camerata ‘s original director was Alexandros Myrat. And the orchestra was dismantled years ago. This isn’t news. Please double-check and ensure the accuracy of what you publish.