The 8th International Kalamata Music Days were a success (a review)
The eighth edition of the “International Kalamata Music Days” was a great success. In the venues of the Dance Megaron, in the ancient theatre of Messene, and even in the streets of Kalamata, numerous residents and visitors of the city gave their warmest applause to internationally renowned, established artists, as well as to the young talents from Greece and abroad, who participated in this year’s festival.

Snapshot from the cello concert of Jean-Guihen Queyras (01.09.2024). © Stylianos Papardelas
“the Kalamata Music Days deserve our attention for their quality”
liberal.gr
“it is not just another classical and jazz music festival”
monopoli.gr
“the perfect way to say goodbye to summer”
news247.gr
“one of the largest and longest-running classical and jazz music festivals outside of Athens”
euronews
The festival included fourteen concerts that took place from 28 August to 10 September 2024 and six masterclasses, in which both students of the Kalamata Municipal Conservatory and students from the rest of Greece and abroad participated.
The three founders of the festival, the composer and Director of the Kalamata Municipal Conservatory Stathis Giftakis, the cellist and Artistic Director of the festival Indira Rahmatulla and the cellist Dimitrios Lampos, with much love and dedication implemented an – artistically and educationally – rich programme of events with fresh, innovative ideas and a refreshing mood.
In many of this year’s concerts, foreign and local artists collaborated on stage, presenting an unprecedented “mixture” of classical and Greek traditional music, such as the concerts of the Caerus Ensemble with the choir “Melifono” and the oud player Nikolas Palaiologos. There were also: the cinema screening – with three of Buster Keaton’s shorts accompanied by live music by the Moving Band – as well as the narration element – in the context of the music theatre “Snow Whites” with original music by Stathis Giftakis, which took place in the breathtaking Ancient Theatre of Messene. The Spiral Trio presented new compositions, while Alexia Mouza on the piano with Felix Froschhammer on the violin interpreted music by Brahms and Robert and Clara Schumann in a unique performance in the concert hall of the Kalamata Municipal Conservatory.
The high level of the students’ masterclasses in violin, piano, cello, chamber music and orchestral conducting was very much admired by the audience, which applauded them with enthusiasm and excitement.
- Felix Froschhammer & Alexia Mouza (28.08.2024).
- Christina Dimiza and Lilly Triantari in the performance “Snow Whites” (29.08.2024).
- Yorgos Pavlakos in the performance “Snow Whites” (29.08.2024).
- Sofia Braila in the performance “Snow Whites” (29.08.2024).
- Flashmob at Aristomenous pedestrian street (29.08.2024).
- Flashmob at Aristomenous pedestrian street (29.08.2024).
- Felix Froschhammer with his students (31.08.2024).
- Snapshot with Indira Rahmatulla from the concert of Jean-Guihen Queyras (01.09.2024).
- Arionas Gyftakis (02.09.2024).
- Spyros Manesis (02.09.2024).
- Anastasis Gouliaris (02.09.2024).
- Diotima Spadidea (03.09.2024).
- Nikolas Palaiologos (03.09.2024).
- Lily Francis & Vashti Hunter (03.09.2024).
- The Moving Band (04.09.2024).
- Final concert of students in the cello masterclass (05.09.2024).
- Pablo Hernán Benedí & Jonian Ilias Kadesha (06.09.2024).
- Melifono Vocal Ensemble (06.09.2024).
- Popi Malapani (06.09.2024).
- Noam Greenberg (07.09.2024).
- Indira Rahmatulla & Lidiia Nochovska (07.09.2024).
- Final concert of students in the piano, strings and chamber music masterclass (08.09.2024).
- Akis Sipsas, Konstantina Malapani & Melinda Konstantinidou (09.09.2024).
- Foivos Kyriakoudis during the concert of the students in the orchestra conducting masterclass (10.09.2024).
- Joshua Weilerstein (10.09.2024).
- From the final concert of the students in the orchestra conducting masterclass (10.09.2024).
- Lau Noah (10.09.2024).
Satisfied with the success of this year’s event, Stathis Giftakis, Indira Rahmatulla and Dimitrios Lampos voice the following and give an appointment for next year, as preparations for the 9th International Kalamata Music Days have already begun:
Stathis Giftakis: “It was with great emotion that I enjoyed the 8th Festival, realizing that this whole difficult and demanding organization has now grown deep roots and has gained fanatical supporters from all parts of the world. At the same time, this year’s “synergies” of Caerus Ensemble with musicians from the city of Kalamata who come from different musical idioms, as well as Lau Noah’s concert, added a new and special stamp that we are very interested in exploring further! Special thanks to our great sponsor, the “George & Victoria Karelia Foundation” for their continuous support and of course to the Municipality of Kalamata, the FARIS, the Ministry of Culture, the Region of Peloponnese, the “Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos” Foundation, the association “The Friends of Music Kalamata” and the association “TERPSIS”. Without all of them, our vision would have remained just a dream. The 9th festival begins!”
Indira Rahmatulla: “This year’s 8th edition of the International Kalamata Music Days has been a beautiful journey through different paths of music and musicians which came to share their art with each other and the public. We are extremely grateful to each artist for their honest and heartfelt contribution and being part of our family during the festival time. We are impatient for the next years to come and to the limitless possibilities of creativity to be explored!”
Dimitrios Lampos: “Particularly touched by this year’s edition, but also by the realization that our festival has now “grown-up”, I would like to express my sincere thanks from the side of the management to our small but very dynamic team – our friends, colleagues, collaborators and fellow travellers in this journey, who with dedication, professionalism and endless enthusiasm, not only made this year’s event a reality, but also contribute significantly to the International Kalamata Music Days for years. Thank you very much to all of you! Without you, not only would it have been impossible to organize a festival of such proportions, but, frankly, it would not have been so much fun to run! So, we continue to go strong, and we’ll see you again next year, in Kalamata!”

The team of the International Kalamata Music Days (from top left): Lavrentis Choraitis, Lennart Pieper, Stylianos Papardelas, Alex Beck, Alexandra Theogianni, Konstantina Malapani, Dimitrios Lampos, Giota Vergopoulou, Stathis Giftakis and Indira Rahmatulla (07.09.2024). © Stylianos Papardelas
All photographs are by © Stylianos Papardelas