Overview

A colourful musical journey at the Garden of Megaron, from the calm jazz sounds of Blend Orchestra to the charm of the ethnic group Argalios and Bodyterranean. Three bands that stood out from the Open Platforms, as part of the Bridges Cycle. The Open Platforms is an initiative of Megaron that aims to promote young artists through physical and online auditions, and is implemented in collaboration with the Association of Beneficiaries of Music Works (EDEM).

Blend Orchestra is a collaborative project (ensemble) that integrates and connects elements from traditional and classical music to electronic sound composition, ending with ambient and cinematic music. The Orchestra was founded around 2015. Since then they have released 3 EPs, mostly collaborations with international and local artists from Athens. Currently the Orchestra is working on new material, which will be released in September 2023.

Argalios was created in Veroia in 2020 with its main members Alexandros Iosifidis (piano), Zoe Mantzou (voice, percussion) and Olga Alexiou (dulcimer, voice). Now, it is based on the first two and it is a multifaceted ensemble that in each performance interacts with different soloists on the basis of improvisation, based on folk music and poetry. So far they have collaborated with: Yannis Pulio, Nikos Aggousis, Stefanos Sekeroglou, Alexandros Rizopoulos, Dimitris Chiotis, etc. Believing in the dynamics of improvisation as an expression of an interaction, as a poet of a union, Argalios love to create a variable state, flowing, chaotic but coherent, free but integrated in the whole. The sound of Argalios is as contemporary as it is old, as scholarly as it is demotic, a soft and malleable sound that travels to the depths of history.

Bodyterranean was born in Athens, as a result of Simone Mongelli’s long research on the marriage of the traditional music of Greece and Italy with the modern language of Body Music. It was first released as a music album and then as a rich musical and kinetic performance, with a group of young musicians and dancers who underwent intensive training to perform the work. It has been performed at major
theatres and festivals in Greece and Italy, enjoying enthusiastic audience and critical acclaim.
Simone Mongelli, percussionist, body music performer, teacher, holds a degree in Ethnomusicology (Italy) and traditional percussion (Greece), has been awarded as a musician in Italy and Greece and has a personal discography. Over the years he has created a strongly personal language, based mainly on the study and knowledge of traditional rhythms and sounds. He has collaborated with a multitude of musicians, composers, actors, dancers and visual artists in Europe and the USA.

Sponsor of events in the Garden

Events at the Megaron Garden are held on the green. Spectators are welcome to bring pillows or throws.