The Athens Conservatoire as the premier Performing Arts educational institution in Greece
The “Athens Conservatoire” (greek: Odeion Athinon) is the oldest educational institution for the performing arts in modern Greece, founded as a non-profit organization in 1871.
The institution played a significant role in the advancement of music studies in Greece since day one. Some of the most renowned Greek musical personalities internationally have graduated from the Athens Conservatoire including Spyros Samaras, Dimitiris Mitropoulos, Nikos Skalkottas, Maria Callas, Gina Bachauer, Alexandra Triantis, Mikis Theodorakis, Dimitris Sgouros, etc., as well as many members of the Athens State Orchestra, the National Theatre, the Athens Choir etc.
Meanwhile, the first Drama School in Greece, also founded in 1871, has had a pivotal role in the advancement of theatrical studies in the country and many prominent theatre personalities were included among its teaching staff, such as, Thomas Oikonomou, Emilios Veakis, Dimitris Rontiris, Kostas Mousouris, Dimitris Murat and others.
Today, apart from continuing to offer to its c.700 music students the full range of classical music studies, from the earliest stages to the concert diploma, the Athens Conservatoire is constantly expanding into new areas, like the Jazz Department which includes leading Greek jazz musicians among its teaching staff and has gained significant momentum, the Centre of Early Music which offers new insights into historically informed performance to a growing number of students in collaboration with international institutions such as the Haute École de Musique of Geneva, the Festival of Ambronay in France and the University of Leeds, while various other specialized seminars in all music disciplines continue to broaden the school’s standing in the contemporary musical scene.
The Athens Conservatoire Drama School, a member of the World Theatre Education Alliance (WTEA Beijing), is included among the select few top professional drama schools in Greece, officially recognized by the Ministry of Culture for the provision of higher education degrees in theatre studies. The students and its staff regularly stage cutting edge performances in Greece and abroad and cooperate with leading international drama schools like LAMDA (London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art), GITIS (Russian Academy of Theatrical Studies) and others.
The Athens Conservatoire Dance School was established in the ‘00s and has been constantly expanding ever since. Today, it features one of the few state-accredited Higher Professional Dance Schools in the country, complementing perfectly our portfolio of performing arts disciplines.
Finally, the Athens Conservatoire Centre for Research and Documentation, was initially founded in 2015 to rescue from oblivion and decay the extensive music and theatrical historical archives of the institution. Today, thanks to private and public funding, is in the process of extensive digitization of its archives, aiming to create an invaluable online library and academic resource for researchers, scholars and the interested public alike.
At the same time, the Centre is currently developing an extensive collective editorial project for a “History of Music in Contemporary Greece” (the first volume was published on the occasion of the AC’s 150th jubilee year in 2021). The Centre also participates and contributes to international fora like the IAML (International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres), organizes various exhibitions and presentations and publishes scientific papers and an academic magazine for musicology and music history.
Lastly, we regularly collaborate with other major cultural organizations, like the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, the Onassis Cultural Centre, the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), the Schwarz Foundation, the Museum of the B&E Goulandris Foundation and others, for various cultural events and initiatives.
The Athens Conservatoire as a prominent Arts & Cultural Centre
The Athens Conservatoire’s premium location at the heart of Athens and its iconic “bauhaus” building, make it a unique and enviable cultural hub for various contemporary arts and cultural events.
The main building is a short walking distance from the National Gardens of Athens, the Presidential Mansion, the Parliament and the Panathenaic Stadium where the first contemporary Olympic Games took place, near the Zappeion Megaron, where the European Greek Presidency took place in 2014 and adjacent to the Lyceum of Aristotle.
The building, officially recognized and protected as a “Modern Architectural Monument” by the Greek Ministry of Culture, was designed by the famous Greek architect Ioannis Despotopoulos (1903-1992) who holds a prominent position within the modernist architectural movement of the 1930s and the Bauhaus movement in which he actively participated. His widely acknowledged work for the Athens Conservatoire is the only completed part of an ambitious large-scale cultural complex, commissioned in 1959 by the then government for Athens, for which he earned the top architectural prize of its time.
During the last few years, thanks to generous private and public funding, the building is undergoing a process of gradual renovation, modernization and transformation. An important milestone was reached at the end of 2022 where an extensive publicly funded renovation project was concluded, facilitating the full functioning of important new venues and facilities, which were added to the current building infrastructure. These include a unique underground Amphitheatre with a 600-seating capacity, New Stage, a multi-purpose experimental black-box with a 200-seating capacity, an Arts Lounge for various exhibitions and corporate events, new sound recording and technology studios, while an all day cafe-restaurant provides a relaxing meeting point for event spectators and visitors.
However, the institution is also well indebted to major private donors who have contributed significantly towards major renovations and all kinds of support, ensuring that the building lives up to the vision of its creator, the needs of the institution and its long term sustainability.
To name but a few highlights:
The NEON cultural organization undertook financially the renovation of the Ω2 Complex, a large underground space within the building, transforming it into a unique art exhibition venue. NEON launched the venue hosting two of its own innovative and very successful projects: Ideas City and the Flying over the Abyss art exhibition.
Another significant milestone was the complete modernization and renovation of two performing arts venues by the “Friends of Aliki Vatikioti for Music and the Arts” foundation:
– firstly, the “Aris Garoufalis Auditorium” a chamber orchestra concert hall which serves the educational needs of our schools, but also able to host smaller cultural events and gatherings, a venue which has already gained significant traction among event organizers, hosting international personalities like, for example, Alexandre Desplat.
– secondly, adjacent to this hall, a “Black Box” theatrical stage which mainly serves the educational and stage needs of the Drama School, featuring various experimental performances by its students and academic staff.
This infrastructure combined with its distinctive architectural status, renders the iconic building of the Athens Conservatoire a well sought after cultural destination by leading institutions.
To name but a few examples:
The Athens Conservatoire has been one of the “main partner venues” of the documenta 14 in Athens, the prestigious international art exhibition which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany, but it was also held in Athens as part of the artistic concept conceived for 2017 by its artistic director Adam Szymczyk. The exhibition was visited by more than 300.000 people from 54 countries and left a definite mark to the city of Athens. It also left a distinct impression with our staff and students who lived alongside this major art event for 100 days.
It has also been an honour to lend our premises to El Sistema Greece, for the annual Sistema Europe Summer Residency and the rehearsals of the Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra (SEYO), for a great concert that took place at the mythical Odeon of Herodes Atticus theatre. The event brought together more than 250 young musicians and teachers from 16 countries that have implemented Sistema-inspired programmes for “social action through music”.
During 2023, Rolex chose the Athens Conservatoire as the main hub for the “Rolex Arts Festival: Celebrating 20 Years of Mentoring”, a three-day international event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its prestigious Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
In 2019, on the occasion of the celebrations for the 100 years of Bauhaus, we hosted an exhibition organised by the Goethe Institut, honouring Ioannis Despotopoulos, the architect of our building. Since then, this is now a permanent exhibition at the first floor of our building, open to our school community and the public.
All our friends and visitors are welcome to visit our iconic building at the heart of downtown Athens and get to know the leading performing arts institute in Greece today.
- How to get to the Athens Conservatoire, please click here
- For general inquiries contact: Τ: (+30) 210 7240 673 | E: info@athensconservatoire.gr
- For Venue hire information & contact details, click here.
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