The Greek National Opera (GNO) will bring its orchestra to the United States for the first time this fall, performing at Carnegie Hall on Oct. 15 in a program honoring the legacy of writer Nikos Kazantzakis.

Titled “Nikos Kazantzakis: An Odyssey in Music,” the concert features mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili and soprano Maria Kostraki under the baton of conductor Vassilis Christopoulos, Music Director of Graz Opera. The evening marks the GNO Orchestra’s first appearance on American soil.

The program draws on works by five Greek composers whose music intersects with the life and writing of Kazantzakis. Rachvelishvili will sing Theodorakis for the first time, including selections from the iconic “Zorbas – Ballet Suite.” Kostraki performs Hadjidakis’s “Captain Michalis,” originally composed for the 1966 stage adaptation of the novel.

The evening also features the U.S. premiere of “Amor Fati,” a 2007 symphonic work by GNO Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis, written to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Kazantzakis’s death. Rounding out the program are Skalkottas’s “Three Cretan Dances” and Mitropoulos’s “Cretan Feast,” orchestrated by Skalkottas — a nod to the conductor who later led the New York Philharmonic.

The performance is supported by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and is presented under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Read Related Stories

• Anna Netrebko, Judit Kutasi, Anita Rachvelishvili, Rolando Villazón, Thomas Hampson, Diana Damrau, Corinne Winters, Lawrence Brownlee Headline Hungarian State Opera’s 2026-27 Season

• New York Philharmonic & Carnegie Hall Announce Opera Project; First Opera to Feature Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Rebeka & Ludovic Tézier