The Greek National Opera has renewed composer Giorgos Koumendakis as Artistic Director for a fourth consecutive three-year term.

Koumendakis assumed the Artistic Direction of the Greek National Opera in 2017 and has already completed nine years in this role. He is also the first Artistic Director in the Company’s 85-year history to be awarded a fourth consecutive term.

In a statement Koumendakis said, “Having completed three terms as the Artistic Director of the Greek National Opera, I am deeply honored and at the same time fully aware of the great responsibility that comes with the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni’s decision to renew my term for a fourth time, until 2029. When I took on the artistic direction of the GNO in 2017, significant challenges and rare opportunities were opening up for Greece’s only opera house, which had just entered a new era following its relocation to the SNFCC.

“Today, nine years later, I feel proud of everything we have accomplished through hard work, team effort, devotion, and commitment to our goals: the numerous new works composed by Greek composers upon commissions from the GNO; the new productions we presented; the significant growth of our audience; the visibility of our artistic identity abroad; the co-productions and collaborations with European and American opera houses; the tours of our works across Greece and in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and America; the broadcasting of many of our productions worldwide through GNO TV; the significant development of our Alternative Stage; the unique imprint left by our hundreds of learning and participation programs across Greece; the young artists we have supported; our online festivals; the three Sacred Music Festivals; and the management of the Ministry of Culture’s large-scale initiative, ‘All of Greece, One Culture.’”

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