With twenty years of creativity behind it, the Aegina Music Festival is preparing to welcome for another summer great musicians and performers, from August 2 to 24, in a carefully curated programme, presented in emblematic open-air venues of the Saronic Gulf island and promising "magical musical moments, where artists and audience become one", as its artistic director stresses, speaking to Monopoli.gr.
Spyros Kakouriotis | 29.07.2025
August in the Aegina means music. For twenty years now, since 2005, when the Music Festival, which is now an institution for the island of Saronicus, took its first steps, until today, it has evolved into an open, welcoming and stable cultural core, with a carefully curated program, including chamber music, recitals, singing, jazz and tributes to great composers, turning emblematic open-air spaces into places of artistic experience.150 concerts in 20 years
In these 20 years, the Festival has presented more than 150 concerts, with the participation of 570 musicians. This year, under the artistic curatorship of the internationally acclaimed pianist. Dora Bakopoulou, but also the pianist, composer and director of musical theatre Elena Huda, Aegina welcomes its 19th edition, from 2 to 24 August, with a programme that balances established performances and new voices, including top soloists, tributes, youth ensembles and a finale with Manolis Mitsia and the Theodora Baka.
As every year, the events take place in the courtyard of the Church of the Saviour, on the beach of Aura and in the stone Small Theatre of Pachiorachi, while the website of the Festival www.musicfestivalaegina.com, completely renewed, offers detailed information about the programme, the venues and the artists, as well as the opportunity to interact with the audience.
On the occasion of this "anniversary" event, we spoke with the "soul" of the Aegina Music Festival, its founder and artistic co-director, the distinguished Greek pianist Dora Bakopoulou, about the course the Festival has taken so far, the challenges it faces and the "trump cards" that make it stand out.
Dora BakopoulouTwenty years after the first note, which moment or image comes to your mind first when you think of the Festival?
The magical evening at Pachyorachis, when five great artists and dear friends performed Schubert's Quintet with two cellists. They were Sasha Maisky (violin), Hrachya and Sevak Avanesyan (violin and cello, respectively), Leda Argerich (viola), daughter of my dear friend Martha Argerich, and Natalia Margulis (cello). They came straight from Brussels and Madrid and when they played... it was as if time stopped! I still have that evening in my ears and in my mind. And I am very happy that this year, many years later, this work will be performed again in Pachyorachi by the Austrian quartet "Fresco" and Loukia Looulaki (cello).
Fresco Quartet The Festival has hosted over 150 concerts and hundreds of musicians. What is it that keeps it "alive" and creative, even after two decades?
My deep, catalytic love for music and the need to share it, to communicate it. And I am grateful that I have succeeded. But nothing would have lasted as long as it did without the great musicians who gave soul to the Festival. And of course, my beloved colleagues and friends of the Festival. Together we all give it life and continuity.Is there a challenge that comes back year after year - and how do you deal with it today, compared to the early years?
I don't perceive challenges and I always listen to what my soul is telling me.
If you were to approach the Festival as a spectator rather than a co-creator, what do you think is what makes it stand out among other summer events?
The authenticity of the choices. Instinct. The need for music found in the blast. The love of all its supporters and of Aegina itself, which has "adopted" the Festival as part of its cultural landscape. The magical musical moments where organizers, artists, supporters and audience become one.With the new website, the online ticketing and the possibility of dialogue with the audience, the Festival seems to "grow" with its audience. How do you see its future?
Technology makes it easier for the public and brings them closer to us. But people have embraced the Festival because it is based on substance. And as long as the Festival is based on substance, with inspiring people loving and managing it, it will remain vibrant!