As well as the popular music we all love, Greece has produced a distinguished National School in the western classical tradition, as well as modernist composers who develop Greek musical ideas in new ways. The concert includes works by Skalkotas, Konstantinidis, Sfetsas, Hatzidakis and Theodorakis, ranging from settings of folksongs to experiments with sounds from jazz and rock.

Cretan-born Manolis Rasoulis (September 28, 1945 – March 5, 2011) was best known as the lyricist of many famous songs and was a loved composer, singer, writer and journalist.

They met in 1976 when Greek songwriter Dionysis Savvopoulos invited Papazoglou to participate in Acharnees, a cycle of songs and stage acts based on the ancient comedy by Aristophanes. In 1978 the two, along with Dionysis Savvopoulos and Nikos Xydakis, produced the influential Ekdikisi Tis Gyftias (meaning The Revenge of Gypsies). The work received critical acclaim. Papazoglou and Rasoulis collaborated the following year in another successful work, Ta Dithen (meaning So-Called).

One year from the death of these two Greek music legends, the Greek Festival is paying tribute to their work and memory. Melbourne based Rebetiki and friends, with a guest appearance by Maria Yiakoulis will be performing some of Papazoglous’ and Rasoulis’ greatest hits including Ah Ellada and E Manges den Iparhoun Pia, as well as many songs that have become big Greek and international hits

In a stellar career spanning 20 years, Eleftheria has collaborated with contemporaries Ara Dinkjian, Cesaria Evora, Dulce Pontes and Ismael Lo and sold over a million albums. Her ability to combine the traditional and contemporary music of Greece gives rise to exceptional live performances.

Eleftheria Arvanitaki’s unique style continues to touch audiences worldwide – don’t miss her!

Over ten years in the making, Maria’s unique style has risen to a new level – opening the doors to music that truly inspires.

This concert is Maria’s only Sydney performance for the year – so take this opportunity to experience a raw emotive creativity that will leave you breathless.

Maria’s sultry siren voice draws you into the world of myth and dreams, taking you on an unforgettable musical journey. A very special night.”

The objective of the Athens 2004 Torch Relay was to give to the Olympic flame the possibility to light the universal values of Olympism and to touch peoples hearts.

The Athens 2004 Olympic Torch Relay, was the first to travel the globe and return to the country that gave birth to the Games and the city of their revival. In a journey that lasted some 78 days, the Olympic flame covered a distance of more than 78.000 km, throughout the world and lighted every prefecture of Greece.

Australia is set to be the first country outside Greece to host the relay. Olympic Gold Medallist Cathy Freeman will run the first leg of the relay outside Greece, carrying the torch from the Opera House to East Circular Quay.

In Sydney the flame will travel to Sydney CBD (Starting at the Opera House); Sydneys Eastern Suburbs to Bondi Beach; Brighton Le Sands for the Greek community celebration; Sydneys inner west; Sydney CBD (Sydney Town Hall, The Rocks, climbs Harbour Bridge, sails across Sydney Harbour); North Sydney; Lane Cove; Ryde; Homebush Bay (Sydney Olympic Park).

This is an opportunity to experience a voyage of raw emotive creativity that will leave you breathless.

Featuring Sydney sirens, Maria Yiakoulis and Lina Kastoumis Rebetiki venture into the hash dens and back alleys of the composers life in a musical essay that was equally passionately reviled by authority as it was embraced by a culture.

Performing before a sold out audience that overflowed to those standing outside. Maria and her musicians captivated those present in an emotive journey expressing the the various nuances of love.

The infamous kangaroos on bicycles that first appeared at the closing ceremony of the Atlanta Olympic Games made an appearance, as did numerous references to the Olympic Games, including a posturing American track and field athlete.

The president of the IPC, Dr. Robert Steadward, declared the Games to be the best ever, a remark that was warmly endorsed by the capacity crowd at Stadium Australia which was later treated to a musical extravaganza.

More people have come to see Paralympic athletes in action in Sydney than at any previous Paralympic Games. Fittlingly, Australia won more medals than ever before, and topped the medal count.

The Games have seen an extraordinary number of world and paralympic records set over the eleven days of competition. They have also marked a new and binding relationship between the Olympic and Paralympic movements, as well as the spectre of performance-enhancing drug-use by Paralympic athletes.

Maria Yiakoulis of Cretan descent was born in Sydney Australia, 1974. She has lived there all her life, except for a year spent exploring Greece.