Band of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu
The Philharmonic Society of Corfu is the oldest music educational organization in the country, founded in 1840 with Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros as its first Artistic director. Its original purpose was to create a music academy, similar to those of the neighboring Italy, that would provide to the people of Corfu with music education, regardless of social class, age, gender and general education. Since then, the artistic leadership has been under important figures of the Greek music scene, with many of its musicians pursuing careers as composers, soloists, orchestra conductors, orchestra musicians in military and civilian music ensembles. Today, the Musical Corpus of the "Old" Philharmonic is a huge family of 430 students, 35 teachers of wind , percussion , string instruments, piano and theory. It has a Band, a Symphony Orchestra, a Student’s Orchestra for Wind , Percussion and Strings as well as numerous other music sections and ensembles, while the 8-member Board of Directors ensures the proper functioning of the Foundation. In addition to the educational work, the Philharmonic's activities include approximately 40 concerts per year, the organizing of seminars and music contests . Last but not least, the Philharmonic’s hall houses student concerts and numerous other music events and lectures while the Museum of Music receives a large number of visitors annually. The Chairman of the Board of Directors from 2015, is Mr. Spyros Padovas.
The band of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu has as the most popular of the institution's musical ensembles, as it is the only one to have an unbroken course and offer to date. It first appeared in the liturgy of the St Spyridon’s procession on 11/23 August 1841 and has since followed the main public religious ceremonies of the city of Corfu, as well as official state events. From 1846 it has been performing concerts both indoors and outdoors, which contributed greatly to the experiential music cultivation of its audience and its musicians. At the same time, its organizational model worked exemplarily for the creation of other similar shapes in the Ionian Islands, mainly in Greece and the colonial Hellenism.
The Band of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu was the first ensemble to perform the "Greek National Anthem", which was officially established in 1865, while participating in the music events of the first Athens Olympic Games in 1896 playing the "Olympic Anthem" of Spyros Samaras. In the recent years it has been invited to give concerts to various cities within the Greek territory and abroad (Denmark, Italy, America, Russia, Serbia etc.).
Today , the Band of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu consists of 250 active musicians. Its nursery is its youth band (consisting of 120 young musicians) and the student band (consisting of 60 younger musicians). Various sets of brass, woodwind and percussion instruments are also active in its context. In this way, a continuous tradition of nearly two hundred years still thrives with an ongoing look into the future. From 2010 the Philharmonic Society’s Artistic Director, Chief Conductor and Schools Director, is Spyros Prosoparis.
The band of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu has as the most popular of the institution's musical ensembles, as it is the only one to have an unbroken course and offer to date. It first appeared in the liturgy of the St Spyridon’s procession on 11/23 August 1841 and has since followed the main public religious ceremonies of the city of Corfu, as well as official state events. From 1846 it has been performing concerts both indoors and outdoors, which contributed greatly to the experiential music cultivation of its audience and its musicians. At the same time, its organizational model worked exemplarily for the creation of other similar shapes in the Ionian Islands, mainly in Greece and the colonial Hellenism.
The Band of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu was the first ensemble to perform the "Greek National Anthem", which was officially established in 1865, while participating in the music events of the first Athens Olympic Games in 1896 playing the "Olympic Anthem" of Spyros Samaras. In the recent years it has been invited to give concerts to various cities within the Greek territory and abroad (Denmark, Italy, America, Russia, Serbia etc.).
Today , the Band of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu consists of 250 active musicians. Its nursery is its youth band (consisting of 120 young musicians) and the student band (consisting of 60 younger musicians). Various sets of brass, woodwind and percussion instruments are also active in its context. In this way, a continuous tradition of nearly two hundred years still thrives with an ongoing look into the future. From 2010 the Philharmonic Society’s Artistic Director, Chief Conductor and Schools Director, is Spyros Prosoparis.