Greek classical music composer, conductor and educator Eugenia Manolidou speaks with students of the “Elliniki Agogi” school at Zappeion Hall in Athens, Greece, July 15, 2022. (Photo by Lefteris Partsalis/Xinhua )
A strong knowledge of the past and close ties to our cultural heritage make us stronger, enable us to face the future, recognize the beauty of different cultures and realize the power of collaboration, she told Xinhua in a recent interview here, citing the example of China. -Greek friendship and cooperation.
by Maria Spiliopoulou, Yu Shuaishuai
ATHENS, July 19 (Xinhua) — Strolling through the galleries of Zappeion, one of Athens’ iconic buildings built for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, Greek composer, conductor and classical music educator Eugenia Manolidou listens to what monuments must say about transmitting lessons to her students.
A strong knowledge of the past and close ties to our cultural heritage make us stronger, enable us to face the future, recognize the beauty of different cultures and realize the power of collaboration, she told Xinhua in a recent interview here, citing the example of China. -Greek friendship and cooperation.
“Culture combined with education can bring people together, build bridges and break down walls. Only by studying very hard can one appreciate the beauty of different cultures,” she stressed .
Artists from the Greek National Opera perform during the opening ceremony of the China-Greece Year of Culture and Tourism, in Athens, Greece, September 16, 2021. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
Artist and educator, Manolidou has contributed in recent years to building bridges of understanding and collaboration between Greece and China through cultural exchanges.
In August 2008, when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics, she was invited to give a concert at the Beijing Concert Hall. She conducted the symphony orchestra and choir of the National Opera and Dance Drama Theater of China, presenting her work titled “Two Cultures, One Mind.”
This was his first contact with China and Chinese culture. In order to create a work corresponding to the spirit of the Games and the two ancient civilizations, she conducted in-depth research on the philosophy, music and mentality of the Chinese people.
“I felt very deeply obligated to serve two of the world’s oldest civilizations. So I combined what I knew best, symphonic music, with the pipa, a four-stringed plucked lute, one of the most most elegant of traditional music. Chinese music”, remembers Manolidou.
She finally composed a concerto for pipa and symphony orchestra. “We told a fairy tale that brought the two peoples together,” she said.
“Besides their welcome applause, the audience that day made it clear to me that they knew that these two civilizations, whatever the distance that separates them, are united in their values, their philosophy and their beautiful past .”
Greek composer, conductor and classical music educator Eugenia Manolidou speaks in an interview with Xinhua at Zappeion Hall in Athens, Greece, July 15, 2022. (Photo by Lefteris Partsalis/Xinhua)
Manolidou is also the Director of Studies at “Elliniki Agogi” (Hellenic Education), a private school based in Athens that teaches the language, history and philosophy of the ancient Greeks to children and adults. At school, she focuses on the children, as she did during a Greek-Chinese cultural exchange last November.
On the eve of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, students from “Elliniki Agogi” and “Beijing Academy” high school in the Chinese capital met via video link and recited excerpts from the works of Greek philosophers and Ancient Chinese in the original language.
By building a bridge through philosophy, they reminded the world of the two civilizations’ shared values and ideas as well as their teachings on virtue, work, friendship, truth, courage, freedom and happiness.
She encourages other schools to follow in their footsteps as she believes there is much to be gained from such initiatives.
“We only gain by experiencing other cultures. We learn by sharing, talking, discussing and exchanging ideas, values, dreams and visions. The past is there to teach us. If we learn, if we know, if we respect the past, then we can bring all this knowledge to the future.
Greece and China, the cradles of Western and Eastern civilizations respectively, are also pioneers of exploration, and the world has much to benefit from their interaction, she said. “Together we are stronger. We have many more opportunities, many more chances to achieve what we want in the future,” she added. ■
