Once in a lifetime!

There is no place in Greece without its myth. Mt. Kyllini in ancient Arcadia, known today as Mt. Ziria, is the mythical birthplace of the god Hermes and is closely associated with the birth of music. Here the newborn god, while still a baby, created the first stringed musical instrument – the lyre – which he then gave to Apollo in atonement for stealing his sacred cattle.

“THE TRACKERS”, a little-known play by Sophocles, will be presented for the first time this summer in the ancient theater of Epidaurus under the direction of Michail Marmarinos, one of Greece’s most popular and respected theatrical directors and will feature a cast of renowned actors. Just one week later, however, the play will climb 1500 meters for a unique performance in the exact place where the events supposedly occurred – the lush alpine plateau of Mt. Killini.

On July 31, 2021, Seilinos and his band of satyrs will return once again to Mt. Kyllini (Ziria) to search for traces of Apollo’s stolen cattle, and we will be there too as modern trackers looking for traces of ancient cultural memory. A privileged audience will witness a unique performance which revives the story of how music was born – and which leads us in new paths and musical forms as it wends its way from past to present.

This once-in-a-lifetime performance will bring music back to its birthplace, on a stage of wildflowers, mountains and sky and will bring the play to a new kind of conclusion in which 

Petroloukas Halkias, the patriarch of the oldest kind of Greek folk music, the ecstatic clarinet music of Epirus, comes together in an historic meeting with Vassilis Kostas, a renowned jazz musician and Professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Music is born again, echoing through the mountains of Ziria, and as modern-day trackers, we will discover anew ancient traces, symbols and myth. Come share the experience, and let music and imagination do their magic.