Main Projects / Activities

International Choir Festival Since 2008, M.O.S organizes one of the most famous Choral Festivals in the historical Apollo theater in Ermoupolis. The International Choir Festival is ticket-free and is being held annually during the first weeks of June. It is open to Choirs from all over the world and creates the perfect occasion for discovering the way other ensembles work, their approaches to choral music; discuss, exchange views and best practices, as well as have fun altogether during leisure time exploring Syros. Choir Performances and Concerts M.O.S. frequently organises musical events, concerts and performances, which are based on choral art, often accompanied by an orchestra. We have numerous collaborations with well-known folk composers and singers and we rearrange their songs and works into polyphonic choral music. We challenge ourselves in different languages, and our performances’ repertoire ranges across different styles, often exploring how traditional folk songs, such as rembetiko or bouzouki, resonate today, in the contemporary sound. The orchestrations of musical pieces are made as unique arrangements for M.O.S. Choir by Maestro Alexandros Dimitropoulos since 2022. Choir Music Education M.O.S. weekly sessions-rehearsals cover music and vocal technique training, music history and theory learning. The aim is to improve and excel choir music technique, connect properly with the breath and gradually build performance confidence. We intend to offer all our members the space to reclaim their own personal voice, which is inherent part of one’s personality and identity, feel safe to express their voice in the ensemble and finally, create vigorously the group voice. We work with polyphonic music techniques by singing and playing a variety of musical styles such as Folk (Greek, Mediterannean, Balkan and wider European folk music ), Pop Rock and old religious chants. Our purpose is to work and cover different genres of music, extend choir members’ musical vocabulary and take all the ‘body’ of the choir into transformative music journeys and create memorable performative experiences, which transform hearts and minds. Multidisciplinary art collaborations In M.O.S. we aim to initiate meaningful connections between disciplines and organise events which incorporate diverse modalities. Some examples: Choir performance within the exhibition of visual art group Deforme, which was related to water; its symbolism, vitality and preciousness, as well as to raise awareness on global water issues. Collaboration with Apano Meria (Upper Part) of Syros, a social-cooperative enterprise that protects Natura areas of the island to create joint campaigns and take actions to raise awareness for issues concerning Syros and wider Cyclades, on beekeeping challenges, biodiversity protection, plastic recycling and waste reduction. Revival of the substantial Aigaio live Broadcasting company’s selected audio recordings and video archive in a thematic radio broadcast short series, tribute to local and wider Mediterranean folk tales, legends and narratives. In an attempt to preserve oral history, audio memorabilia and traditions transferred from generation to generation and to bring it to the present artistic scene in an immersive choir and storytelling performance. Open rehearsals - instant polyphonic ‘pop-up choir’ – outreach activities in schools Open rehearsals, in sometimes unusual venues; unexpected and spontaneous events, in communal spaces, with formats which increase audience involvement, to open wider the choir to the community. Instant polyphonic ‘pop-up choirs’ in public, with practices ‘one-plus-one’, where every member brings a friend, while passersby are also more than motivated to join in, to increase local engagement and produce a community-based choir concert, with improvisational elements. Outreach activities in schools, which are based on age-appropriate methodologies and playful imaginative approaches; so that students become acquainted with choir singing, explore the power of bringing together the different voices, as well as the passion for joint creation.