Big Bang Festival 7

A festival ode to adventurous music experiences, games, interactive installations, sounds of objects and works. Musicians and music from around the world meet with children, parents and friends, and become one on the stages, elevators, hallways and streets outside Stegi.

Theater, karaoke, musical experimentations, fairy tales, video art, and other musical adventures await you again this year. Follow Mister V on his adventures, join the nomadic workshop on music-making, and experiment with sounds, kickstart your imagination by following the secrets of animal sleep, become friends with “A Super Strong Girl,” free the world from the shackles of darkness in the company of Safir, and sing in all languages at a party with 2 DJs spinning tunes for you, with you.

After 7 years, we are now fully aware that children are always the best audience and without a second thought become part of a concert: they dance, sing and discover what Music is all about. After all, at Big Bang there are no rules and “don’ts”, just an open invitation: let’s all find our rhythm.

Eugenia Demeglio, Katerina Konstantourou
Mister V

Exhibition Hall -1 (Space Α) | Hours: 11:00, 13:30, 17:30 | Duration: 40 minutes
Ages: 5+
5 € Ticket | People with disabilities, Companions, Unemployed & Friend 4 €

The White Rabbit Company
Nomad Project 2023

100th Primary School* (15 Pyrras Street) | Hours: 11:30, 17:00 | Duration: 30 minutes
Ages: 7+
Free admission with entry tickets, purchased at the venue
* The venue does not have wheelchair access and is not suitable for people with impaired mobility

GNOUS!
Heidi’s Dream

Exhibition Hall -1 (Space Β) | Hours: 12:00, 14:30, 19:15 | Duration: 40 minutes
Ages: 6+
5 € Ticket | People with disabilities, Companions, Unemployed & Friend 4 €

The Bad Poetry Social Club
A Super Strong Girl

Galaxy Corner (2 Galaxia Street) | Hours: 12:30, 14:00, 19:00 | Duration: 35 minutes
Ages: 5+
3 € Ticket | People with disabilities, Companions, Unemployed & Friend 2 €

Alexis & Kyriakos Eleftheriadis
Safir: Birdsong of Light and Freedom

Upper Stage | Hours: 13:00, 17:45 | Duration: 60 minutes
Ages: 6+
5 € Ticket | People with disabilities, Companions, Unemployed & Friend 4 €

Georgia Karydi
Tiramisu Decks

Onassis Stegi +5 | Hours: 13:30, 17:30, 19:30 | Duration: 30 minutes
Ages: 5+
3 € Ticket | People with disabilities, Companions, Unemployed & Friend 2 €

Mister V

Mister V has finished work and is heading home. He can’t wait to put his slippers on and sprawl out in his armchair, quiet and relaxed. That’s what he had in mind anyway, but the moment he opens the… STOP! Mister V hadn’t the faintest idea of what was about to happen. Suddenly, he finds himself caught up in an incredible adventure, right inside his own home. The things that go on inside Mister V’s apartment are revealed to us by four musicians (on flute, guitar, piano, and accordion) and one actor as part of a music-theatre performance that takes its inspiration from a fairy tale written by Gianni Rodari.

Dramaturgy & Direction: Eugenia Demeglio | Concept & Music Direction: Katerina Konstantourou | Lighting Design: Eleni Houmou | Costume Design: Katerina Chatzopoulou

Performers / musicians: Phivos Symeonidis: actor | Ana Chifu: flute | Stamatis Pasopoulos: accordion | Mislav Režić: guitar | Katerina Konstantourou: piano

Music: Frank Nuyts, “7th Piano Sonata” Part 3 (2007) | Stamatis Pasopoulos, “The Storks Came” (2023) | Christian Wolff, “Exercise 1” (1973) | Stamatis Pasopoulos, “For Philipp” (2023) | Larry Polansky, “Ensembles of Note” (1998-99) and musical improvisations

Information

Exhibition Hall -1 (Space Α) | Hours: 11:00, 13:30, 17:30 | Duration: 40 minutes | Ages: 5+
5 € Ticket | People with disabilities, Companions, Unemployed & Friend 4 €

Nomad Project 2023

This year’s Nomad workshop is a journey through unexpected sounds that are tackled rhythmically and melodically with curiosity and laughter – and electronic sparkles! We’ll be learning how to engage with sound using our bodies and voices, microphones and electronic devices to create music all together.

Guided by one composer, two musicians, and a sound engineer, children will learn how to approach sound from different angles, and how to use technology for music creation. They will create compositions to perform together, and share in the joy of making music. It is an experience that seeks to change perspectives on what we call music and how we listen. One that makes clear: everything can be music if we give it a chance, and challenge ourselves too.

The White Rabbit Company (Belgium) | Performer: Julie Michael | Performer & Workshop Concept: Kaja Farszky | Music Composition & Stage Director: Frédéric Verrières | Sound Engineer & Music Programming: Quentin Meurisse

Information

100th Primary School (15 Pyrras Street) | Hours: 11:30, 17:00 | Duration: 30 minutes | Ages: 7+
Free admission with entry tickets, purchased at the venue

Heidi’s Dream

Did you know that animals dream?
With “Heidi’s Dream”, GNOUS! are taking a dive into the magical world of sleep and dreams in the animal kingdom. Three musicians and a video artist forge a multi-layered audio-visual experience on stage that brings us closer to the non-human beings living on this planet. From dolphins that sleep with one eye open to dogs that seem to be running in their sleep, we’re taken on a journey through a fantastical setting of sounds, images, and facts relating to sleeping animals. When Heidi –the much-loved octopus– changes so many colors as she sleeps, how many dreams is she seeing at once? And in the quiet of the forest, what sounds do canaries hear in their deepest slumber?

Concept & Music: GNOUS! (Michalis Moschoutis, Vassilis Tzavaras, Erato Tzavara) | Musicians on stage: Harris Lambrakis: ney, keyboard | Vassilis Tzavaras: guitar, keyboard, loops | Stefanos Psaradakis: percussion, electronics | Visual Design & Live Video: Erato Tzavara | Line Production: Polyplanity

Information

Exhibition Hall -1 (Space Β) | Hours: 12:00, 14:30, 19:15 | Duration: 40 minutes | Ages: 6+
5 € Ticket | People with disabilities, Companions, Unemployed & Friend 4 €

A Super Strong Girl

“A Super Strong Girl” is a music theater performance about a girl who lives alone and isn’t afraid of anything or anyone. Through stories told of her adventures, music played live by the Troubadour on stage, and sets that are also created in real time, we come to know a child different from the ones we’re used to hearing about in fairy tales. One without fine clothes or palaces, and with no need for love stories or great riches. This girl is covered in freckles, wears funny clothes, lives in a ramshackle home without parents, doesn’t go to school, picks fights with big burly men (and beats them easily), and carves out her own path alongside her best friend.

This super strong girl –in partnership with the Narrator, the Director, the Troubadour, and her best friend– forges a parallel universe, somewhere between the real and the imaginary, where they all sing together and talk about friendship and being care free, about the power and purity of children’s imaginations, and about how important it is to keep dreaming – to keep the child inside us alive forever.

Texts: Alexandra Epitheti, Vina Sergi | Director: Panagiotis I. E. Vasileiou | Set Design & Art Curation: The Krank | With: Alexandra Epitheti, Vina Sergi, Panagiotis I. E. Vasileiou, Fani Grylli | Musician: Theodoros Sarmousakis | Music: Victor Forlidas

Information

Galaxy Corner (2 Galaxia Street) | Hours: 12:30, 14:00, 19:00 | Duration: 35 minutes | Ages: 5+
3 € Ticket | People with disabilities, Companions, Unemployed & Friend 2 €

Safir: Birdsong of Light and Freedom

Told by means of a first-person narrative accompanied by a seven-member music ensemble, “Safir: Birdsong of Light and Freedom” is an original musical fairy tale for young and old alike. Audiences will also get the chance to see the illustrated story of Safir unfold before their very eyes thanks to the scroll theater techniques used on stage.

The narrator will transport us to a far corner of the desert and introduce us to Safir, who –with his magical nightingale-sweet singing voice, and the great love he has in his heart for both music and humankind– manages to lift the heavy veil of darkness that has fallen over the entire town. Helped by the mythical Simurgh, a bird encountered in Persian mythology, as well as in the Kurdish, Georgian, Armenian, and Roman traditions, Safir is here to remind us that art never stops journeying through time and space. The hope is that this boy will also shine a light into our own darkness with his music and song.

Fairy Tale Writers: Alexis and Kyriakos Eleftheriadis | Text & Song Lyric Editors: Panos Papadantonakis, Maria Zagana | Music: Kyriakos Eleftheriadis | Illustration & Scroll Theater Construction: Ilianna Skoulaki | Scroll Theater Performers: Ilianna Skoulaki, Panos Papadantonakis | Narration: Kyveli Koukoudaki | Stage Technician: Yannis Lykos

Musicians: Kyriakos Eleftheriadis: oud, saz | Yorgos Vamvounakis: qanun | Isidoros Vardaros: violin | Zeta Tzoni: cello | Kostis Zontanos: Cretan lyre, vocals | Kyveli Koukoudaki: vocals | Eleftheria Blazaki: accordion, bendir, vocals | Haris Bakas: tombak, toubeleki, davul

This production is an original work funded by the Municipality of Chania and KEPPEDICH–KAM (the Chania Municipal Culture & Environment Public Benefit Agency – Center for Mediterranean Architecture) as part of the Open Sails festival. The production premiered in Chania in December 2022.

Information

Upper Stage | Hours: 13:00, 17:45 | Duration: 60 minutes |
Ages: 6+
5 € Ticket | People with disabilities, Companions, Unemployed & Friend 4 €

Tiramisu Decks

“Tiramisu Decks” –which takes its name from the Italian phrase “tirami su,” which translates as “pick me up” or “cheer me up”– is an audio-visual DJ set / theater play for children. The two DJ leads have their sights set on the creatively active imagination, giving children a simple introduction to digital music tools with a view to bolstering and developing their appreciation for music. The work includes songs in different languages, as well as opportunities for interaction through moments of dance and karaoke, thus also showcasing a communal experience of music.

Concept & Performance: Georgia Karydi | Featuring the actor Ondina Quadri | Choreography & Production Assistance: Alexia Sarantopoulou

Information

Onassis Stegi +5 | Hours: 13:30, 17:30, 19:30 | Duration: 30 minutes |
Ages: 5+
3 € Ticket | People with disabilities, Companions, Unemployed & Friend 2 €

The Big Bang children’s music festival is a co-production of the Onassis Stegi and the Zonzo Compagnie, and is part of the European BIG BANG network.

Co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the European Union.