De Profundis Ensemble

A collaboration between the Athens Culture Net of the Municipality of Athens and the Holy Church of Agios Filippos, in the context of Athens City Festival.

The immersive Church of Agios Filippos hosts the string De Profundis Ensemble, with a program of leading baroque composers. The ensemble will perform timeless pieces, creating a unique musical atmosphere under candlelights.

Program

Philipp Heinrich Erlebach (1657-1714) Overture-Suite in G minor No.6
George Friedrich Händel(1685-1759) – From the Opera Sémele – Where’er you walk
Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) Passacaille from Lully’s opera “Armide”
George Friederich Händel(1685-1759) From the Opera Rodelinda, regina de’ Longobardi -Mio caro bene
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741) L’Olimpiade – Overture RV 725
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Concerto for Strings in D minor RV 128
George Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) aria “Lascia ch’io pianga” from his Opera Rinaldo HWV 7
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741) ‘La Primavera’ (Spring)

Start time: 20:00

A few words about De Profundis Ensemble

The desire to create and communicate was the reason to create the De Profundis Ensemble, a group of young musicians, initiated and trained in classical music, with a vision and a willingness to offer.

The home of the string ensemble is in the German Church of Athens, a church that hosted the recorded concerts of the De Profundis Ensemble for the 2021-2022 artistic season, on a monthly basis.

The repertoire of each meeting included hard-to-find compositions from the Baroque period, great works by composers who played a decisive role in the spoken music scene, as well as individual concertos performed by distinguished soloists.
The ensemble has to its credit, collaborations with Stathoulopoulos Sokratis, Stathoulopoulos Vangelis, Sdouko Ilias, Mouzakiti Thodoris, Paraskevopoulos Christos, Angelidis Dimitris, Preveziano Nikolas, Katsoura Maria, Sotiri Eleni, Botsi Angelos, Souka Vassilis, Petrin Alexandros, Bei Nikolas, Bensi Christina and George Panagiotopoulos.

The collaborations took place in the context of the Abendmusik (Afternoon Music) music cycle, an institution which continues for the second year in a row, with a renewed program. From September 2022, the ensemble is the in-residence orchestra of the church. The first three concerts of the Abendmusik series were broadcast by the Third Program of ERT, as a tribute to the ensemble De Profundis.

The group’s actions include two successful, live presentations in collaboration with the Region of Attica. As part of the collaboration, a Stabat Mater triptych (A.Vivaldi, G.B. Pergolesi, L. Boccherini) was presented for the first time, as were excerpts from A. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and A. Corelli’s Christmas Concerto.
The De Profundis Ensemble participated in the “Open Platforms” program of the Bridges cycle of the Athens Music Hall (2022-2023), where it was distinguished and selected to take part in events of the Hall and EDEM. From January 2023, the ensemble, in collaboration with the B&E Goulandris Foundation, presents a new interactive, musical program for children (Time for Music at the Museum). Through this specific activity, children come into contact with the different instruments of the violin family and become familiar with the great classical composers.

In March 2023, in honor of J.S. Bach, the composer’s four violin concertos were presented for the first time in the German Church of Athens, with Giorgos Panagiotopoulos as soloist. As part of the musical events for the celebration of Easter, the ensemble presented excerpts from the Matthew Passion of J.S. Bach in historic Orthodox churches of Athens.

The driving force of the members for association, creation and contact with human concerns, gives meaning and defines the musical meetings of the ensemble.