Human Rights Day, and the right to beautiful music

In order to commemorate International Human Rights Day, the Cyprus National Commission for Unesco and the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation will present a special concert on Sunday at the Pallas theatre in Nicosia. Under the baton of conductor Yiannis Hadjiloizou, and with soloist Elli Aloneftou, the Allegro Vivace Instrumental Ensemble will present a special programme to mark this special day.

The programme will include works by composers of the Enlightenment period, spirituals, and Cyprus premieres of works by Jean Jacques Rousseau, author of The Social Contract.

Hadjiloizou, from Nicosia, started piano lessons at the age of four with his father Michael Hadjiloizou and continued with Maro Sarri. He received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from Boston University. He has performed as a solo pianist, accompanist and a conductor all over Europe as well as in China and America, and since 2000 he has been the president and artistic director of the Cyprus Academy of Music.

In 2012 he was named Representative Artist for the Cyprus Presidency of the European Union to give concerts in Australia. He has collaborated as a guest conductor with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra for many years. He has also appeared as a guest conductor with a number of orchestras around the world.

The conductor has organised many important cultural and artistic events, such as the opening of the Cyprus Presidency of the European Union, the Cyprus Peace Concert Project, the first opera production by a Cypriot composer with Cypriot participants, Music at the Park at Nicosia Municipal Park, and many other international events.

Hadjiloizou will be conducting mezzo-soprano Aloneftou, who graduated from the State Conservatory of Prague and ARTE Music Academy with distinction in classical singing and an honorary award from the Nicolas Economou Foundation in 2007.

She has performed with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra and has collaborated with the Cyprus Cultural Organisation, the Cyprus Opera Organisation and various choirs including the Polyfonia Chamber Choir. The soprano’s world premiere performances include works by acclaimed Cypriot composers, and her repertoire ranges from sacred to classical and contemporary music. She has performed at numerous prestigious music festivals in Greece, the Czech Republic, Italy and Cyprus.

Also performing in the event to honour International Human Rights Day will be the Allegro Vivace Instrumental Ensemble. The ensemble’s name reflects its purpose, which is to spread the joy (Allegro) of Music, intensely and vividly (Vivace), mainly through the performance of family, educational and community outreach concerts.

The concert is also being organised in celebration of the 40th Symposium of the UNESCO Network of Associated Schools in Cyprus.

Special Concert in Commemoration of International Human Rights Day
Concert by the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra with soloist Elli Aloneftou, Allegro Vivace Instrumental Ensemble, and conductor Yiannis Hadjiloizou. December 11. Pallas theatre, Nicosia. 8.30pm. Free. Tel: 22-463101

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.