An orchestra without a conductor

After the Cyprus Chamber Orchestra (CCO) performed its first event in December, it will be back at the Pallas theatre in Nicosia on Saturday to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Following the hugely successful first official concert of the orchestra, 26 Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot musicians now prepare to light up the stage again with a programme of classic masterpieces including Mozart’s 41st Symphony (Jupiter), Elgar Serenade for Strings in E minor, and Komitas Armenian songs and dances. Especially for this event, the orchestra has joined forces with Sidikek and BES, which are the event’s co-organisers.

Each member of the orchestra has a great talent and passion for music. These two characteristics are what bring them together and which also prove that music can unite and erase differences. As the members are on the same page, both musically and mentally, they can come together to play high quality music, inspiring the audience to travel far away, while promoting messages of peace via music and culture.

The orchestra, which is a non-profit organisation, was created by Natalie Neophytou and Nihat Agdac, who thought up the idea during their studies at London’s Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. It was awarded with a Stelios Cyprus Bicommunal Award in 2016.

The orchestra does not have a maestro, something which gives the musicians the ability to work as closely as possible together for the sake of the ensemble, music and their partnership.

Music to Honour Women
Performance by the bicommunal Cyprus Chamber Orchestra. March 18. Pallas theatre, Nicosia. 7pm. €10. Tel: 97-804219

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