Beethoven and his Legacy: Schubert, Kuhlau and Tsontakis A Virtual Concert | YouTube:October 29, 2020
We estimate more than 700 people, and counting, have viewed this mesmerizing performance. The event was reviewed by The National Herald.
Pianist Maria Asteriadou and violinist Kurt Nikkanen returned to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. Accompanied by Grammy-nominated flutist, Carol Wincenc, the concert live-streamed chamber music works by Beethoven, Schubert, Kuhlau, and Tsontakis from Schaeffer Auditorium at Kutztown University.
The program explored the profound influence Beethoven’s work has had on subsequent generations of composers. Franz Schubert was a passionate devotee of Beethoven, Friedrich Kuhlau was known as the “Beethoven of the Flute,” and Musical America has described Greek-American composer George Tsontakis’ String Quartet No. 4 as “containing a reflective emotional power reminiscent of Beethoven’s late quartets.”
Heralded by The New York Times as “an artist with intense personality, virtuosic flair, unusual poise and intimate contact with style,” Greek pianist Maria Asteriadou is an acclaimed soloist and chamber musician. Kurt Nikkanen made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of twelve, and is Concertmaster of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and an international soloist of the highest order. Hailed "Queen of the flute" by New York Magazine, Carol Wincenc has performed in countless venues worldwide and won numerous awards.
A video of the event is available, free of charge, on our website.
The Battle of Salamis:The Naval Encounter that Saved Greece and Western Civilization A Virtual Seminar | Zoom:September 16, 2020
We were pleased to have over 200 participants join us for this stimulating discussion.
Professor Barry Strauss told the gripping story of when, in September 480 BC, Greek warships faced an invading Persian armada in the narrow Salamis Straits in one of history's most important naval battles. Outnumbered, the Greeks triumphed through a combination of stratagem and courage. The Greek victory at Salamis remains one of the most tactically brilliant battles ever fought – halting the advance of the Persian Empire and setting the stage for the Golden Age of Athens by saving the first democracy in history. Named one of the best books of 2004 by the Washington Post, his book, The Battle of Salamis, is “a military epic of the first order” (Boston Globe).
Dr. Barry Strauss, Bryce & Edith M. Bowmar Professor in Humanistic Studies at Cornell University, is a military historian with a focus on ancient Greece and Rome. His books have been translated into sixteen languages. Masters of Command, was named one of the best books of 2012 by Bloomberg, and his latest book, Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine (Simon & Schuster, 2019) has been hailed as “superb summation of four centuries of Roman history, a masterpiece of compression,” (The Wall Street Journal). His podcast, Antiquitas: Leaders and Legends of the Ancient World, is available on iTunes, Google Play, and other platforms.
In 2019-20 he was Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School. He holds the Clark Award for Distinguished Teaching from Cornell University, and has been awarded numerous fellowships and residencies. In recognition of his scholarship, he was named an Honorary Citizen of Salamis, Greece.
A video of the event is available, free of charge, on our website.
We had over 200 participants in what we anticipate will be the first in a series of virtual events. The event was reviewed by The National Herald.
How Byzantine Civilization Influenced Modern-day Culture A Virtual Seminar | Zoom:June 18, 2020
We were pleased to have Professor Maria Mavroudi join usfor our first virtual event.
Scholars from the 19th and 20th centuries assigned Byzantium a marginal role in the development of world civilization, one limited to the preservation of "classical" Greek texts. However, during the last two or three decades, new interpretations of Byzantine civilization have begun to challenge this view. Professor Mavroudi's presentation focused on Byzantium's economy and monetary system, its art and its literature, in order to explain the global importance of Byzantine civilization.
Professor Mavroudi was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and studied Philology before earning a Ph.D. in Byzantine studies at Harvard. Professor Mavroudi's work was recognized with a MacArthur fellowship in 2002. She is a Professor of Byzantine History and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley.
A video of the event is available, free of charge, on our website.
