Choir of Evangelistria

Mixed Choir

Established in 1955, the Mixed Choir of the Catholic Church of Evangelistria in Hermoupolis, Syros, has been active for 64 years. In 1967, Don Ioannis Roussos, a young vicar, arrived at the church to assume his duties. His musical learning enabled him to undertake the establishment and systematic training of the choir. In 1975, Brother Frangkiskos Varthalitis, a young Lasallian frère of the Institute of the De La Salle Brothers of the Christian Schools who taught at the institute’s Aghios Georgios School and who also had musical skills, took over the choir which, under his direction, entered a new era: its repertory was enriched with new hymns and its ranks were joined by new members. From 2000 to the present, the choir has been under the direction of Mr. Ioannis Rigoutsos, primary education music teacher. For almost 20 years, the choir has been systematically engaged in weekly rehearsals, and has a polyphonic nature comprising as many as eight voices. The choir’s repertory boasts over one hundred ecclesiastical hymns composed by both Greek and international composers. The choir’s 43 members may not all have formal musical learning but they are devoted to the Art of Music as proved by the fact that some of them have been with the choir for almost 60 years! The Mixed Choir of the Catholic Church of Evangelistria often graces with its performances many religious events, celebrations, and formal ceremonies of the local church in Syros and other islands around the Cyclades. Apart from its participation in religious events, the choir has performed in Greek as well as international festivals and has organized a number of musical events on its own. Recently, it organized and performed in two recitals dedicated to Greek-French composer Joseph (Jo) Akepsimas. The first one was held at the Apollon Theater, Syros, and the second one took place at the Lycée Léonin, Athens.