For the third year, the island of the Knights will be flooded with jazz tunes, as part of the Rhodes & South Aegean International Jazz Festival, the great celebration that proves that music can only unite people. The initiator of this initiative and artistic director of the festival is Dimitris Vasilakis, an internationally renowned saxophonist, composer and educational researcher.
The event is organized by the Municipality of Rhodes / DOPAR, the South Aegean Region and the Jazz Democracy AMKE, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Athens University, but also with the support of the Norwegian Embassy and the companies AEGEAN and Blue Star Ferries.
Its international character is reflected in the participation of Greek and foreign artists, as well as the good cooperation with the twinned Bodrum & Ankara Jazz Festivals that take place in Turkey. An action that proves that a universal world music language, such as jazz, can contribute to friendship, cooperation and the strengthening of peoples’ relations as – especially with our neighbors – it is important to create together in fields of art and culture that unite us.
SAVE THE DATE
August 30 and 31 at the Palace of the Knights of Rhodes
A few words about the history of the festival
The Rhodes & South Aegean International Jazz Festival made its appearance for the first time in 2015, with Greek and international participations. Three years later, in 2018 the Jazz Democracy AMKE, President and Founder of which is Dimitris Vasilakis, organized with great success in New York, at the invitation of the Permanent Representation of Greece to the UN, the international “Jazz Democracy forum at the United Nations ”. A large international forum with leading participants of the international jazz scene, but also with people of spirit, science and art, under the auspices of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Culture, Tourism, EOT and Athens University, which led to the multidisciplinary and multicultural upgrade of Rhodes & South Aegean International Jazz Festival. This was followed by very successful events on the island of Rhodes, with international promotion and culmination of twinning, in 2019, with the Bodrum & Ankara Jazz Festival.
The aim of this year’s event, which has free admission for the public, is to host musicians of recognized value from Greece and abroad, but also to give way to new talents from Rhodes and the Aegean.
Through the festival network, and the many parallel activities, it will be possible to promote the research work and the artistic creation of the students of the Music Department of EKPA, which already has more than 30 postgraduates in the field of jazz.
SCHEDULE
30 August
- Maria-Christina Harper – Georgina Jackson
“Women in Jazz” (UK/Greece)
https://mariachristinaharper.com
https://www.georginajackson.net
- Evrim Demirel & Stanpolites (virtual presentation)
(Turkey/Germany/Italy)
evrimdemirel.com
- Human Touch (Greece)
https://humantouchtheband.weebly.com/
31 August
Espen Berg Trio with Dimitrios Vassilakis (Norway/Greece)
https://www.redwoodentertainment.com/dimitri-vassilakis
- Jean Toussaint (USA/Greece)
https://jeantoussaint.com/#/
with the Greek “jazz masters” trio:
ΒVasilis Podaras, Dinos Manos, Dimitris Verdinoglou
Find in detail the program of the festival, as well as all its parallel actions on its official page: https://www.rhodes-international-jazz-festival.com/
As part of the twinning with the Turkish festival, the online Bodrum Jazz Festival will be held from September 1-11 (www.bodrumjazzfest.org).
