Despite the economic crisis, art in Greece

is booming. By 2015, new museums and cultural organisations are

scheduled to open their doors to the public, many of them privately

funded rather than state-run as in the past. As Greek classical

orchestras and opera companies find themselves in a bleak financial

situation due to government spending cuts, private funding seems to have

offered a way out. At the same time, non-traditional venues such as

Syntagma Square’s metro station and airplane flights have been used as

opera stages, in an effort to promote it to new audiences.

Yet the question of how opera, along with other elite art forms such

as classical music and theatre, can and should be made more accessible

to all is a fraught one. Some argue, for example, that the key lies in

demystifying some of opera’s difficulty by incorporating elements from

popular culture and emphasising its contemporary socio-political

relevance. Yet others warn that such an approach risks alienating

current and potential audiences who are attracted to art precisely

because it is so strange and diverts us from everyday concerns. They

argue that the opera world – especially critics - should certainly focus

their energies on inspiring and explaining opera’s virtues for the

curious, while accepting that The Ring Cycle isn’t for everyone.

Can such projects – whether privately or state funded - really be

justified when they bring little obvious benefit to most Greeks,

especially in a period of economic crisis? What emphasis should

performers and critics place on making opera more accessible versus

making judgments on purely artistic grounds? Does opera, or any other

‘difficult’ art form, by definition need to be held to different

standards of accessibility than popular culture?

Speakers

Dr Eugenia Arsenis

director; dramaturg, Center for Contemporary Opera, New York

Dolan Cummings

associate fellow, Institute of Ideas; editor, Debating Humanism; co-founder, Manifesto Club

Dr Nikos Dontas

head, Dramaturgy Department, Greek National Opera; music critic, Kathimerini

Dimitrios Kiousopoulos

historian; columnist, Eleftherotypia

Ioannis Tselikas

assistant professor, Hellenic American University; music editor and performer

Chair

Alan Miller

co-director, NY Salon; co-founder, London's Truman Brewery; partner, Argosy Pictures Film Company

Produced by

Geoff Kidder director, membership and events, Institute of Ideas; convenor, IoI Book Club; IoI’s resident expert in all sporting matters

Ira Papadopoulou director of cultural affairs, Hellenic American Union

Dr Nikos Sotirakopoulos assistant lecturer in sociology, University of Kent