Chania Chamber Music Festival returns for its 14th edition with “Dialogues Through Time”

From 23 August to 4 September, the Chania Chamber Music Festival returns for its 14th edition, once again bringing together internationally acclaimed musicians in Chania and Heraklion, Crete. Under the theme “Dialogues Through Time”, this year’s programme explores the enduring conversation between musical eras, styles and artistic voices, revealing how works written centuries apart continue to speak to one another.

At the heart of the festival lies the very essence of chamber music: the encounter of individual voices that coexist, challenge, complement and ultimately unite into a shared artistic expression. This philosophy shapes every concert, pairing masterpieces of the Classical and Romantic repertoire with works from the 20th and 21st centuries to illuminate the invisible threads that connect different periods of music history.

The 2026 programme spans more than two centuries of composition, featuring landmark works by Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Brahms, alongside music by major 20th-century composers including George Enescu, Béla Bartók, Francis Poulenc, Bohuslav Martinů, Zoltán Kodály, Dmitri Shostakovich and Nikos Skalkottas, as well as contemporary Finnish composer Olli Mustonen.

As every year, the festival brings together an exceptional community of musicians whose relationships extend beyond the concert stage through long-standing artistic collaborations and friendships. The 14th edition also welcomes distinguished artists making their festival debut, including Italian pianist Enrico Pace and violinist Veriko Tchumburidze, winner of the 2016 Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition.

They are joined by an outstanding roster of performers including Roman Simović, Josef Špaček, Noe Inui, Alexei Volodin, Marc Sabbah, Milena Simović, David Bogorad, Angelos Liakakis, Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin, Ella van Poucke and many other internationally recognised soloists and chamber musicians.

One of this year’s highlights is violinist Giorgos Demertzis, one of the festival’s long-standing artistic pillars and one of Greece’s most respected interpreters of contemporary repertoire. His performance of Nikos Skalkottas’ Sonata for Solo Violin pays tribute to the unique artistic dialogue between performer and composer, a connection rooted not only in Demertzis’ celebrated interpretations and recordings but also in their shared hometown of Chalkida.

The festival’s five main concerts will take place at the Minoa Palace Resort Conference Centre, while the opening programme will also be presented as an avant-première in Heraklion on 23 August, at the Manos Hadjidakis Garden Theatre.

The closing concerts, on 3 and 4 September, will be held at the Ancient Theatre of Aptera as part of the Crete Festival. Presented with free admission through ticket reservation, these performances place chamber music within one of Crete’s most evocative archaeological settings, creating a dialogue between music, landscape and history.

Fourteen years after its founding, the Chania Chamber Music Festival continues to pursue its original vision: creating meaningful encounters between outstanding performers, timeless repertoire and audiences seeking deeper listening experiences. This year’s “Dialogues Through Time” celebrates the idea that great music may evolve through changing languages, forms and aesthetics, yet never loses the human truth that keeps it alive across generations.

Expanding its social mission beyond the concert hall, the festival will also introduce, for the first time, a programme of community outreach activities. Members of the Athens State Orchestra Wind Quintet will present performances in social institutions and community organisations, reinforcing music as an act of participation, inclusion and cultural accessibility, while bringing live performance to audiences who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience it.

Programme

Sunday, 23 August | Manos Hadjidakis Garden Theatre, Heraklion | 9:00 pm

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
String Trio in G major, Op. 9 No. 1 (1797–1798)
Noe Inui – violin
David Bogorad – viola
Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin – cello

George Enescu (1881–1955)
Octet for Strings in C major, Op. 7 (1900)
Roman Simović – violin
Josef Špaček – violin
Noe Inui – violin
Evangelia Koutsodimou – violin
David Bogorad – viola
Ioannis Mageiropoulos – viola
Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin – cello
Angelos Liakakis – cello

---

Monday, 24 August | Minoa Palace, Chania | 9:00 pm

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Trio in G major, Op. 9 No. 1

Noe Inui – violin
David Bogorad – viola
Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin – cello

George Enescu
Octet for Strings in C major, Op. 7

Roman Simović – violin
Josef Špaček – violin
Noe Inui – violin
Evangelia Koutsodimou – violin
David Bogorad – viola
Ioannis Mageiropoulos – viola
Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin – cello
Angelos Liakakis – cello

---

Wednesday, 26 August | Minoa Palace, Chania | 9:00 pm

Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
From Années de pèlerinage, Première Année: Suisse, S.160
No. 6 Vallée d’Obermann (1855)

Enrico Pace – piano

Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959)
Piano Trio No. 2 in D minor, H.327 (1950)

Enrico Pace – piano
Josef Špaček – violin
Angelos Liakakis – cello

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 87 (1845)

Josef Špaček – violin
Roman Simović – violin
Milena Simović – viola
David Bogorad – viola
Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin – cello

---

Friday, 28 August | Minoa Palace, Chania | 9:00 pm

Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)
Sextet for Piano and Winds (1932–1939)

Athens State Orchestra Wind Quintet
Vangelis Stathoulopoulos – flute
Christina Pantelidou – oboe
Spyros Mourikis – clarinet
Odysseas Bassios – bassoon
Grigoris Asonitis – horn

Alexei Volodin – piano

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
String Quintet in C major, D.956 (1828)

Roman Simović – violin
Noe Inui – violin
Milena Simović – viola
Angelos Liakakis – cello
Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin – cello

---

Sunday, 30 August | Minoa Palace, Chania | 9:00 pm

Béla Bartók (1881–1945)
Contrasts for Clarinet, Violin and Piano, Sz.111 (1938)

Spyros Mourikis – clarinet
Enrico Pace – piano
Veriko Tchumburidze – violin

Olli Mustonen (b. 1967)
Nonet No. 2 (2000)

Noe Inui – violin
David Bogorad – violin
Veriko Tchumburidze – violin
Evangelia Koutsodimou – violin
Marc Sabbah – viola
Milena Simović – viola
Angelos Liakakis – cello
Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin – cello
Konstantinos Sifakis – double bass

Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826)
Clarinet Quintet in B-flat major, Op. 34 (1815)

Spyros Mourikis – clarinet
Veriko Tchumburidze – violin
Evangelia Koutsodimou – violin
Milena Simović – viola
Ella van Poucke – cello

---

Monday, 31 August | Minoa Palace, Chania | 9:00 pm

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67 (1944)

Veriko Tchumburidze – violin
Ella van Poucke – cello

Alexei Volodin – piano

Nikolai Medtner (1880–1951)
Sonata-Reminiscenza, Op. 38 No. 1 (1922)

Alexei Volodin – piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
String Quintet in D major, K.614 (1791)

Josef Špaček – violin
Noe Inui – violin
Milena Simović – viola
Marc Sabbah – viola
Angelos Liakakis – cello

---

Thursday, 3 September & Friday, 4 September | Ancient Theatre of Aptera, Chania | 9:00 pm

Nikos Skalkottas (1904–1949)
Sonata for Solo Violin (1925)

George Demertzis – violin

Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967)
Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 (1914)

Veriko Tchumburidze – violin
Ella van Poucke – cello

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111 (1890)

Veriko Tchumburidze – violin
Josef Špaček – violin
Marc Sabbah – viola
David Bogorad – viola
Ella van Poucke – cello