Digging-Sea

As part of the Kournos Music Festival, UK-based composer Ioannis Panagiotou presents Digging-Sea, a new composition for tenor, accordion, percussion, and electronics. This year’s festival explores collective memory on Lemnos through the centenary of the discovery of ancient Hephaestia, the island’s largest and oldest city. Excavated from 1926 until 1936, the archaeological site became the focus of a major archaeological campaign that was brought to an abrupt end when the Italian Fascist government suspended the excavations because of the Jewish origins of archaeologist Alessandro Della Seta. This history forms the context for this year’s festival theme.

Digging-Sea is a 35-minute music theatre work for children and teenagers, presented at the archaeological site before sunset. The libretto is by Greek-French writer, actor, and director Orphée de Corbière-Kalessis. Before each performance, an in-situ educational program for young children will be delivered at the archaeological site in collaboration with the local Ephorate of Antiquities.

The production of Digging-Sea is supported by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Further information:
kournosmusicfestival.com

Dates

August 7 & 8, 2026
Lemnos island, Hephestia