Popular Greek composer and conductor, Themos Mexis, has been appointed Musical Director of the new National Metropolitan Choir of Australia.
The new choir has been formed under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and Themos was specially selected to direct it by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia.
“In March this year, I met with His Eminence and he proposed the choir idea to me and said, ‘We would like you to take it on board. Are you willing?’ and I said, ‘Yes I am able and willing, thank you for the honour’,” Themos tells The Greek Herald exclusively.
“I was absolutely over the moon. I’ve been in the music field for the last 50 years now, so it was incredible.”
Since then, with the support of Father Steven Scoutas from St Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Kingsford, Themos has been working hard to gather enough choristers to perform for the first time next year in Constantinople.
“The idea is for the first performance of the choir to be held in Constantinople next year for the 30th anniversary since the enthronement of His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew,” Themos says.
“We’re aiming for an 80-piece choir… accompanied by an 85-piece symphony orchestra. So it’s quite a large program.”
Applications to join the choir are now open online, with both males and females, 18 years of age and over, encouraged to register. All the music, originally composed by Themos himself, will be in Greek but knowledge of the language is not essential.
“Everyone who is interested in singing can apply… The only reason we’re looking for people over the age of 18 is because when travelling (for our first performance), we don’t want the responsibility of younger people. But the choir that will continue after that is open for all ages,” Themos explains.
“People also don’t have to speak Greek and they don’t have to have knowledge of music. We will do all that for them. I’ve written all the music and I’ve got all the words in Latin characters underneath, so it makes it quite easy.”
Themos has been an active composer since 1972, performing his own music in various concert halls in Australia, Cyprus, Trieste and Greece. His ‘Mexis in Concert’ also became a fixture of the Australian cultural events calendar since 1976, always drawing large audiences.
With such an impressive resume, the National Metropolitan Choir of Australia is sure to be a huge success!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Choir rehearsals have already begun in the hall of St Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Kingsford.
If you would like to attend, on Wednesday, December 16 at 6.55pm, the women altos will be rehearsing for about 40 minutes, followed by the women sopranos at 7.55pm. On Thursday, December 17 at 6.55pm, the men will rehearse, followed by the women altos again at 7.55pm.
To register for the choir, please visit: www.nmca.org.au or for further information, you can contact: Ellie Mexis on 0404 378 745 or Father Scoutas on 0417 771 113.
