Eight-year-old Greek piano prodigy lights up Temple of Olympian Zeus

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Eight-year-old Greek piano prodigy Stelios Kerasidis has dazzled guests once again, this time in front of Athenians at Temple of Olympian Zeus in celebration of Greece taking over presidency of the Council of Europe.

The piano wonder child started performing in public at the age of five. At age six, he became the youngest Greek musician to perform a Chopin waltz at Carnegie Hall.

The talented performer then penned an “isolation waltz” inspired by the coronavirus pandemic. The composition is a moving piece of music dedicated to all the people who continue to suffer across the world from the disease, as well as those who are forced to stay at home in isolation.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis congratulated Kerasidis for his performance.

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Wednesday evening addressed the event inaugurating Greece’s presidency of the Council of Europe at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens.

The president hailed a “special opportunity” for a country that suffered during the economic crisis and came through due to the sacrifices of its people as well as its membership of the European Union.

Photo: Greek Reporter

Greece has since become “an international example for managing a health crisis,” Sakellaropoulou added, referring to the country’s relative success to date in containing the spread of the coronavirus. 

The event was opened by Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, who is the chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Following the ceremony, the Temple of Olympian Zeus was illuminated red, marking Greece’s take over of the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

The ancient temple of Zeus is illuminated with red light in front of the ancient Acropolis hill during a ceremony in Athens tonight to mark Greece taking over the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. @apnews/@PGiannakouris

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