The Kournos Music Festival 2025 welcomes one of the most exciting emerging European artists: Portuguese–Cape Verdean composer, arranger, and beatboxer Ari Tavares, following an artistic residency on Lemnos dedicated to the work of Mikis Theodorakis. Son of pioneering African choreographer Antonio Tavares, a close collaborator of Pina Bausch, Ari began exploring sound and musical landscapes from a young age, creating distinctive electroacoustic operas that blend beatboxing, electronic media, and vocal overtones.

In his first appearance in Greece, Ari Tavares joins forces with acclaimed composer and performer Martha Mavroeidi to offer a new musical reading of (Little) Cyclades by Mikis Theodorakis and Odysseas Elytis—one of the most playful, airy works created by these two major artists.

Their new interpretation is entirely original: crickets, constellations, the little North Wind, the poems of Lemnos exile Aris Alexandrou, the hip-hop lyricism of Saul Williams, the oud, and beatboxing—all woven into a vibrant world of poetry, political art, and imagination that converses with the timeless melodies of the cycle.

A singular moment in the Festival’s five-year journey, honouring the centenary of Mikis Theodorakis.