The Second Cycle, titled “Active Pasts” and curated by distinguished conductor Markellos Chryssicos, is grounded in the belief that Early Music is not an outdated fossil but an active field of listening and reinterpretation that continues to generate new meanings even today. In this context, new commissions from Greek composers, jazz interpretations of Bach’s variations, electronic sounds, and sound and lighting design create a seamless artistic setting in which the historical material is reactivated.

The collaboration among these three musicians crafts a ritualistic soundscape that blends the Neapolitan School of the early 17^th century with contemporary experimental sound. Early Baroque Neapolitan music is regarded as highly groundbreaking to this day because its bold harmonies, extreme chromaticism, and expressive tension seem to transcend the historical limitations of its time. Distinctive works by composers such as Gesualdo, d’India, de Macque, Trabaci, and Peri are blended with sonic influences from drones, noise, and electroacoustic distortions.

The Baroque repertoire is interwoven with pieces by the musicians themselves, as well as with a new work by Panos Iliopoulos, commissioned by the GNO Alternative Stage.