The opening event of GRis Festival 2026 marks the official launch of the festival and presents the multifaceted program of this year’s edition, which begins its cultural journey in Athens, continues in London and Berlin, and returns to Athens, highlighting contemporary Greek culture through an international network of artistic and academic collaborations.

The event will open with official greetings and a presentation of the goals and philosophy of GRis Festival 2026, with keynote speakers Andreas N. Michalopoulos, Professor of Latin Philology in the Department of Philology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and Clio Fanouraki, Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, who will highlight the importance of connecting academic knowledge with contemporary artistic creation and intercultural dialogue.

The evening will conclude with a piano recital by the multi-award-winning pianist Evelina Antemisari, a scholarship student of Piano and Composition at the Royal College of Music in London, who will present a program combining works by Chopin, Debussy, and Khachaturian with her own original compositions, highlighting the creative encounter between the classical music tradition and contemporary Greek musical creation.