Mikis Theodorakis: A Celebration of Greek Poetry and Song

A special thanks to our generous sponsor, the Hellenic Heritage Foundation, for helping make this event happen.

Born in 1925 on the Greek island of Chios, Mikis Theodorakis studied at the Athens Conservatory in the 1940s and conducted his first concert at the age of seventeen. On Thursday, September 2, 2021, the world renowned Greek composer and political activist died in Athens at age 96 of cardiopulmonary arrest. To honour his legacy, 2025 has been named by the Greek Ministry of Culture as The Year of Mikis Theodorakis.

As one of the most important and internationally recognized figures in Greek culture, Theodorakis was the first composer to set poetry to music with Yannis Ritsos' "Epitaph" in 1960. He composed the music for several well-known films including "Zorba the Greek" (1964), "Z" (1968), and "Serpico" (1973). In addition to symphonies, operas, ballets and over 1000 songs, both popular and political, his work reflected both the tragedy and triumph of our common humanity. His "Mauthausen Trilogy" is based on poems by Iakovos Kambanellis, a Mauthausen concentration camp survivor, which explores the horrors of the camp and the love story of a Greek prisoner and his Jewish love. He also composed the music for the Palestinian national anthem, "Fida'i," written by Said Al Muzayin.

Theodorakis was also known for his political activism and association with the Greek Left for most of his life. He was imprisoned, tortured and exiled multiple times, first during World War II, as a resistance fighter, again during the brutal Greek civil war of the 1950s, and then again in the 1960s, when he was already internationally famous, by a military junta which banned his music. While in exile in Paris, France, Theodorakis composed Canto General (1972), based on the poems by Pablo Neruda. After the fall of the dictatorship, he returned to Greece and performed two historic concerts in October 1974 at the Karaiskaki Stadium, in Piraeus, when the people could once again sing freely.

To honour the centenary of his birth, the Hellenic Canadian Academic Association and Echo Reading Series will be hosting the 4th annual Celebration of Poetry and Song which will highlight the work of Mikis Theodorakis and some of his fellow poet collaborators. As always, after our prepared program, there will be an open mic session for budding poets to share their work or for poetry lovers to read one of their favourites.