Her latest work includes her leading role as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally’s “Master Class”, produced by theatre and opera director Stephen Wadsworth.

The original play was written in 1995 and concerns the 23 master classes the famous Greek opera soprano gave during the 1971-72 academic year at the Juilliard School in NY. McNally’s play was hosted on Broadway and London’s West End and received mixed reviews.

Tyne Daly has also won six Emmy Awards for her television work and the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical in “Gypsy: A Musical Fable” in 1989.

Within the context of the Pan–Macedonian Association’s efforts to prevent “negative developments”, as noted, members of the Association met – once again – with the United Nations Special Envoy to discuss Greece and FYROM negotiations on the name issue. The Special Envoy was briefed on their positions and “Skopje propaganda” against our country.

According to the association’s members, Mr. Nimetz appeared to be “particularly worried” watching videos revealing “Skopje’s irredentism”, in addition to other material submitted by the members of the Pan-Macedonian Association.

Mr. Nimetz avoided expressing any view and listened to the views of both parties, while he was also provided a resolution, approved by the “Macedonians’ Common”, a representative body for Macedonian associations in Greece and the Diaspora. The resolution states “We do not authorize any Greek politician granting our names ‘Macedonian’ and ‘Macedonia’, accepting a complex or geographical definition of the word ‘Macedonia’ in FYROM’s final name”.

Meanwhile, after successive individual meetings he had with Greece and FYROM representatives last month in New York, Mr. Nimetz had expressed his readiness to visit the region, even as soon as February, in order to intensify talks to resolve the name issue.

(Source: ANA – MPA)

President Skeadas stated, “We enter 2012 mindful of the dire economic circumstances and supreme hardships faced by our brothers and sisters in economically ravaged Greece, our ancestral homeland. We cannot and will not turn our backs to the needs of our people.”

Daily news reports document widespread poverty in Greece, where many parents can no longer afford to provide adequate food and warm winter clothing for their children, while other parents are forced to abandon their children in orphanages. People are struggling to exist with less income as unemployment continues to rise. For all too many, hope disintegrates into depression. These tragedies affect the young and the old, families, and most importantly, the children who have had their dreams and futures taken away.

National Philoptochos will provide a measured and deliberate response that addresses concrete social needs to alleviate hunger and homelessness, to strengthen family and children’s services, and to ensure that families remain united. National Philoptochos Social Worker Paulette Geanacopoulos is leading a team to identify appropriate nonprofit, non-governmental and religious organizations with which Philoptochos can partner to ensure maximum impact. Philoptochos will make every effort to ensure transparency and accountability regarding utilization of its contributions.

Philoptochos Sisters are urged to unite in love to help those in need.

Immediate aid is imperative and Chapters are asked to contribute generously to this unique appeal for the welfare of our fellow Greek Orthodox Hellenes. With the support of all members, National Philoptochos will offer life-changing and life-saving relief to help our brothers and sisters rebuild their lives at this critical time.

Donations marked ‘Welfare of the People of Greece” may be sent to:
National Philoptochos, 7 West 55th Street, New York, NY 10019.

To make online donations go to www.philoptochos.org
For more information: Christine Karavites, National Public Relations, 508.982.4276

(Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America)

Moreover, the paper underlines that a stubborn standoff is playing out this week between a nearly bankrupt Greece and the wrongheaded European partners it needs to pay its bills.

The editor of the article emphasizes that Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the main architect of Europe’s disastrous mismanagement of the euro-zone debt crisis, can keep pretending that harsher doses of fiscal austerity will restore Greece and Europe’s other troubled debtors to economic health, but the measures will likely do more harm than good.

“In a democracy, majorities can be mobilized against special interests if they can see the economic benefit to their own lives. By forcing all Greeks to suffer with no real prospects of relief, Europe is uniting the country, now beset by strikes, against further reforms”.

The Foundation is the initiative of Americans of Hellenic descent, who wish to address Greek needs regarding health and nutrition.

This February, representatives of the Foundation will be visiting Greece at their personal expense, to deliver packaged food supplies to families. The foods supplied represent the classic Mediterranean diet and will be purchased locally from Greek producers. Packaging and distribution will be performed by volunteers assisting the Foundation in its mission.

The recipients of the Hellenic-American community’s support, delivered through the Foundation, are identified through ongoing communication with persons and organizations presently engaged in charitable activities in Greece.

The Hellenic Relief Foundation Inc. is an independent entity and operates according to the laws of the State of New York. It is managed by a Board of Directors, who are members of the Hellenic-American community and do not represent the interests of any other organizations or institutions.

The work of the Foundation is the product of volunteer efforts, thus assuring that all contributions will be entirely devoted to its mission of relief.

The Board of Directors so far includes Dinos Avlonitis, Georgia Filiotis, Dr. Nicholas Mezitis , Stelios Taketzis, Demetris Tsatis Esq., Fotis Tsatis, Philip Vogiatzoglou, John Zervas, and Prokopis Zervas (additional members will be announced soon).

The Athens-based NGO aims at strengthening the relations, exchange of ideas and solidarity between the Constantinopolitan Greeks of the Diaspora and the ones still living in Istanbul. Moreover, it aims at supporting and promoting the human rights of the Greek populations in Istanbul, Gökçeada (Imvros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos), supporting the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Fener, and addressing the problems of the Greek minorities residing on Turkish grounds.

According to ANAMPA, in its announcement, the Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans committed to preserving and promoting the tradition of education, culture and philanthropy, with devotion to peace and respect to human dignity, as well as developing the right conditions to allow the Greeks of Istanbul to remain in their homeland.

Born in Brussels in 1985 to a Greek mother and a Japanese father, Mr. Inui won the 2008 European Young Concert Artists (YCA) Auditions in Leipzig at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdi. His music combines strength, energy, and virtuosity with sensitivity in his playing as an emerging international soloist and chamber musician. For this year he is expected to tour Belgium with his piano trio Carle Van Neste; and appear in concert in Germany, Belgium, and Holland.

Mr. Inui performs as a soloist with the Westmoreland (PA) and Bryan (TN) symphonies in the US, the Chamber Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan, and plays the Beethoven Concerto on tour with the Braunschweiger Staatsorchester in Germany. As the 2011 Gina Bachauer Competition Prize Winner in Athens, Mr. Inui will appear in concerts in Greece and Spain.

He has also appeared in Japan at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Casals Hall, and in Europe as concerto soloist with prestigious orchestras including the Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège in Belgium and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Thessaloniki, Greece. A favorite of pianist Martha Argerich, Mr. Inui has performed at her festivals in Buenos Aires and Llao Llao in Argentina.

Vassilis Varvaresos, from Thessaloniki (1983), is a favored performer with both audiences and the press. After one recital appearance, The Buffalo News reported that “Loud applause and shouts of praise filled the air”, and on another occasion The Washington Post called him “A young master on the rise, displaying enormous technical resources, commanding power and musicianship”.

He has toured extensively across the U.S. in recitals, while his performances in his native Greece include appearances in Megaro Hall in Athens and the Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2 with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki. He has performed numerous times on Greek State Television, as well as on television in Belgrade and Sofia.

Mr. Varvaresos has represented Greece in a special “EuroConcert” at the Museum of Modern Art in Helsinki, at the Greek Embassy in Milan, and in a performance for the U.S. Ambassador to Greece.  He has also performed in Austria, The Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. He won the First Prize at the 1998 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions at the age of 14, the youngest pianist ever to win the Auditions.

The program at the Morgan Library and Museum will feature works by Schubert, Franck, Part, and Paganini.
Tickets cost $15, and can be obtained by calling YCA at (212) 307-6656 or by going online on www.yca.org/tickets.
Members of the Morgan Library & Museum can purchase their tickets for $10. All tickets include museum admission.

Young Concert Artists (YCA) was founded by Susan Wadsworth in 1961 as a professional non-profit organization dedicated to discovering and launching the careers of exceptional but unknown young musicians from all over the world.

“The Secretary General has full confidence in his Special Adviser, Alexander Downer,” Nezirky added.

The House of Representatives decided to request that the UN chief urgently restore the impartiality and credibility of his special adviser. In a press conference during the Greentree meeting of UNSG with President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader, Downer spoke of an EU presidency to be assumed “by the Greek Cypriots,” causing criticism by Greek Cypriot parties which questioned his impartiality. Cyprus will assume the EU presidency, which rotates every six months, in July of this year.
(source: cna)

Described by The New York Times as a composer whose “music speaks simply, often combining Greek modes… with an attractive quality of ritual mystery,”  Constantinides has written over 250 compositions, several of which have been recorded for Centaur records and performed throughout the US, Europe and Asia by ensembles including the American Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra and China’s Shenzhen Symphony, among others.

Currently Boyd Professor at Louisiana State University – as well as head of Composition and Music Director of the Louisiana Sinfonietta – Constantinides brings along an array of superb faculty soloists from LSU, including pianist Michael Gurt, violinist Yova Milanova, saxophonist Griffin Campbell, percussionist Brett William Dietz, along with the LSU Percussion Group, Hamiruge.

Himself a violinist with the State Orchestra of Athens in Greece for over 10 years, as well as with the Indianapolis and Baton Rouge Symphonies, Constantinides premiered his Patterns for Violin and Piano (1989 and 2003), here performed by Yova Milanova along with the lyrical Sonata for Solo Violin No 1 (1968). Milanova is joined by Griffin Campbell on saxophone, and pianist Michael Gurt for Trio No. 3 (1998), based on a folk-like modal tune that highlights the Greek heritage of the composer.

Campbell also performs two solo works: the Zodiac-themed Celestial Musings for Alto Saxophone Alone (2010) and Transformations for Saxophone Alone (1990), inspired by events from the composer’s youth, heard here in its New York premiere. Campbell is joined by percussionist Brett William Dietz for the tone poem, Legend II for Alto Saxophone and Percussion (1988-1993).

Michael Gurt performs the charming Suite for a Young Man for Solo Piano (1980), which takes a journey through adolescence (“Proud and Solemn – First Kiss – Beginning Dancing”), illness (“Clusteritis”), and the elaborate and joyful “Cotillion”. Closing the varied program, the Hamiruge ensemble (Chris Hoefer, Daniel Heagney, Samuel Trevathan) performs the Percussion Quartet (2007), which combines twelve-tone in style and conception, colorful percussion effects, and Greek modal dance tunes.

Now in its 5th season, DCINY offers spectacular opportunities to emerging and established artists, bringing them to New York’s legendary venues. Recently, the Distinguished Concerts Artist Series has featured baritone Thomas Florio, composer David Templeton, and Diandian Wu, performing on piano and traditional Chinese instruments.

Tickets: www.carnegiehall.org or 212-247-7800 or in person at the Carnegie Hall Box Office.

Mrs. Pappas (40) is a nuclear pharmacist with a passion for mountain climbing. Her most recent achievement was climbing Mount Everest on May 13, 2011.

With this Award, Pappas is being recognized for her unique achievements and performance, while her climbing agenda does not stop at Everest.

Having already climbed Mount Kilimajaro in Africa, Elbrus in eastern Europe,Vinson in Antarctica, Denali in Alaska and Aconcagua in South America, her next trip is to Australia for the Carstensz Pyramids and then Mont Blank in France.

Pappas began climbing in 2006 and aims at conquering the tops of the highest mountains of the world.