Pops goes hellenic

The Boston Pops went Hellenic last June, as the heritage and culture of Greece was celebrated at the city's Symphony Hall with the first concert in recent history that brought together several genres of contemporary Greek music in one event. At one point the entire audience cheered as the orchestra put on their Greek fisherman’s caps and Maestro Keith Lockhart amused the audience as he danced to the music. The first half of the Pops Goes Hellenic concert was dedicated to orchestral music by Greek composers. The second half was solely dedicated to international singing sensation Haris Alexiou, who performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra and a smaller group of Greek musicians who played traditional Greek instruments.

Archbishop Demetrios of America and Metropolitan Bishop Methodios of Boston, both Pops fans, as they confessed on stage - the latter a Haris Alexiou fan as well - led the list of countless dignitaries in attendance, with former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis, Senator John Kerry, Congressman John Sarbanes, Archdiocesan Council Vice President Mike Jaharis, Ambassadors Alexandros Mallias, Andreas Kakkouris and Andreas Mavroyannis among others.

Before the concert, Diane Kochilas, one of the world’s foremost authorities on Greek cuisine, took part in a special reception featuring gourmet Hellenic cuisine created from her recipes. In addition to celebrating and promoting the preservation of Greek culture, Pops Goes Hellenic served as a fundraising campaign to benefit the capital campaign of the new St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church, a Byzantine style church, in Braintree, MA. Thanks to the generosity of the sold-out crowd, the event raised approximately $1.3 million for the church.

The evening, a sold-out success, with more than 2,200 guests from around the world in attendance, was co-chaired by Cathy and George Sakellaris, and produced by Elia, a newly formed group of friends, who are dedicated to preserving and promoting Greek culture by building a stronger Greek-American community committed to working together to benefit a variety of Hellenic causes, creating a philanthropic mindset needed to support our cultural identity for future generations and educating all Americans about the richness of Greek culture.