Argjiro NGO in collaboration with the Greek Embassy in Tirana and the Municipality of Tirana are organizing the "Nina Cello Duo" concert in the framework of the XIV edition of “Musical Encounters Between the Two Worlds” in the auspices of Hellenic Park in the Farka lake on the 29 September 2021. A special event where the classical music meets the greek poetry.  The aim to intertwine the classical and contemporary music with different genres remain the leitmotiv of the Festival.   

Vangjel Nina a well known cellist, working and living in Athens. From 1986 to 1992 he served as principal cellist at the Opera Orchestra in Tirana, and as a cello and chamber music teacher at the University of Arts in Tirana. He moved to Greece in 1992 and held the position of principal cellist with the Orchestra of Colours for 20 years. He also served as principal cellist with the Greek National Opera Orchestra from 2006 to 2008. He has performed in most European countries, Canada and the United States. Since 2013 he has been principal cellist with the Athens Academica Orchestra, and since 2014 has taught at Athens Conservatoire. He plays a cello by an anonymous maker from the 19th century.  

Fernando Nina, 32 years old, currently working in Bonn, Germany, has won more than a dozen prizes at international music competitions and has been an Onassis Foundation scholar since 2012. He was trained at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.  

He shared stage performances with eminent orchestras and artists such as Johannes Moser, Schuman Quartet, Symphoniacs, Sternal Symphonic Society feat. Palbo Held Trio, Moravian Philarmonic Orchestra, Theassaloniki State Symphony Orchestra to name a few. In testament to the diversity of his work, he has created soundtracks for TV shows and films for major broadcasting platforms.  

Vangjel Nina and his son Fernando Nina will perform for the public a rich repertory of classical music and contemporary artists: Vivaldi, Romberg, Haxhidhakis, Leocakos, Gurzi,  Sollima, Nina, Morricone and Limoz Dizdari.  

"Music is the language of emotions," used to say Emanuel Kant, and it is precisely the emotions of classical music performed by the Duo Nina will be added to the Greek poetry.  

The sounds of classical music will be blended with Greek poesies interpreted by the well known actress Ema Andrea.  

The Greek poetry will be selected from the Anthology of Contemporary Greek Poetry, a bilingual publication, that gathers some of the most important and most disturbed voices of our epoch. The largest number of the poets that compose this publication are young in age, but in a visible way they carry into their shoulders the heavy tradition of the Greek literature. They live with the interior and exterior human pursuit, contributing, in this way, into the post-modern poetry of the period after the political changeover of Greece, from the ‘70ies and after. The thematic centers where the poets of this anthology move is the communication with the ancestors, self-knowledge, the unrequited love, nostalgy for the abandoned fatherland, social identity, while plenty of stylistic expressions are used, as self-sarcasm, recycling of the mythic images, the critic against history, etc. The Anthology was prepared and translated by Sokol Çunga and the publication was done by the publishing house Berk on June 2021.

“Nina Cello Duo and poetry” is the last concert of the Musical Encounters for this year. The Festival started in August in the Castle of Gjirokastra with the concert of Giannis Karalis and the photo exhibition in the Gjirokastra Museum of Marubi of the Dropoli, Georges Vassos from Sotira. The events of the Festival for its XIV edition were organized in partnership with The Greek Embassy in Tirana and the General Greek Consulate of Gjirokastra.  

The Musical Encounters Between the Two Worlds, an initiative of Argjiro NGO since fourteen years continues to contribute to the promotion of the Albanian cultural heritage and build bridges of dialogue and cultural exchanges among artists and countries.