The University of Kentucky School of Music collaborated with Ionian University in Corfu, Greece, to put together a free concert open to the public.

“Global Gala: A Concert Collaboration,” was held on Monday, March 18 in the Singletary Recital Hall. Faculty from both the UK School of Music and Ionian University performed a variety of pieces together.

“Music is a language which we all speak, it brings the community of Kentucky and Ionian University together,” Anastasia Siopsi, Aesthetics of Music professor and director of the music department at Ionian University, said. 

Siopsi credited Jason Dovel, associate professor of trumpet at UK, with starting the relationship between the two universities.

“He gave the first concert after the pandemic ended in Ionian Academy,” Siopsi said. “In Corfu, there is a long tradition with bands, parades in Corfu it’s a tradition in the Ionian islands and he liked this tradition.”

Siopsi said she and other faculty from the music department were invited to UK to perform a concert after a similar visit from Dovel and other UK faculty members.

“When I went to Corfu, it was actually my fourth time in Greece,” Dovel said. “I actually went to Greece as a college student many years ago.”

Dovel was connected to Ionian University through someone he met during his previous trips to Greece who knew one of the Ionian University faculty members who was at the concert.

Dovel went to Ionian University on sabbatical in 2021, which led him to apply for UKinSPIRE, a grant aimed at creating bilateral relationships between UK and the international community. 

“I went specifically to Corfu number one because it’s a Mediterranean island, which is a nice place to go, but also because they have one of the largest music programs in Greece,” Dovel said. “Their music department is about twice the size of UK’s.”

The grant allowed him to travel to Corfu with eight other UK faculty members in October 2023. They also performed a concert at Ionian University and ran workshops and classes at the university.

Elizabeth Arnold, a voice professor in the School of Music and associate dean in the College of Fine Arts, was a soprano in the concert and one of the faculty members who went with Dovel to Corfu.

“It was a phenomenal time in Corfu, we felt like we had met friends from long ago as if we’d always known each other,” Arnold said. “I think that’s why the energy of the concert tonight was so good.”

The Ionian University faculty arrived on campus Saturday, March 16 and will be teaching masterclasses and lessons at UK all week.

Dovel said his long-term goal is to establish student exchanges between the universities.

“If we go again next year we’d take students, and if they come here they can take students, so eventually Greek students will matriculate to UK and American students will go to Ionian University,” Dovel said.

Siopsi said she was very certain about further collaboration between UK and Ionian University.

“I don’t just hope, I know that they will,” Siopsi said. “We have long discussions, we are all determined to keep this going not just for the staff but for the students also.”

Dovel has plans to take UK students to Corfu in June to play a concert and take classes. He said he has written a piece for the visit with arrangements of traditional Corfu folk songs.