“The idea of Minoa Palace Chamber Music Festival first emerged during the summer of 2011 in Crete. In a discussion with my teacher Georgios Demertzis, the founder and 1st violinist of the New Hellenic Quartet, we realized we had a mutual inspiration; that of our true love for the great classical music. On the other hand, Crete as a crossroad of cultures, a destination of unique, natural beauty and vast history and tradition, has always radiated energy and inspiration. Minoa Palace Resort would become the most fertile ground for the idea to come to life.
The first concert took place in September 2012 in the ‘Imperial’ hall of the hotel, were Vassilis Varvaresos, George Demertzis and Angelos Liakakis, the original members that support the festival until today, first performed. Since then, Minoa Palace Resort, as the resident venue, has been a center of art for Western Crete. Young, talented and ambitious artists meet here every year and inspire local and international audiences with their creative power and inspiration.

Each year, the festival bids farewell to the cosmopolitan summer and welcomes autumn in the most artistic way: high quality performances highlight composers from the Baroque era to the 21st century, offering the audience 2 weeks of intense musical excitement. In its 11 years, 34 concerts have been held in total, attracting more than 5.000 music lovers from Greece and abroad.

Our vision is to keep sharing the inner meaning of art with our audience, in one of the most extraordinary destinations, Crete”

George Mathioulakis