Promotional Activity
Evangelia Eliadou, Executive Director of Pafilia, and Massimo Giordano, internationally acclaimed Italian tenor, Artistic Director of the Minthis Music Festival and Co-Founder of LaimTee Art, discuss the vision behind Minthis Music Festival 2026, its exceptional artistic programme and its evolution into one of Cyprus’ most refined cultural experiences.
Q: The Minthis Music Festival returns in 2026 with an even more ambitious programme. What does this year’s edition represent for Minthis?
Evangelia Eliadou:
Minthis Music Festival represents a defining expression of the Minthis experience. It brings together music, nature, culture and refined hospitality in a setting with a very distinct sense of place.
For 2026, we have prepared a five-night programme that reflects the growing ambition and international character of the festival. From 8 to 12 July, the Minthis Amphitheatre will welcome internationally acclaimed artists, award-winning performers and outstanding ensembles, surrounded by the natural beauty of the Paphos wine-producing region.
For Minthis, this festival is not simply an event. It is part of the destination’s wider lifestyle offering, a moment where guests can experience the atmosphere and the understated elegance of the resort through music. It reflects our belief that true luxury lies in emotional connection, memorable moments and experiences that remain with people long after they leave.
Q: Massimo, as Art Director of the Minthis Music Festival, Co-Founder of LaimTee Art and an artist yourself, what have you prepared for the 2026 programme?
Massimo Giordano:
For 2026, we have curated a programme of exceptional artistic quality, emotional depth and international resonance. Each of the five evenings has its own identity, atmosphere and artistic character.
As an artist myself, I approach the festival with great sensitivity to what happens on stage: the presence, emotion, timing and connection between the artist and the audience. At Minthis, this relationship becomes even stronger because the setting itself is so powerful.
Having performed at many of the world’s leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera House and La Scala, I wanted to bring that same level of artistic excellence and international perspective to Minthis.
This year, audiences will experience internationally acclaimed artists, including Sony Music artists, performing across different musical worlds, from cinematic contemporary composition and Chopin’s timeless piano language to innovative chamber music, operatic grandeur and sophisticated jazz.
Our ambition was to create a festival that feels refined, international and deeply emotional. Every artist and every evening has been chosen with purpose, transforming the programme into a journey of discovery, feeling and artistic excellence.
Q: What makes the Minthis Music Festival such a special experience for guests?
Evangelia Eliadou:
Guests do not simply arrive for a concert. They arrive at Minthis, in the heart of the Paphos wine region. They experience the calmness of the resort, the beauty of the surrounding hills, the elegance of the Amphitheatre and the anticipation of an evening beneath the summer sky.
This is what gives the festival its soul. It is not only about the performance itself, but about the location and the entire experience of the evening. The arrival, the landscape, the hospitality, the atmosphere and the music all come together to create something deeply memorable.
The Amphitheatre itself becomes part of the performance. The natural surroundings, the light, the views and the open sky create a setting that interacts with the music, making every concert feel immersive, intimate and impossible to replicate elsewhere.
Q: This year’s programme unfolds over five evenings from 8 to 12 July. What will audiences experience?
Massimo Giordano:
Audiences will experience five extraordinary evenings, each carefully prepared to offer a different artistic world.
We open on 8 July with composer and pianist Florian Christl and his ensemble, joined by acclaimed violinist Niklas Liepe. This opening night will bring a cinematic and deeply atmospheric sound to Minthis, creating an emotional beginning full of elegance, intensity and expressive beauty.
On 9 July, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason presents a recital dedicated to Chopin. Chopin requires not only technique, but poetry, maturity and emotional intelligence. Jeneba brings all of this with remarkable sensitivity, making this evening one of intimacy, refinement and timeless beauty.
On 10 July, the Vision String Quartet brings a completely different energy. They are bold, innovative and virtuosic, with an approach that bridges classical tradition and contemporary expression. Their performance will bring freshness, intensity and a modern spirit to the festival.
On 11 July, we welcome internationally celebrated bass Günther Groissböck, accompanied by La Scala pianist Nelson Calzi. This will be an evening of operatic depth, dramatic presence and extraordinary vocal power. To bring an artist of this calibre to the Minthis Amphitheatre is a major moment for the festival.
The festival concludes on 12 July with Claire Martin and her ensemble. Claire Martin is one of the most celebrated voices in British jazz, and her performance will offer a sophisticated, warm and uplifting finale. It will close the festival with elegance, rhythm and a beautiful sense of celebration beneath the summer sky.
Q: How does the festival reflect the wider vision of Pafilia and Minthis?
Evangelia Eliadou:
Minthis was created as a destination where people can experience a more meaningful way of living. It brings together architecture, hospitality, wellness, gastronomy, golf, nature and culture in one place, always with respect for the landscape and the spirit of the location.
The Music Festival is a natural extension of that vision. It adds a cultural dimension to the Minthis lifestyle and gives residents, guests and visitors the opportunity to experience the resort through music and shared moments.
As the festival continues to grow, partnerships become increasingly important in helping us enhance the experience and expand its international reach. We are extremely pleased to have Porsche Cyprus, as the festival’s main sponsor for 2026. Their commitment to excellence, innovation and exceptional experiences aligns naturally with the values of Minthis and the vision behind the festival. Partnerships such as this play an important role in supporting the continued growth of the festival and in helping us deliver a world-class cultural experience for audiences from Cyprus and abroad.
At Pafilia, we believe that places of lasting value are not defined only by architecture or design. They are defined by the experiences they create. Through the festival, Minthis becomes a meeting point for international artists, cultural patrons and audiences from Cyprus and abroad.
Q: The festival began in 2024 as “Music Under the Stars”. How has it evolved?
Evangelia Eliadou:
The festival’s evolution has been very natural. What began in 2024 as “Music Under the Stars”, an intimate series of two musical evenings, reflected something very authentic to Minthis: world class music beneath the open sky, surrounded by nature, in a setting of quiet elegance.
The response from audiences showed us that this experience had the potential to grow. In 2025, the festival expanded into a five-night celebration of world-class artistry. Now, in 2026, we have prepared an even more ambitious edition, with an exceptional international programme.
What is important is that the festival has grown without losing its essence. It remains atmospheric, refined and deeply rooted in Minthis. Its scale has increased, but the feeling remains the same: music, nature, hospitality and a powerful sense of place.
Q: Massimo, how did you choose the artists for this year’s festival?
Massimo Giordano:
The selection was guided by artistic excellence, emotional impact and the identity of the festival. We wanted artists who bring not only technical brilliance, but also personality, presence and emotional authenticity.
Each evening of the 2026 programme offers something distinct. Some performances bring poetry and intimacy; others bring virtuosity, drama, energy or sophistication. Together, they create a programme that feels rich, balanced and emotionally varied.
Minthis has a very refined atmosphere, so the programme had to respect the place. The music should not overpower the setting. It should elevate it.
Q: How important is the collaboration between Pafilia and LaimTee Art?
Massimo Giordano:
What makes this collaboration special is the understanding behind it. From the beginning, we shared the same desire: to create something with artistic depth, emotional truth and lasting value.
Together, we have shaped an experience built on mutual respect and common values; a festival that speaks through music, but remains with people through emotion.
Q: Finally, what is the long-term vision for the Minthis Music Festival?
Evangelia Eliadou:
Our vision is for the Minthis Music Festival to continue growing while preserving everything that makes it so special today.
The music, the atmosphere, the anticipation of the evening and the emotions created beneath the summer sky come together to form memories that stay with people long after the festival ends.
At the same time, we want the festival to play an important role in establishing Cyprus as a destination for high-level cultural events, attracting audiences and visitors from overseas who travel not only for the performances, but for the complete experience that Minthis offers.
As it evolves, we want it to remain authentic to the spirit of Minthis, while continuing to welcome exceptional artists and audiences from around the world. More than anything, we hope it continues to create moments that people return for, year after year.
Massimo Giordano:
For me, the vision is to continue building something that resonates long after the final note has faded.
A festival becomes meaningful when it creates a lasting connection with its audience; when people remember not only what they heard, but what they felt. That is what we are creating at Minthis.
We are also creating something quite unique for Cyprus: an international festival of the highest artistic quality that becomes an established part of the cultural calendar. My hope is that, over time, it becomes an event that audiences actively look forward to each year, planning their travels around it because of the experience it offers.
We want every edition to add another chapter to that story, strengthening a tradition built on artistic excellence, emotion and unforgettable experiences. On 8 July, we look forward to opening this five-evening journey and welcoming audiences into a festival shaped by music, feeling and the promise of moments that will stay with them.
