Past Event – March 26th, 2013
The Officers and Directors of the Association of Greek American Professional Women
In the Presence of The Consul General of Greece, Hon. Georgios Iliopoulos
And The Consul General of Cyprus, Hon. Koula Sophianou
Cordially invite you to our 2013
Women’s History Month Celebration
and signature
“Greek American Woman of the Year” Award in Honor of
Assemblymember Aravella Simotas
An Excellence Tuition Scholarship will be Presented
in Honor of Assemblymember Simotas
Please join us in celebrating the life and work of our beloved and charismatic young leader Ms. Aravella Simotas, and the contributions of Greek American women to our country and community.
An Excellence Tuition Scholarship of $3,000 will be awarded in honor of Assemblymember Simotas to our 2013 winner, Ms. Vaia Trittas of New York University.
Presentation by Dr. Aphrodite Désirée Navab, Vice President of AGAPW: “The Significance of Women’s History Month.”
Vocalist Flora Kirou performs “Ths Agapis Aemata” (Love’s Blood) from “Axion Estin” by Mikis Theodorakis and Odysseas Elytis; “T’Asteri tou Voria” (“Northern Star”) by Manos Hatzidakis and Nikos Gatsos; “You Never Walk Alone” from “Carousel” by Rodgers & Hammerstein; “Climb Every Mountain” from “The Sound of Music” by Rodgers & Hammerstein.
Master of Ceremonies: Ms. Alexandra Kavouras of Queens College, CUNY, AGAPW’s 2012 Excellence Tuition Scholarship recipient.
Reception with delicious Greek hors d’oeuvres – mezedes, especially prepared by Zenon Taverna, and a selection of fine Greek Wines by Ωmega Wines.
When: March 26th 2013, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Location: The Penthouse of Dr. Virginia Davies at 299 West 12th Street, New York, NY 10014
Suggested donation: $50. Pre-registration is required.
Please RSVP here (you will be redirected to the Eventbrite secure connection) by March 24th 2013.
For further information, please contact Dr. Olga Alexakos at oalexakos@nyc.rr.com or 917-405-6833.
To download the flyer of the event, please click here.
To download the program of the event, please click here.
Bios:
Alexandra Kavouras studied at Queens College, City University of New York, completing a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in Secondary Education, Philosophy, and Modern Greek studies. Ms. Kavouras was elected Senator in the Queens College Student Association Senate for three consecutive terms, she served as a representative of the Queens chapter of the New York based public interest group, N.Y.P.I.R.G, and worked as a facilitator for the Queens College Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding (C.E.R.R.U.). She served one term as vice president and two terms as president of the Queens College Hellenic Club “Ikaros” : the largest University Hellenic club in the nation, and has served as a youth representative on the cultural committee of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York.
Ms. Kavouras speaks Greek fluently, having scored “Arista” on all four levels of the “Ellinomathias” examination by the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece. She has been a representative in the Intercollegiate Hellenic Society (I.H.S) and has served as the elected Fundraising Director on the board of the National Hellenic Students Association (N.H.S.A.), an organization uniting University Hellenic Societies within the United States and Canada. She has earned several awards for her outstanding achievements, including A.G.A.P.W.’s Excellence Tuition Scholarship in 2012. She is currently serving as an intern at the Permanent Mission of Greece to the United Nations.
Aphrodite Désirée Navab is an Iranian Greek American artist and writer based in New York City (born: Isfahan, Iran). She uses visual art and writing to investigate transnational issues in art and culture. In 2004 she completed an Ed.D. in Art and Art Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She received her BA magna cum laude in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University in 1993. She was Assistant Professor of Art at the College of Fine Arts, University of Florida, before moving to New York with her family.
Navab’s art has been featured in over one hundred exhibitions and performances around the world and is included in a number of permanent collections. The world premiere of her solo show, She Speaks Greek Farsi was at ICC Athens, Greece: (Sep.-Oct. 2009). The exhibition traveled to New York City at Soho20 Gallery (Feb. 2-27, 2010). She had a solo exhibition:Super East-West Woman: Living On the Axis Fighting Evil Everywhere (Oct-Nov 2007), at the Rhonda Schaller studio in Chelsea, NYC. It will travel from 2008-2012 in the multimedia exhibition, Visible and Invisible Spaces, with Jennifer Heath curator and editor, The Veil: Women Writers on Its History, Lore, and Politics (University of California Press, 2007).
Navab was included in the exhibition and book (June 27-October 2009), Through the Lens: Photography from the Permanent Collection, at the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. Curated by Lowe Associate Director, Denise M. Gerson, the exhibition features only 100 significant photographs from more than 1000 photographic holdings: from Julia Margaret Cameron and Walker Evans to Cindy Sherman and Gregory Crewdson.
Navab’s creative nonfiction and fiction are published in five anthologies: “Tales Left Untold,” in Let Me Tell You Where I’ve Been: New Writing by Women of the Iranian Diaspora (2006), edited by Persis Karim, Parisa Milani, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. Her personal essay, “What is Home After Exile? An Iranian Greek American Homecoming,” is published inHomelands; Women’s Journeys Across Race, Place and Time (2007), edited by Jenesha de Rivera, Patricia Justine Tumang, Seal Press. Navab’s short story is published in an anthology which includes Mark Twain, Zora Neale Hurston, Benjamin Franklin, Gertrude Stein, etc., titled POWWOW: Charting the Fault Lines in the American Experience, Short Fiction from Then to Now, edited by Ishmael Reed and Carla Blank, Da Capo Press: Perseus Books. She is currently writing her novel: Call Me Rudabeh which tells the diasporic tales of an Iranian girl.
Flora Kirou, soprano, was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1991 and moved to New York with her family when she was 9 months old. She knew she wanted to be a singer from a very young age. She started taking voice lessons when she was 12 years old at the Harbor Conservatory for the performing arts. Afterwards, she attended the Fiorello LaGuardia Arts High School where she majored in voice and graduated with honors. Flora is currently attending Mannes College the New School for Music with a scholarship. She is in her senior year as an undergraduate vocal performance major and is now applying for a Masters degree in performance. Flora has performed in many different venues and locations as a member and soloist of the Archdiocesan Metropolitan Youth Choir, including the Metropolitan Opera in celebration of the Olympics (2003); the United Nations (2004); Tampa, Florida with Mario Frangoulis to honor His All Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch (January 2006); Alice Tully Hall (2009), and in a concert tour to Istanbul, Turkey, Nicosia, Cyprus, and Peloponissos, Greece (July 2011). She sang with the Archdiocesan Metropolitan Youth Choir in September 2012 at Carnegie Hall as both a choir member and soloist where she performed Handel’s “Rejoice Greatly” from The Messiah. Flora has performed in a full opera production in Fiorello LaGuardia HS of “The Mikado” by Gilbert and Sullivan and has starred in the principal role as Yum-Yum. She has sung in several opera scenes concerts at Mannes College and has also participated in various Summer Music Programs, including in Novafeltria, Italy in July 2010, where she performed in Rimini, Bologna, and Novalfeltria. In June 2011, she participated in a program called “Songfest” in Malibu, California, in which she also performed several times. From mid-May to early June 2012 she participated in a program called “L’Art du Chant Francais” in Perigold, France. She will be returning to France again this Summer 2013 for a new series of performances. Flora’s upcoming performances in 2013 include an opera scenes performance at Mannes College on April 9th, a senior recital on April 11th, and another opera scenes performance in May.
For the video of the event, please click here.