Past Event – March 28th, 2012

The Officers and Directors of A.G.A.P.W.
Under the Auspices of The Consul General of Cyprus, Hon. Koula Sophianou
and The Consul General of Greece, Hon. Georgios Iliopoulos
Cordially invite you to our 2012

Women’s History Month Celebration

and signature

“Greek American Woman of the Year” Award
in Honor of Mrs. Penelope Tsilas

$3,000 Excellence Tuition Scholarship will be Presented to Ms. Alexandra Kavouras of Queens College, CUNY, in Honor of Mrs. Tsilas.

When: March 28th 2012, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
Location: Cyprus House, 13 East 40th Street, New York, NY. 10016
Admission is complimentary.

For further information on this event, please contact Dr. Olga Alexakos at oalexakos@nyc.rr.com or 917-405-6833.

For inquiries about the scholarship and submission of applications, please contact Dr. Sophia Catsambis, (Queens College, CUNY) at sophia.catsambis@qc.cuny.edu or 718-997-2801.

Scholarship selection criteria: Female student of Greek descent enrolled in an accredited US university at the undergraduate level (during the current semester), and who demonstrates academic excellence and financial need. Please submit your CV, transcripts, short personal essay, and proof of financial need to Dr. Catsambis by March 20th 2012.

Scholarship Committee:
Dr. Sophia Catsambis, Queens College, CUNY.
Ms. Effie Lekas, Queens College, CUNY
Dr. Aphrodite Désirée Navab, Harvard
Dr. Liana Theodoratou, NYU

Program

Part I

  • Welcoming Remarks by Dr. Olga Alexakos, President and Founder of A.G.A.P.W.
  • Introduction of Master of Ceremonies: Constantina (Deana) Koulosousas, Esq.
  • Remarks by The Honorable Koula Sophianou, Consul General of Cyprus
  • Remarks by The Honorable Georgios Iliopoulos, Consul General of Greece
  • Citations by The Honorable Aravella Simotas and The Honorable Nicole Malliotakis, New York State Assembly members
  • Presentation by Dr. Aphrodite Navab: “The Significance of Women’s History Month”
  • Presentation of the Greek American Woman of the Year Award to Mrs. Penelope Tsilas
  • Presentation of The Outstanding Female Student of Greek Descent Scholarship

    • Part II

  • One-Act Play, “Χελιδονοφωλιά” (Swallow’s Nest), by Vasiliki Tsanaktsidou, performed by Vasiliki Tsanaktsidou and Martha Tompoulidou
  • Vocalist Flora Kirou performs “Χρυσοπράσινο Φύλλο” (Leaf of Gold and Green) by Mikis Theodorakis and Marios Toka; “I Dreamed a Dream” by Claude-Michel Schonberg
  • Poetry Reading: “Λιομαζώχτρα” (The Olive Picker) by Nikiforos Vrettakos, recited by Martha Tompoulidou; “Γυναίκα” (Woman) by a supporter of AGAPW, and recited by Vasiliki Tsanaktsidou
  • Concluding Remarks by Dr. Olga Alexakos

    • Download the flyer of the event and the program here.

    Bios:

    Flora Kirou, soprano, was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1991. 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 third year as an undergraduate vocal performance major. Flora has performed in many different places 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), in Alice Tully Hall (2009) and in a concert tour to Istanbul, Turkey, Nicosia, Cyprus, and Peloponissos, Greece (July 2011). Flora has performed in a full opera production in Fiorello LaGuardia HS of “The Mikado” by Gilbert and Sullivan and has starred in the principle role as Yum-Yum. She has also participated in different Summer Music Programs including a program in Novafeltria, Italy in July 2010 where she performed in Rimini, Bologna, and Novalfeltria. Last year, in June 2011 she participated in a program called “Songfest” in Malibu, California in which she also performed several times. This year from mid-May to early June she will be participating in a program called “L’Art du Chant Francais” in Perigold, France.

    Constantina Koulosousas, Esq. was born in Athens Greece. She migrated with her family to the United States in 1986. Ms. Koulosousas holds a B.S. in International Business (and Art History) from the Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University, and a J.D. with a Certificate in Healthcare Law, from Seton Hall University School of Law.
    She is licensed to practice law in New Jersey and New York. She focuses her practice on Elder Law, Trusts & Estates, and Special Needs Planning with a particular emphasis on the needs of Greek-American families. She also practices Healthcare Law and regularly advises healthcare professionals on federal and state regulatory compliance. Before attending law school, Ms. Koulosousas spent six months interning with the Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs in Washington, D.C. During her time in law school, she was a member of the Civil Litigation Clinic, a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Esther Salas, U.S.M.J, District Court, for the District of New Jersey and author of “Ethical Decision-Making In the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit.” Ms. Koulosousas serves as Corresponding Secretary and Chair of the New Generation Committee for the Federation of Hellenic American Organizations of New Jersey and as New Jersey Local Coordinator for ALLILONnet.

    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.

    Martha Tompoulidou was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, where she graduated from the Aristotle University with a degree in Greek Literature.
    As an actor, with a diploma from the Athens School of Drama, she worked with the National Theatre of Greece in double productions of Medea and Electra as Medea’s understudy and chorus leader, in world tours. In her twenty years of professional experience as an actress, Ms Tompoulidou was very lucky to work with great directors as: L. Koniordou, Thomas Moshopoulos, S. Hatzakis, N. Kontouri, a.o. She participated in numerous productions of modern repertoire (Dancing in Lugnasa, The Cage with the Sparrows a.o) and in ancient drama productions of the so called Free Theater (Ecclessiastes, Antigone, Iphigenia in Tauris, Women’s Passions, a.o.)
    Ms. Tompoulidou performed with the internationally acclaimed baritone Anastassis Christoyannis in different concerts for the Onassis Foundation, the Festival of Religious Music in Patmos, and the Music Festival in Porto Heli, Greece.
    The Megaron Concert Hall staged the plays “Once upon a time a little prince…” and “Christmas Carol” performed with her theatrical adaptation and lyrics .
    In 2001 Ms. Tompoulidou won the Fulbright scholarship and came in New York, where she took acting, dancing and singing classes in HB Studio and the Broadway Dance Center. In New York, she has collaborated as a director and an actor with the Greek Cultural Center (Who Discovered America; Trojan Women; Filumena Marturano; Madame Sousou Conquers Manhattan, a.o.); Theatron Inc. (Smile Please; Mama’s Boy, a.o); the Resonance Ensemble Theater (Time to Burn), and the Federation of Hellenic Societies of NY (The Christmas Carol).
    In 2008 she became the Founder and Artistic Director of Theater “Ichneftes” that staged “The 3Penny Youth”; “This One and That One”; “If the Glove Fits”, and “San Palio Cinema.”
    Ms Tompoulidou has also been a columnist for the newspaper “Greek News” and the hostess of the radio program “I Have Something To Tell You” on Hellas FM Radio Station.

    Vassiliki Tsanaktsidou was born and raised in Akrini Kozani, Greece, and has been living in the United States for the past twenty two years. Ms. Tsanaktsidou studied Education in Germany. She worked for four years as a teacher at a Greek-American school in CT and for the last eighteen years she has been working for the German Airlines Lufthansa. She is doing theater as an amateur and is the founder of the theater group of Pontian Society “Pontos Norwalk”. The one act play “Chelidonofolia” is inspired by research done about Greek immigrant women.

    For the video of the event, please click here.

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