The innovative community program Lullaby Project was created in December 2011 in New York City by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI), bringing new mothers and pregnant women from vulnerable social environments together with musical artists, in order to write and sing lullabies to their babies. Since then, these songs have been performed at the famous concerts of The Lullaby Project, which have featured celebrated artists such as mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, Fiona Apple, Natalie Merchant, Catherine Zeta-Jones et al.
As part of its efforts to achieve social inclusion through music, Carnegie Hall has been collaborating since 2018 with El Sistema Greece for the implementation of the Greek version of the Lullaby Project, where El Sistema Greece innovates and expands the program beyond motherhood and the biological relationship, including stories of parental love, dedicated to all children. The SNFCC has been a partner of El Sistema Greece in this beautiful musical journey since its first year in 2018, supporting its effort to celebrate love for children through the power of lullabies.
Until 2019, parents, refugees or migrants, mothers with babies and young children, parents who had to be separated from their children, women who still dream of motherhood, grandmothers raising their grandchildren, incarcerated in the prison of Thiva, addicts who turned a new page in their lives and parents of El Sistema Greece students participated in the Lullaby Project and collaborated with 11 renowned music composers from Greece and abroad, shared their personal stories and wrote with them a total of 20 original music pieces, precious gifts for their children. These songs were presented in June 2018 and June 2019 at the SNFCC, in two concert-concerts for love, diversity and music.
The third version of the Greek Lullaby Project, entitled “Love becomes music”, was presented on Monday 4 October 2020 at the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera. This time, El Sistema Greece innovated and welcomed not only mothers, celebrating parenthood in all its forms. Women in refugee centers, immigrant women, who take care of babies who had to be removed from their families, a dad who is a dad and a mom at the same time, and a trans woman who claims in court her right to see her nine-year-old daughter, are just a few of the “parents” who shared their feelings and thoughts about the little creatures in their lives with professional musicians, and translated their experiences into music, creating original and unique musical pieces.
In 2021, El Sistema Greece, broadening the spectrum of parental love, welcomed a couple who decided to grow their family of four by adopting a child, a woman who learns the world from the beginning thanks to the special way her son perceives it, women who raise their children in refugee camps hoping for a better tomorrow, a mother who experienced the greatest loss and continues thanks to the gifts of the greatest love, a woman who, having worked for years alongside hundreds of children, is about to give birth to her first baby, a street seller of the street magazine “Shedia” who teaches his children to love people, a woman who at the age of 13 left her home in search of a better life and by raising the babies of another family became part of it herself, and a mother from Venezuela who lives in total darkness guided by the light of her love for her baby, and a mother from Venezuela who lives in total darkness guided by the light of her love for her baby. These stories were presented to the public on Monday 14 June, live from the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera.
In the 2022 edition of The Lullaby Project, El Sistema Greece continues to expand the spectrum of parenthood beyond gender and biological ties, and celebrate the love for children in its entirety, featuring special musical stories that highlight social issues, positively “intervening” in the relations that spawned them and sending out a strong message of visibility and inclusion, with love and music. A same-sex couple dreaming of a world of equal opportunities for the child they have adopted, young dads, pre-trial detainees in Korydallos prison anxious to see their children grow up, a mother raising her four children alone living below the poverty line, a modern working mom, a mother raising three children one of whom was born with quadriplegia due to medical negligence, a mother of a minor child in Avlona prison, a young mother from a refugee camp, experiencing the trauma of sexual abuse trying to connect with the baby she later gave birth to but also social workers caring for unaccompanied minors, trying to restore their childhood and confidence in an adult world that failed to protect them, were the protagonists of the eight stories of that year’s Lullaby Project. These original musical stories were presented to the audience on Monday 30 May at 19.30 at the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera, in another musical celebration of the world’s greatest love.
In 2023, El Sistema Greece continues to broaden the spectrum of parenthood and highlight different aspects of this unique relationship of love. A love that is not necessarily defined by gender or biological kinship. Original musical creations present separate stories that highlight a host of topical societal issues aimed at vigilance and acceptance.
Mothers from Ukraine; a mother of five who came to Greece as a refugee; a mother raising her daughter alone; the mother of a trans child; the mother of a child with Down syndrome; a mother raising her child while also facing her own serious illness; a midwife who has offered a first hug to thousands of children; as well as fathers who are temporarily detained at Korydallos Prison but trying to be present for their children, are the protagonists of this year’s Lullaby Project.
Noted musical artists Antonis Apergis, Expe, Giannis Konsolakis, Leon of Athens, Danai Nielsen, Semeli Papavasileiou, Fotis Siotas and Dimitra Trypani take on the task of conveying these stories through original pieces of music. These musical stories will be presented to the public on Monday, May 29, at the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera.
These original musical stories were presented live to the audience on Monday 29 May at 19.30 at the Alternative Stage of the National Opera House at the SNFCC, in yet another musical celebration of parental love, directed by Argyro Chiotis and narrated by Evi Saoulidou. The orchestra was conducted by Jose Angel Salazar Marin, while the intercultural youth choir El Sistema Greece Youth Choir participated in the concert.
The social music program Lullaby Project provides an open space of expression for participants who, together with composers and songwriters, turn their personal narratives about their relationship with children into music. The music created celebrates parenthood, as well as the diversity of human experience.
In the 2024 edition, El Sistema Greece is highlighting stories that celebrate eternal bonds of love. A love that is not necessarily defined by gender or biological kinship. Original musical creations present unique stories that focus on a host of topical societal issues, aimed at vigilance and acceptance.
Alexandra Makou, the mother of Garyfalia who was murdered by her partner in Folegandros; a refugee mother who lives alone with her child in the Controlled Temporary Accomodation Facility for Asylum Seekers at Schisto; a woman who became a mother at an older age than what is considered “ordinary,” overcoming the challenges associated with having a child; a mom who lost her partner during her pregnancy and is raising her child alone; a single parent family; the multidisciplinary team of the Pediatric Palliative Home Care Service of “MERIMNA – Organization for the Care of Children and Families Experiencing Illness and Death”; and fathers who are temporarily detained in Korydallos prison, trying to maintain their presence in the lives of their children—these are the protagonists of this year’s Lullaby Project.
Renowned composers and songwriters Spiros Grammenos, Mihalis Kalkanis, Nefeli Liouta, Melentini, Mira, Sophia Bardoutsou, and Martha Frintzila, along with Vassilis Mantzoukis, conveyed these stories through original music compositions.
These musical stories were presented to the public on Monday, May 27, at 19:30, at the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera at the SNFCC.
In 2025, El Sistema Greece created Musical Connections that go beyond the boundaries of gender or biological kinship. Original music compositions highlighted stories that touch upon contemporary social issues, inviting us into a world of empathy, acceptance and meaningful contact.
Behind each piece was a true story:
A mother who decides to break the cycle of her own trauma and raise her child to be free.
Two mothers, of refugee background, who live at the Controlled Access Facility for Temporary Accommodation of Asylum Seekers in Schisto, recount their journey to Greece and towards a future full of hope for their children.
Fathers in Korydallos prison who employ music in their effort to maintain their relationship with their children and with everything important they have left behind.
The head of the “DIMITRIO” Center for the Creative Engagement of Children (CCEC) of the NGO Mission, who has created a safe place where childhood is protected and thrives.
The director of the 133rd Primary School of Athens, which opened the doors of a school that became a community and gives opportunities, voice and space to every child.
A mother who shares the long journey of adoption and piecing together the parenting role through everyday life with her child.
And, lastly, a mother standing by her young musician son, supporting his every step towards realizing his big dreams.
These stories were conveyed on stage through original musical compositions by the following creators: Andriana, Kakia Gkoudina, Manthos Damigos, Jef Maarawi, Dimitris Maragopoulos, Simone Mongelli, and Maria Papageorgiou. Each with their own artistic imprint, they transformed the personal experience into music.
These musical stories were presented live to the public on Thursday, May 15, at 20.00, at the Alternative Stage at the SNFCC, in yet another musical celebration of parental love. The orchestra was conducted by Zoe Zeniodi and Kyriaki Kountouri, while El Sistema Greece Youth Choir also participated in the concert.
