The mobility of the Music Education Ensemble of the Department of Music Studies, Ionian University, with Professor Zoe Dionyssiou as responsible staff member, to Trakya University in Edirne has been completed with great success. The mobility was carried out from 23 to 27 March 2026 through the Erasmus+ short-term mobility program. The Ionian University team collaborated with Dr. Cengizan Şirin, Lecturer at the Department of Music Education, Faculty of Education, Trakya University, and with students from the same university. The students of the two Universities held joint workshops, seminars and courses, took excursions to the city and nearby attractions, such as the Selimiye Mosque, Karaağaç (Old Orestiada), the old railway station, the Lausanne Treaty Monument, etc. They exchanged educational practices and views and collaborated within their common music education goals. On behalf of the Ionian University, the following students participated: Kelaiditis Dimitris, Loukakis Nikos, Bakas Giannos, Papadopoulos Panagiotis, Pappas Orfeas, Tsaousidis Andreas, Iliopoulou Dorita, Margeli Panagiota, Nizami Maria, Noune Regina, Economou Angeliki, Polychronou-Taylor Melina, Rapti Vasiliki, Sigala Irini, Souliotaki Zoe and Chantzi Ioanna.
In addition to the group of students and Professor Zoe Dionyssiou, the Erasmus mobility was also attended by Ms. Alexandra Skalioti, administrative employee in the Research Committee of the Ionian University, and Ms. Christina Nikopoulou, administrative employee in the Erasmus Office of the Ionian University, who exchanged good practices with the respective departments of Trakya University with the aim of further cooperation between the two Institutions in the context of research programs.
After completing the educational trip through the Erasmus+ program, the Ionian University Ensemble visited Istanbul, where it gave a music presentation at the Elderly Care Unit of the Hospital of Baloukli. There, the students sang Greek traditional songs and talked with the approximately 50 residents in the Unit, the administrators and the nursing staff. They learned about the history of the Hospital and its contribution to the Greek community of Constantinople. The visit took place after communication with Mrs. Georgia Kotsaridou and Mrs. Christina Ioannidou and the permission granted by the Hospital administration. On Friday afternoon, members of the group sang the Akathist Hymn at the Church of The Entrance of Theotokos in Pera.
On Saturday, March 28, the group attended the Solemn Divine Liturgy for the 1400th anniversary of the first chanting of the Akathist Hymn (626 AD – 2026 AD), which was held as a hymn of thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary for the end of the siege of Constantinople by the Avars in August 626 AD. The Divine Liturgy was held in The Hagiasma (Holy Water) of the Virgin Mary of Blachernae. His All-Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, officiated as a simple priest. This was the third time in the 35 years of His ecumenical ministry and the first time in the Holy Land, where His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch officiated as a simple priest in honor of the Theotokos. After the end of the Solemn Divine Liturgy, all the faithful were invited to the Hall of the Holy Water, where the Ensemble of the Ionian University presented three traditional songs. Prof. Dionyssiou and the Music Education Ensemble offered souvenirs, took photos with the Patriarch of the Nation and spoke with the Greeks, the President of the Community Mr. Kalamaris, as well as with the Greek Journalist Mr. Manolis Kostidis.
During the visit to Constantinople, the Ionian University team visited Hagia Sophia, the Chora Monastery, the Holy Spring of the Life-Giving Spring in Baloukli, the magnificent Bosphorus with its villages and Roman communities, the great street of Pera and other historical sights of Constantinople.
