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Wim Mertens Performs "Monument to Augustus"

His music is not for vast consumption. His minimalism is a fatal sting to every aspect of easy listening. His notes are far from the digestible decibels of the current music industry.

Yet, Belgian composer Wim Mertens has many fans in Greece and around the world. Perhaps because the auteur of musical composition needs no more than the value of inspiration.

As Wim Mertens, the famous Belgian composer, told Ethnos newspaper, he was fascinated by ancient Nicopolis where he charmed more than 1,000 spectators with his appearance on Sunday night, at the "Monument to Augustus," which opened for a unique night for the public at an event marking the 2000 years since the death of Octavian Augustus.

"Greece's role is very important for Europe. I am convinced that in central Europe we have always turned our gaze towards Greece, towards ancient Greece with care and respect for the culture and the Greek spirit,” said the 61year old composer, pianist, guitarist, counter tenor, and musicologist before the start of the concert, organized by nonprofit Preveza Jazz Festival, in collaboration with the 33rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities.

A little later, when he sat in front of the piano and began performing the music he has written for films along with a selection from the 50 albums he has recorded so far, he closed his eyes and listened to the area. "It is truly a unique place, a unique proposition," he said about the "Monument to Augustus” and once again did not hide his love for Greece, to which he returns at every opportunity.

Earlier he took a guided tour of the archaeological site, walked for some time among the monuments despite the high temperature-and said that "everything that happened here, 2000 years ago, 20 centuries, was significant. Historians affirm the historic moment as a key event- that really changed the course of Europe, Greece, but mainly their culture and economy."

For an hour and a half Wim Mertens, played music and sung songs, selections from his unique syncretic style, showing constant evolution, rooted in experimentation and an avant garde attitude, always with the emphasis towards minimalism.

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