"You put together a dream team and you made the 'piccolo' Scala a 'grand' scala! Canio was very experienced and sang the known arias with a voice that made people shiver. Eilana was a very dramatic Nedda with emphasis on her low register.  Prolog - Tonio has a strong and sensual voice and very strong presence and was ideal for the role. And also all the other singers were great. The conductor was excellent, taking out a wonderful result. The orchestra and the choruses were very reliable. And essential was the input from Rafael Pylarinos who prepared the choruses and conducted them during the performance."

- Review of Pagliacci in Kathemerini (7/26/16) translated by Zoe Zeniodi

"The Festival of the Aegean brings us annually to always charming Syros. Since we began attending the festival in 2005, we have witnessed exquisite programs of music attended by a loving public of residents and visitors. Founder and Artistic Director of the Festival is the Greek-American conductor Peter Tiboris. At his side is his valuable collaborator, his wife, the soprano Eilana Lappalainen. The Festival has featured famous soloists, composers, performers and artists, as well as emerging young musicians. And it is to Tiboris’ credit that in such a difficult period for Greece, he can offer a large number of quality musical events. Over the years, such international stars as John Rutter, Olympia Dukakis, Dimitris Sgouros, Keith Ikaia-Purdy, Dimitri Kavrakos and Mary-Ellen Nesi have brightened the Festival.

This year the Festival opened on July 12 and ended on 24 of the same month. We watched the program on two days, 15 and 16/7."

- Review of Festival of the Aegean by Konstantinos P. Karabelas-Sgourdas for Critic's Point, 8/6/15

"The island of Syros is a very important destination for music lovers. The center for many performances is the “Apollo” Theater in Hermoupolis. It opened in 1864 and it is a small exotic treasure in the world of opera, as is the “Angela Peralta” Theater in Mazatlan, Mexico or the Manoel Theater in Malta. Since 2005, it has been the home of the Festival of the Aegean, which is organized by the Greek-American conductor Peter Tiboris with his wife, soprano Eilana Lappalainen, and is focused on opera. The auditorium, of approximately 350 seats, has beautiful acoustics and, of course, does not need very big voices. This year’s big production of the Festival was Medea by Cherubini, but we managed to be there for the second week’s performances only.

On Tuesday, July 21, the evening started with a recital of German Song given by the young artists of the Greek Opera Studio, the educational part of the Festival. Thirteen young singers interpreted 14 songs by Schubert, Schumann and Mahler, while on the piano, the lecturer of the Vienna Hochschule, Pantelis Polychronidis, coached and accompanied them. His role was obvious in the stylistic unity and correctness of the interpretations, while on the piano, he accompanied very carefully and with great sensitivity. The small size of the theater allowed for all the voices to sound clean, clear and beautifully articulated."

- Review of Festival of the Aegean  by Kathimerini Athens 7/30/15

"Syros is one of the most beautiful islands of the Aegean, with hospitable people, who are always willing to inform about every historical detail of the place. Since 2005 the island has hosted the Festival of the Aegean. The organizer and artistic director of the festival is Peter Tiboris, a conductor of Greek origins, a resident of America and the organizer of many concerts held both in America (mainly in Carnegie Hall in New York) and in Greece.

We had the opportunity to witness in recent years several of the events of the festival and were really impressed by the variety, the large number of events and participants from different countries, the good organization, the enthusiasm and zeal brought to each event."

- Review of the 9th Annual Festival of the Aegean by Konstantinos Karabelas-Sgourdas, 8/21/13

"In spite of the difficult circumstances in the summer of 2012, musical culture managed to maintain its voice. The 8th International Festival of the Aegean took place from July 8-22, in the historic city of Hermoupolis at the Apollo Theater, presenting us with a variety of artistic spectacles and affirming the industrious power of creative thinking and collective effort. During the three days that we chose to visit the Festival, there was musical excitement.

Because our speedboat arrived later than expected (on July 13), we could only attend the second half of a concert in which the Albanian Symphony Orchestra, directed by the American-Greek conductor and Festival mentor Peter Tiboris, performed Beethoven's Seventh Symphony with courageous tempi choices and great musicological insight."

- Review of the 8th Annual Festival of the Aegean by Kyrgiakos P. Loukakos for Augi, 9/9/12

"Syros is definitely one of the most beautiful islands of Greece. With its long history (its first inhabitants were the Phoenicians), geographical position, beautiful villages, and natural beauty, Syros has for years been a favorite meeting place for visitors from Greece and abroad. Ermoupolis, the capital of all the Cyclades, is itself a marvel of architecture (the great Ernst Ziller was the architect of City Hall), aesthetics, and exemplary hospitality.

This island has become the site of a festival, the International Festival of the Aegean, founded by the conductor Timporis Panagiotis (Peter Tiboris), who for many years has lived and worked in New York.

This year the eighth festival, from 9 to 22 July, hosted an impressive number of famous artists from around the world."

- Review of the 8th Annual Festival of the Aegean by Constantine P. Karabelas-Sgourdas for Critic's Point, 7/31/12

"The Impact of Peter Tiboris
The Greek-American conductor Peter Tiboris is the founder and general director of the company MidAmerica Productions, the orchestras Manhattan Philharmonic and Pan-European Philharmonia, and the International Festival of the Aegean. The latest is an annual event, which takes place in Syros, Greece, every summer offering the opportunity to visitors and inhabitants of the island to enjoy music, theater and dance performances. While the audience of the Festival has grown through the years, this time we were also amongst the ones who had the pleasure of attending two of its many activities in two different spaces in the city of Hermoupolis."

- Review of La Traviata and Carmina Burana by C.P. Sgourdas for Eleftherios, Athens, Greece, 8/5/11

"Euripides, Theodorakis, Zanella
“Medea” – Another ballet that was an opera. Which in turn originated in Euripides’ tragedy which our national composer  Mikis made into an opera (or tragedy with music) in 1988-89 with the simple title: Medea. And now, Renato Zanella, the new director of the Lyriki Skini Ballet and veteran of the Apollo Theater in Hermoupolis, Syros, converted it into a ballet entitled “Medea’s choice”."

- Review of Medea's Choice by Andreas Rikakis for Kathimerini, Athens, Greece, 9/16/11

"As the administrative and cultural center of the Cyclades, Syros is a rich yet modest island that hosts the textile and shipbuilding industries that serve the other islands in the archipelago. Surrounding the harbor, the lively square of Hermoupolis—which includes the neoclassical city hall, the archeological museum, and behind it the Apollo Theater—hosts festival guests every summer. The harbor has luxurious ships; their Greek owners pick this city to build their villas decorated with frescos. Even though the island is not a popular tourist destination, it has elegant architecture and a quiet atmosphere, which makes it worth including in holiday plans."

- Festival of the Aegean by Selen Yilmaz for Andante Magazine, Istanbul, Turkey, 8/11