The ney, improvisation in Arabic maqams, ways of approach and rendition of the Classical Ottoman, Arabic and Greek musical tradition.
This workshop will focus on improvisation and the rendition of musical pieces dating back to the Classical Ottoman, Arabic and Greek musical tradition. We are going to study these pieces through the analysis of taximia, musical compositions and also through practice. The workshop is open to all musical instruments and all levels.
Nikos Paraoulakis was born in Crete in 1977. In 1995, he moved to Athens to study music. He has studied Superior Music Theory (Harmony, Counterpoint) with Panagiotis Adam, Joseph Papadatos and Vasilis Foster, the classical guitar with Thanasis Koumenteris and the jazz guitar with Giotis Samaras. Since 2000, he has been focusing on the study of the Eastern and Greek musical traditions. His ney teachers were Haris Labrakis and Ömer Erdoğdular. He has collaborated with a great number of popular Greek and foreign composers and musicians, both on stage and on albums (Sokratis Malamas, Alkinoos Ioannidis, Orfeas Peridis, Haig Yazidjian, Antonis Apergis, Márta Sebestyén, Karine Polwart, Haris Alexiou, Eleni Vitali, Loudovikos ton Anogion, Vasilis Skoulas, Nikos Kipourgos and many others). In 2005-2006 he was a ney teacher at the Technical Education Institute of Epirus in Arta (department of popular and traditional music). In 2014 he recorded and produced a CD titled ‘Apo to fos kai to skotadi’ for which he wrote the music and orchestrations, with lyrics by Dimitris Papacharalambous, featuring Alkinoos Ioannidis, Manolis Lidakis, Apostolis Rozos, Marina Dakanali, Maria Koti, Nikos Venetakis, Maria Fasoulaki, Panos Papagioannou, Zoi Vergaki (out on MLK.) At present he is an active member of orchestras and bands such as Polis Ensemble, Hopla Loon and Aura Duet. He is a regular contributor to recordings and live performances in Greece and abroad.