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Lesson timetable: 17:00 - 20:00 in the afternoon (total of 21 hours)
In this seminar we will study the technique and style of traditional violin, with our starting point in the repertoire drawn from various regions, such as: Anatolia, Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus, Cyclades, etc. At the same time, we will study material of urban origin, such as works of Ottoman Art Music, Istanbul’s popular music, and Greek popular songs from the interwar repertoire of the 78rpm discography (café aman). Participants will have a chance to choose for themselves the pieces they want to practice, from a very broad “bank” of repertoire selections. Besides our examination of techniques and stylistic issues, the repertoire will give us an opportunity to approach the concept of makam, both in terms of theory and improvisation (taksim). The seminar is meant for violinists, but also for players of bowed string instruments like the istanbul lyra/kemençe, cello, yaylı tanbur, etc.
* This lesson will be taught only in Greek.
Interpretation will not be provided.
Yiannis Poulios was born in 1994 in Bruschal, Germany and he moved to Greece as a child, where he was raised in Katerini. He has been playing violin since the age of ten.
He graduated from Katerini music high-school and continued his music studies at the Traditional Music Department of the Technological Educational Institute of Epirus. He also attended two semesters at the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey where he lived for a year, studying and collaborating with local musicians as a professional violinist. Among others, his teachers and mentors are: Yiorgos Psaltis, Makis Baklatzis, Ozer Ozel, Nedim Nalbantoglu, Murat Sakaryali.
He has been active as a professional violinist for over twelve years now in Greece and abroad, performing both on stage and in studio recordings. He has worked extensively all over Greece from north to south and east to west, thus developing a deep knowledge of various different styles within the local greek regions, as well as a very wide repertoire in traditional music. Furthermore, he has collaborated with many contemporary artists of other musical backgrounds, experimenting with genres that go beyond the Greek and Mediterranean borders.
He has participated in several musical ensembles on stage and in studio, such as the "Tasos Poulios quartet", "Heliodromio", the "Lappino project", "Loxandra" band and the "Soul and Body" project of the Athens Concert Hall, as well as ensembles abroad: the "Ali Perret's DU.DU" in Istanbul and the ensembles of the Paris-based composer Apostolos Sideris, "Σummation" and "Hane". He has also collaborated with the Grammy award holders, pianist Leo Genovese from Argentina and the Puerto Rican rapper Residente.
He now lives and works in Athens, Greece and has begun a parallel violin teaching career the past five years. Especially in the past two years he has been teaching violin at the prestigious Experimental Music High-school of Pallini. He has developed a characteristic and recognizable sound as a performer and this, in combination with his extensive improvisational skills, has given him the privilege to collaborate with some of the most important artists of the Greek music scene (Eleni Tsaligopoulou, Nena Venetsanou, Manos Achalinotopoulos, Areti Ketime, Haig Yazdjan, Antonis Apergis and many others).