Creative Guitar: Gellért Szabó / Panú
An initiative by guitarist Giannis Arapis, the “Creative Guitar” project explores a different way of thinking about the guitar—as an instrument, but also as a field of research, listening, and creation.
The project includes concerts and seminars that bring together study, experimentation, and artistic practice, with an emphasis on sound shaped through research, improvisation, and personal exploration.
Each concert features guitarists from the international scene with a distinctive artistic identity and personal sound.
The third night features German guitarist Gellért Szabó with a solo improvisational performance. The concert opens with Panú (Panagiotis Manouilidis) presenting a sound performance for a prepared electric guitar without a guitarist.
🔷 Gellért Szabó is a composer, conductor, and guitarist based in Leipzig. Known for his orchestral works and as artistic director of the Ideal Orchester, Szabó distills the complexity of large-scale composition into a radically reduced setup: one electric guitar, two channels, and live effects. The guitar becomes an orchestra. Szabó translates influences from György Ligeti’s dense micro-polyphony to the opulent sound worlds of Richard Strauss into immersive layers of sound that shift between brutal intensity and fragile calm. The result is a powerful, highly physical concert experience where a single instrument creates the depth and scope of a full ensemble.
He studied electric guitar and improvised music at the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar, completing a Bachelor of Music (2015–2020) under Prof. Frank Möbus. During his studies, he developed a strong focus on composition, experimental music, and contemporary musical structures, studying composition with Ulrich Kreppein and Stefan Schultze. His compositional work received multiple prizes in composition competitions. In addition to his formal studies, Szabó received private lessons from Gilad Hekselman, Ronny Graupe, John Schröder, Chris Potter, Joshua Fineberg, Marc Copland, Joey Baron, and Billy Cobham. In January 2026, he was named one of the 100 most influential people in Leipzig and is nominated for the German Jazz Prize.
🔷 The musician and composer Panú (Panagiotis Manouilidis) has collaborated with venues and festivals such as: Münchner Kammerspiele, Schauspielhaus Graz, Maillon Théâtre de Strasbourg, Festspielhaus Hellerau, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, National Theater, the State Theater of Northern Greece, the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, the Onassis Foundation’s Stegi, and the Kalamata International Dance Festival. At the same time, he combines music, visual and performing arts, and set design, creating original musical instrument-sculptures that function as interactive open-field sound installations or as stage spaces.
At KET, he presents a sound performance featuring a prepared electric guitar without a guitarist. A lone guitar, suspended on stage, is activated remotely and resonates throughout the space. The performer is absent. Drawing on the music and instruments of the Eastern Mediterranean, Panú creates a meditative universe of randomness and absence.