Future Folk #1: “KAR-PATHOS”
With the concert “KAR-PATHOS”, KET inaugurates “Future Folk“, a series of concerts curated by the electroacoustic composer Tasos Stamou. Dedicated to the traditional music of the future, “Future Folk” brings together once a month two seemingly opposite music styles: modern experimental and traditional folk music.
Tasos Stamou invites to KET soloists representing different musical traditions – not only Greek ones. With them, he will create an on-stage conversation, combining their music with the live electronic sound processing he has developed. The aim of this musical research is to show how traditional music can be transformed and evolve into something new. “Future Folk” will function as a live workshop, exploring the lesser-known aspects of traditional music, such as mysteries and rituals, which often remain on the margins of modern revivals.
The series begins with the musical tradition and the sound memory of Karpathos, in collaboration with Thodoris Ziarkas, who learned to play the local lyre and tsampouna from an early age, before distinguishing himself as a double bassist, improviser and composer.
● Tasos Stamou has been involved for several years with the research and promotion of traditional music through modern means, as well as with in relation to modern electronic music. The works in his Musique Con Crete / DAD / Antiqua Graecia trilogy reflect this musical intention and have received very positive comments internationally for their use of authentic traditional elements with respect but also with a strong willingness to revise.
● Thodoris Ziarkas studied jazz, improvisation and composition in England and the Netherlands, where he lived until recently. Today, he lives and works in Athens, and is particularly popular in both traditional and avant-garde music circles. He is distinguished by his ability to move comfortably between these two worlds. He first presented this project on ERT radio, as part of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of its operation, in a composition by Tasos Stamou, with Ziarkas assuming the role of the folk instrumentalist.