Info

The aim of this workshop is to work on contemporary modal music; The participants will firstly, delve into the repertoire of the genre; through its performance and analysis they will get acquainted with employed modal and rhythmic systems, orchestration and arrangement (where appropriate). Then, they will have the chance to use the systems of melody and rhythm to create their own improvisations (metric and non-metric) and compositions.

This is an open seminar to all instruments and singers with an at least intermediate level. Although not a pre-requisite, a basic knowledge of reading/writing scores is recommended.

Bio

Marina Liontou-Mochament was born in Athens (1984). She studied Computer Science in Athens Economic University and oud in the Department of Folk and Traditional Music in Arta (University of Ioannina). She holds a master’s degree in Oud and Performance from Codarts – University for the Arts (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), which was funded by a full scholarship from Onassis Foundation. In October 2023 she completed her phD studies which resulted in a written dissertation thesis and an artistic research outcome under the title : ‘Enhancing inspiration: metric modal improvisaiton and compositional tools in contemporary modal music’, in the Academy of Performing Arts, Leiden University, Netherlands.

She has participated in music seminars under the guidance of renowned oud players and musicians (Yurdal tokcan, Evgenios Voulgaris, Harris Labrakis, Mercan Erzincan, Sokratis Sinopoulos) in Ross Daly’s Labyrinth Musical workshop, Crete, Greece.

From 2013 to 2018 she lived and worked in Istanbul as a performing musician. There she co-created Sinafi Trio, with whom she recorded the album ‘IHO’ for KALAN label. Sinafi Trio has participated in festivals in Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Italy and Cyprus and they are currently preparing their second album.

She is also a member of the Crossover trio, with Alkis Zopoglou and Yann Keerim, with whom she performs concerts consisting of the members’ original works. Their last collaboration was with the renowned kaval player, Theodosii Spasov in Belgrade for the Guitar art festival (May 2023).

She leads workshops on modal music, makam improvisation and music creativity in Athens and Thessaloniki, and she is currently working as an oud teacher in the Music School in Drama.