Modality in Practice: A Study in the Eastern Ensemble, Manolis Pargentakis

An in-depth exploration of timbre, dynamics, and the aesthetic principles that shape an Eastern-style ensemble, combined with a holistic approach to modal music that focuses on connecting theoretical knowledge with orchestral interpretation.

Through collective study, participants will explore the internal dynamics of the ensemble, the art of accompaniment, and the interaction between instruments. The seminar will not be limited to the simple learning of melodies, but will aim for a deeper understanding of the modal idiom, offering participants the tools for conscious and expressive interpretation.

The analysis of the makam structure of the musical pieces selected for study will serve as a guide for conveying their character and stylistic essence with accuracy.

In this process, theory will cease to be abstract and will become sound, as the ensemble transforms knowledge into a shared musical experience.

Manolis Pargentakis is a musician and teacher of traditional and folk musical instruments.
He has been teaching tambouras at the Kavala Music School for the past 27 years.

For the last 15 years, he has also been responsible for the Traditional & Folk Orchestra at the Municipal Conservatory of Kavala, where he teaches folk and traditional string instruments.

As a speaker at conferences and lectures (including the Ethnological Museum of Thrace, the Cultural Organization of the Municipality of Katerini, the Moscow-based organization KROOG, Cosmopolis Festival, the Association of Early Childhood Educators, among others), he has presented topics related to Greek music and musical instruments from antiquity to the present day.

His deep love for music, together with his continuous research into Greek musical tradition as well as the musical traditions of other cultures with shared historical and cultural roots, led him from a young age to collect and study musical instruments.

Today he owns a collection of more than 450 musical instruments (wind, percussion, and string instruments) from Greece, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, North Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East.

His artistic and musical activity includes musical and music-narrative performances, theatrical readings, concerts with ancient Greek musical instruments (which he builds himself), instrument-making workshops, musical settings of poetry (including works by Dionysis Karatzas and Giannis Charitantis), and composition of music for theatre productions.