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RESHAPING THE TRADITION 2023
WORKSHOPS ON CONTEMPORARY MODAL MUSIC FROM THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
in collaboration with ISMEO

2 – 7 OCTOBER

RESHAPING THE TRADITION

Traditions are increasingly invoked as a pretext for claiming the legitimacy of power or erecting barriers against what is deemed different. That is why today we should remember that all human expression is born out of comparison, dialogue, and mutual translation. What is at stake in these processes is not the elimination of distances, but the possibility of exploring them, establishing connections that makes them productive. This process should be applied not only to musicians, but also to their audiences.

Today, musicians and listeners are led to face a wide range of musical traditions that is not simply a neat collection of relics from the past. It is rather a memory that lives totally in the present time, branching out in all directions. This kind of memory is always waiting to be interpreted and shared, revisited and reshaped. “Reshaping the Tradition” aims to reformulate by means of musical culture the relationship between individual and community, local context and other cultures, setting bridges across diverse worlds and traditions. 

THE WORKSHOPS IN SIENA

The fourth edition of the workshops on music rooted in the Eastern Mediterranean tradition will take place this year from 2 to 7 October. They will be held at the historic Palazzo Chigi Saracini, home of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, center of excellence in training young talents, concert production, and the promotion of music. 

The 2023 edition represents the return to Siena of Ross Daly, founder of Labyrinth Musical Workshop, a training centre based in Crete (Greece). Labyrinth is focused on overcoming the distances between different cultures that may be associated on the other side of a real or imaginary border, which must be erased. 

Together with Ross Daly and Kelly Thoma (lyra), will be Martha Mavroidi (singing) and Zohar Fresco (percussion) . 

The 2023 Workshop also includes a special event for audiences: a concert in Siena on Friday 6 October, h. 21:15 in the Salone dei Concerti of Palazzo Chigi Saracini. The concerts will feature the teachers of the workshop and special guests.

Led by Accademia Chigiana with the help of Labyrinth Italia, the international project “Reshaping the Tradition” is now held in collaboration with ISMEO (International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies), whose purpose is to conduct study, training and research programmes related to the cultures and countries of Asia and Africa and their interactions with the Mediterranean basin.

TIMETABLE

The workshops will be held in the Palazzo Chigi Saracini (via di Città 89, Siena), seat of Accademia Musicale Chigiana since 1923.

Lessons will be held each day from October 2-7th.
October 2 h. 15:00-18:00
October 3-6 h. 10:00-13:00 and 15:00-18:00
October 7 h. 10:00-13:00

ADMISSIONS
To participate in the masterclasses please fill the online application form.

APPLICATION DEADLINE
29 SEPTEMBER 2023

LESSONS BEGIN
2 OCTOBER 2023

COURSES
GREEK FOLK SINGING
MARTHA MAVROIDI
FRAME DRUMS 
ZOHAR IZHAK FRESCO
LIVE CONCERTS
SIENA
FRIDAY 6 OCTOBER

Palazzo Chigi Saracini, h. 21,00
in collaboration with
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workshop advisor
THE COURSES

MAKAM: STRUCTURES, MODULATIONS AND COMPOSITION

ROSS DALY
KELLY THOMA
TIMETABLE

AULA VERDI
October 2  h. 15:00-18:00
October 3 – 6
h. 10:00-13:00 e 15:00-18:00
October 7
h. 10:00-13:00

WORKSHOP

This seminar is focused on makam-based compositions. We will analyse their modal structure and learn to recognise both the characteristic motifs and the patterns of phrases that are essential for understanding the order and trajectory of the modulations. These latter constitute a fundamental element in each composition.
The seminar is open to all instruments and will provide for the special participation of Kelly Thoma.

ARTIST BIO

Music is the language of my dialogue with that which I perceive to be sacred

Born in 1952 in King’s Lynn, Norfolk (UK), Ross Daly has travelled all over the world, especially in the Middle East through Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, studying both diverse forms of music and local traditions.
Settling in Crete, he created Labyrinth Musical Workshop in 1982: an educational institution based in the village of Houdetsi since 2002. There, traditional music masters from different parts of the world gather every year to offer seminars and master classes, based on the direct transfer of skills from master to pupil. Labyrinth Musical Workshop is a meeting place for all those interested in musical traditions and today it is recognised in Greece as the leading educational institution in the field of modal music. Daly has released more than 35 albums of his own compositions and arrangements of melodies collected during his travels.
He coined the term ‘contemporary modal music’, which denotes the repertoire of contemporary compositions inspired and influenced by the grammar of musical cultures spread over a geographical area stretching from West Africa to the western foothills of China.

In 1982 he established an educational institution called Labyrinth Musical Workshop, which  since 2002 is situated in the village of Houdetsi, on the island of Crete.  Seminars and “master-classes” are conducted every year at Labyrinth with some of the greatest teachers of traditional music from around the world. It is a meeting point for musicians and students and is recognized as the leading institution in Greece today, in the field of education of modal and traditional music in general.

Daly has released more than 35 albums of his own compositions and of his own arrangements of traditional melodies collected during his travels.

Ross Daly is the originator of the term Contemporary Modal Music, which refers to contemporary compositional works which draw their influences and inspiration from the broader world of Modal musical traditions which are found primarily (although not exclusively) in the vast geographical region between Western Africa and Western China.

Kelly Thoma has been studying the lyra with Ross Daly since 1995 and soon after started travelling with him and his group, “Labyrinth” to perform in some of the most prestigious venues and festivals around the world. She has participated in many projects with musicians from various traditions of the world, such as the Trio Chemirani, Ömer Erdoğdular, Derya Türkan , Zohar Fresco, Efrén López, Pedram Khavar Zamini, Dhruba Ghosh, Ballake Sissoko, Erdal Erzincan, Mehmet Erenler, Yurdal Tokcan, Mayu Shviro, Ustad Mohammed Rahim Khushnawaz and many more. All these collaborations resulted in a unique sound and a personal style on the lyra as well as a creative approach to traditional music.

She is a member of Tokso Folk String Quartet with Anne Hytta, Eleonore Billy and Sigrun Eng exploring and creating music inspired -amongst others- by nordic traditions.

With Ross Daly she has performed in Carnegie Hall, Theatre de la Ville, Queen Elizabeth Hall, San Francisco WMF, Rainforest WMF, Womadelaide, Rudolstadt and many other important venues and festivals around the world.

She has released three albums of her own compositions Anamkhara (2009), 7Fish (2014) and “As Τhe Winds Die Down” (2018). She graduated both from the English Literature Department of the University of Athens and from the Rallou Manou dance school.

FRAME DRUMS

ZOHAR IZHAK FRESCO
TIMETABLE

TEATRINO
October 2  h. 15:00-18:00
October 3 – 6
h. 10:00-13:00 e 15:00-18:00
October 7
h. 10:00-13:00

WORKSHOP

Zohar Izhak Fresco is known as a pioneer of the Tof Miriam, the ancient frame drum originated in the Middle East more than three thousand years ago. Fresco understood the great value and the wide musical range that exists in the Tof Miriam and dedicated his life to the development of a new fingering technique and a unique musical language by the name MANEGINA. In doing so Fresco created his own drumming style and became a mentor to musicians all over the world who followed him, learned the secrets of his musical method, and adapted his drumming style in their musical work. His seminar is a Masterclass open to no more than 10 students which will be selected after a previous audition. Topics of the seminar will be:
a) Upper position Bendir (12″ to 14″) fingering technique and compositions
b) Riq (Arabic tambourine) fingering technique and middle eastern traditional rhythms
c) Sitting position Bendir (16″ to 22″) fingering technique, compositions and improvisation

ARTIST BIO

Zohar Izhak Fresco  is an Israeli-born (1969) percussionist and composer. He is one of the most prominent specialists of the frame drums techniques. His personal style combining different traditions and performance practices is praised worldwide. He forms a renowned trio with Polish pianist Leszeck Możdżer and Swedish double bassist Lars Danielsson. Between 1991 and 2003, he was a member of the Israeli world music band Bustan Abraham. His many prestigious collaborations include composer Philip Glass, drummer Hamid Drake, oud player Amir Dinkjian, saxophonist Daniel Zamir and violinist Taiseer Elias.

GREEK FOLK SINGING

MARTHA MAVROIDI
TIMETABLE

AULA BOCCHERINI
October 3  h. 15:00-18:00
October 4 – 6
h. 10:00-13:00 e 15:00-18:00
October 7
h. 10:00-13:00

WORKSHOP

In this workshop we will learn folk songs from different parts of Greece, focusing on the stylistic details of each region: the ornaments, the musical intervals, the rhythmic nuances etc. At the same time we will get a glance at the ethnographic background of each song, the rituals that it accompanies and its place within the yearly circle of festivities. Studying songs from different regions, we will try to find the connections between Greek folk singing and the larger tradition of modal music in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean.

ARTIST BIO

Martha Mavroidi is a singer, lutist and composer from Greece. Her critically acclaimed debut album “The Garden of Rila” established her as a first class folk musician and singer of the new generation, as well as an accomplished composer and orchestrator. Martha’s extraordinary voice combines the Greek and Middle Eastern ornaments and microtonal subtleties, with the rich colors of Bulgarian singing. Her dazzling technique on the lafta and the saz, is often compared to the skills of master musicians of both folk and jazz origin. Her second album, “Portaki”, features the Martha Mavroidi Trio, with which she has toured in Sweden, Spain, France, Turkey, Cyprus and Greece, and has performed at Womex Globalkan Scene in 2012. Constantly working on new projects, performing also with her acoustic quartet and different music ensembles, she composes music for films and dance show. Martha Mavroidi is the artistic director of Tinos World Music Festival.