Manolis Ekmektsoglou

Manolis Ekmektsoglou was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. He studied composition at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and the University of York (PhD). He also spent a year at Hannover Musikhochschule studying acoustic and electronic music. He is an Assistant Professor of Acoustic and Acousmatic Composition at the Technical University of Istanbul, Department of Composition and Sonic Arts, Center for Advanced Study in Music (M.I.A.M.).

Manolis participated in the “Labor Beethoven 2017-2020” project, funded and organized by the Berlin Academy of the Arts. He received the third prize in the Karol Szymanowski composition competition 2023 with the work Motion, in Two, for solo violin.

With his music, he tries to approach the sound using AI and generative driven methods, not only in electronic but also in instrumental music. He constantly tries to figure out ways of transferring AI generated material to music, not just as a collection of sounds but in the framework of a music composition. 

His pieces have been performed in several festivals, like Hitzacker Musiktage 2018, Mixtur festival 2016, Crossroads festival 2017, International Electronic Music Festival, Reza Korourian Awards 2017, Resonance FM 104.4, RNM Call 2022, TTI Conference 2021, Viberation#2 soundscape project, Réseau inDREAM Network, MISE-EN festival 2022, Atemporánea festival 2022, OutHear New Music Week 2021. Ensembles that have performed his music include Klangforum Wien, Neues Vocalsolisten, MISE EN ensemble, NAMES, Synaesthesis ensemble, DissonArt Ensemble, Diotima Quartet, Psappha ensemble, and Gallois trio.

Musical Practices in the Contemporary World is his first book, where he tries to sum up what has happened in New Music after the 70s, making meaningful connections with the past and providing suggestions from the contemporary repertoire.