String Quartets

This work was first performed by the Diotima Quartet in 2016, and later on June 13, 2018, as part of the Kinetic Nights #3 Manchester Festival.

The String Quartet No. 2 is a five-movement composition based primarily on texture transformation. To achieve this, several approaches are employed, including harmonic permutation, melodic patterns, fluctuation of dynamics and extended playing techniques. In addition, the acoustic characteristics of each instrument’s tonal range were manipulated; the resulting effects on timbre and sonority underpin subsequent texture modulation and texture change. The development of a clearly defined idea throughout each individual movement is the major characteristic of the String Quartet No. 2 that results in a consistent form. The form is also stimulated by clarity in musical style and the avoidance of redundant, excessively complicated notation.

String Quartet No. 2 (2016)

My first String Quartet performed by DissonArt Ensemble of Contemporary Music

String Quartet (2012)

String Quartet No. 3 is the result of exploration of technology and tradition. The piece was
composed entirely within Ableton Live, utilizing a custom Max for Live (M4L) patch that I
developed using Max/Msp visual programming environment. At its core, the composition is
driven by four oscillators that interact and blend, each contributing to the sonic fabric of the
work. The transcription of the material from Ableton into conventional notation was undertaken at a subsequent stage of the process. These synthesized elements aim to engage with and expand upon the timbral palette of the string quartet, an ensemble whose sonic possibilities have been continually redefined since its establishment in the common practice era.

This work received its premiere during the MIAM 25th Anniversary Gala in November 2024, commemorating a quarter-century since the department's founding.

Conductor: Kamran Ince
Violin I: Ceren Türkmenoğlu 
Violin II: Seçil Işıksoy 
Viola: İlay Öztürk 
Cello: Gözde Yasar

String Quartet No. 3 (2024)

How can form  evolve under a nowadays psychological framework? Is it more difficult to compose long or short pieces and is there any morality in it that serves as a proof of the composer’s skills? My musical interests are focused on a personal composition method that started from my late integrated masters years in Thessaloniki and which eventually was the subject of my PhD research in York. It used to serve as a preliminary stage for an instrumental composition; however, since 2017 the “Selective Subtraction of tone and rhythmic material” composition technique serves as a tool to create but mostly to sculpt the tone and rhythmic material of the instruments that will interweave with the electronics. As its name signifies it is based on a subtractionprocess that gives a certain amount of material. This material forms the basis for an evolutionary process where finally, all these elements are combined in order to give the final piece. Under the scope of electronics it incorporates computational methods like Csound software, Ableton Live and MaxMasp (Sound Synthesis private patch library) in the direction of finding new ways of pattern development and thus evolution of the form.

For examples of the Selective Subtraction of tone and rhythmic material” composition technique enter here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/alutmo3h0ue30ec/AAC-LmZExoUMBr6lVgabz1YOa?dl=0

Sound Synthesis private maxmsp library: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AvxYMmv9_S-sgfRtKB-Vq4t2l1PE_g?e=o8BN6A 

PhD thesis: http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/20111/
Website: https://manolisekmektsoglousite.wordpress.com/
email: ekmektsoglou8@gmail.com 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Manolis Ekmektsoglou studied composition in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece with Dimitri Papageorgiou and in the University of York (PhD) with Thomas Simaku. He also spend a year in Hannover studying acoustic and electronic music (Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover), with Professors Ming Tsao, Gordon Williamson and Joachim Heintz. He is currently Assistant Professor of Acoustic and Acousmatic composition in the Technical University of Istanbul, Department of 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. The project comprised participants from Basel, Tel-Aviv and Thessaloniki. This intensive 4-year period included commissions and performances from various ensembles in Germany and Switzerland and culminated in a final performance that took place in Berlin in 12-13/04/2020. For more info enter here: https://www.labor-beethoven-2020.de/de, and for the final output: In Love…, for voice, ensemble and mixed media https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORJfUvJ0iUo, Circus Story: Taming the animals, for alto saxophone, percussion and fixed media https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhBiIEBGrY4

His pieces have been performed in Greece (DissonArt ensemble, New Hellenic Quartet, Off Borders Festival for electronic music in Thessaloniki, Music in Motion festival for dance and music, Athens), Germany (Neues Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Earth, Sky, Space festival, Hitzacker Musiktage 2018), Italy (Soundiff project), Hong Kong (AMGA ensemble), Spain (ensemble Regards Mixtur festival 2016), Austria (NAMES ensemble, Synaesthesis ensemble, Crossroads festival), Iran (International Electronic Music Festival, Reza Korourian Awards 2017), and the UK (Kinetic nights festival, Manchester, Andersson – Gallois – De Saram trio, Diotima Quartet, Psappha ensemble). Upcoming activities comprise performance of the existing work Ripping…having…standing…oben!!, for ensemble in Versipel New Music festival, Louisiana (postponed for 2021 due to pandemics) and a premiere of a work specifically written for MISE-EN festival, New York (postponed for 2021 due to pandemics). 

For a detailed CV follow this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hprdtba1p9plqhj/CV.pdf?dl=0