Christos Barbas / piano, ney, kaval, vocals
Christos Barbas was born in 1980 in Thessaloniki. He has been playing and studying music from a young age: ney with Omer Erdogdular and Markos Skoulios, Kaval with Nedyalko Nedyalkov, Blockflöte with Kostis Papazoglou and Bernhard Böhm, theory of Western Tonal Music with Nikos Solomonidis and Vasilis Kitsos. He has taken courses in piano and cello, moreover he has attended Shakuhachi seminars with Kiku Day. He studied Byzantine music with Panagiotis Neohoritis, Bansuri and North Indian music with Shiam Sunders and Nicolas Magriel; he is self-taught in whistling, accordion, Galician bagpipe, tin whistle, guitar and more.
He holds a degree in Musicology from the School of Fine Arts of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Master in Ethnomusicology from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is interested in a variety of music genres ranging from contemporary and improvised music, medieval, Renaissance, baroque and classical music to music for theatre and dance, modal jazz, Greek traditional music, Turkish ritual and classical music, Bulgarian, Indian, Afghan music etc.
Christos Barbas’ engagement with music spans from composition and interpretation to performance and teaching. He has collaborated with some of the foremost bands and musicians in the area of modal music, such as: L’ Ham de Foc, Ross Daly, Kelly Thoma, Efren Lopez, Aman Aman, Evgenios Voulgaris, Ensemble Calixtinus, Mara Aranda, Daud Khan Sadozai, Magnanimus Trio. He has toured extensively in Spain, Germany, France and Italy, as well as outside the European scene, travelling to China, Israel and Morocco; he has worked as a collaborator with the prestigious Cirque du Soleil from Quebec – Canada.
In 2010 Christos Barbas produced a CD for the group Yeden (Nomeolvides Records 001). He has taught ney, kaval and given courses of traditional music at the University of Macedonia, Department of Music Science & Art, in the city of Thessaloniki (2007-2011), and at the School of Traditional and Popular Music of TEI, Arta (2006-2009). He has worked at Labyrinth Musical Workshop, Crete as seminar coordinator. He regularly teaches ney and Ottoman classical music in seminars in Spain, France and Italy.
Pavlos Spyropoulos / double bass
Pavlos Spyropoulos was born in Athens in 1984. He began studying piano and cello at the Conservatory of Trikala “Tassia Kassiola.” In 2003 he started studying contrabass with Haralambos Himarios (State Conservatory of Thessaloniki).
He graduated from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Music Studies, in 2008 and holds a degree in Harmony, Counterpoint and Fugue, along with a degree in Piano (class of Markella Tsouva).
He regularly attends seminars of music theory, piano, Ottoman music, traditional drumming, as well as composition and orchestration of modal music. Since 2004 he has been teaching music theory at the Conservatory “Tasia Kassiola” in Trikala.
As a contrabass player, he participates in projects involved in traditional and contemporary music. In 2009 he entered the nuevo flamenco band “Caja Secreta”. In 2010 Pavlos, together with Christos Barbas and Dimitris Tasoudis, formed the Magnanimus Trio (modal jazz). He is also a member of the groups “Modal4”, with Evgenios Voulgaris, and “Zurlia trio” (both bands play contemporary modal music). Since 2010 he has been often performing with the “Labyrinth” ensemble and Ross Daly. He was also a member of the theatrical-musical group “Mousiko Polytropo” (directed by Giannis Kaimakis).
At the end of May 2013 he performed with Erkan Ogur & Derya Turkan in two concerts, at the Museum of Greek Folk Instruments in Athens and at the World Music Festival on the island of Tinos.
Dimitris Tasoudis / drums, piano, keys, marimba
Dimitris Tasoudis was born in Thessaloniki in 1980. He graduated from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Music Studies, and holds the degrees in Harmony, Counterpoint, Fugue and Composition (class of Kostas Siembis). His focus was on semiotic analysis. He has studied Classical Percussion with Anastassis Vasileiadis at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki. He also teaches music in secondary level schools.
He has an MA in Composition and Percussion from the Department of Music Studies of the University of York, UK (under the supervision of William Brooks and Damien Harron). He studied drums with Nikos Sidirokastritis and followed master classes/private lessons with John Taylor, Tatiana Koleva, Jan Pustjens, Mal Waldron, Jeff Boudreaux, Antonis Anissegos, the Dimitriadis brothers a.o.
Dimitris Tasoudis collaborates with: Modal4, Irene Sinou quartet, The Rest, Myrto de Con Ticofs, DD ensemble. He has performed with musicians such as John Taylor, Zezo Olimpio, Stef Conner, Alex Harker, Paul Baxter, Giannis Κoutlas, Νikos Tsiachris a.o.