MUSICOLOGY

Michalis Patseas

Choir conductor and music teacher, director of the Greek Kodály Conservatory and Institute and conductor of its choirs and orchestral ensembles. Valentinos Patrikidis was his first music teacher. He studied theory of music, composition, Byzantine church music, singing, choir and orchestra conducting at the National Conservatory of Athens, the Vienna University of Music and the Zoltán Kodály Pedagogical Institute of Music in Hungary. He graduated from the latter with an Advanced Diploma of postgraduate studies in Music Pedagogy and Choir Conducting, with Peter Erdei as his professor. He is also a graduate of the Department of Law and a Ph.D. candidate of the Department of Musical Studies of the Athens University. He has taken part in 18 musicology and music pedagogy congresses (in Greece, Italy, France, Denmark, Hungary, Finland, and the U.S.) mainly as an invited lecturer (15 lectures). He has taught conducting, music pedagogy, and singing at the Kodály Institute and at international seminars. He has also taught at institutions of higher education in Hungary, Cyprus, and at the Department of Musical Studies of the Athens University. He is conducting choirs and orchestral ensembles in Greece and abroad. His choirs have appeared at the Megaron, The Athens Concert Hall (34 times), at the Herodes Atticus Odeon, at the Ancient Theatre of Epidauros and elsewhere. He has been the first conductor of the Greek Radio Children’s choir (1995-1999) and a board member of the International Kodály Society (1991-1999). The Hungarian Ministry of Culture has awarded him the “Pro Cultura Hungarica” award.