Ben&Stelios@KSYMENov2025

video upload by Schema Musicalis

"Ben Roidl-Ward: bassoon - Stelios Giannoulakis: EMS Synthi100
Free Improvisation at ΚΣΥΜΕ/CMRC, Athens 27 Nov 2025

A frequency-to-voltage converter and two envelope followers allow Ben's bassoon to drive voices from the synth, while Stelios radically adjusts parameters and adds elements with the joysticks, the faders, and the other controls. No other sources or effects were used.

Recognized by the Washington Post as one of the artists “changing the sound of classical music,” Ben Roidl-Ward stands out for his technical and expressive versatility. He is an Associate Professor of Bassoon at the University of Illinois and Principal Bassoonist in three symphony orchestras. He collaborates with the Ensemble Dal Niente and the Lucerne Festival and has participated in over 180 premieres. He studied at Northwestern, Rice, and Oberlin, mentored by prominent bassoonists. On 27 November 2025, together with the Composer Niki Charlafti, Ben visited CMRC to present the project Building Bridges. Stelios Giannoulakis is a Greek composer and engineer playing with modular and circuit-bent devices. While teaching Electroacoustic Composition and Creative Music Technology at ΚΣΥΜΕ, he has been fortunate to become familiar with the historic EMS Synthi100 analog synthesizer.

from the event:
'Tο ΚΣΥΜΕ φιλοξενεί τον Αμερικάνο φαγκοτίστα Ben Roidl-Ward (Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) και την Ελληνίδα συνθέτρια Νίκη Χαρλάφτη (PhD in Composition and Music Technology, Northwestern University) με το project Building Bridges. Παρουσίαση και συζήτηση πάνω στην δημιουργική και εκπαιδευτική προσέγγιση της ομάδας, εκτέλεση έργων για σόλο φαγκότο των Μηχάλη Παρασκάκη, Στρατή Μηνανάκη και Νίκου Χαριζάνου, αυτοσχεδιασμός με το EMS Synthi100 από τον Ben Roidl-Ward και τον Στέλιο Γιαννουλάκη. Το Building Bridges έχει σκοπό την ανάθεση, εκτέλεση και προώθηση τολμηρών νέων έργων για φαγκότο από Έλληνες συνθέτες σε διεθνές επίπεδο, όπως και την εκπαίδευση και διασύνδεση διαφορετικών ομάδων ακροατών'"