Open call for 30 artists - Music Theater Lab - GNO Educational programs

The Alternative Stage of the GNO organises a practice-based research workshop, under the title Music Theatre Lab, that will examine the relationship between music theatre and the technology of sound and image.
The Alternative Stage of the GNO invites 30 artists of minimum 18 years of age from the following disciplines: music theatre, music composition, sound art, electronic music composition, visual arts, graphic design, architecture, scenography, lighting design, photography, film, animation and relevant disciplines.

The Music Theatre Lab will explore the sonic, spatial and visual potential of the Alternative Stage of the GNO through the application of Digital Arts, Interactive Media and Programming.
Participants will work intensively within the GNO Alternative Stage space at SNFCC aiming to create an interactive, audiovisual installation, specifically designed for the Alternative Stage. The Music Theatre Lab will consist of two working groups, with one focusing on the sonic and the other on the visual aspect of the project.
The two groups will work collaboratively with the aim to produce a common audiovisual installation, which will be presented at the GNO Alternative Stage at SNFCC, right at the end of the Music Theatre Lab.

Dates of the Music Theatre Lab: Saturday the 24th and Sunday the 25th of June, Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th of July, Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th of July, Saturday the 9th and Sunday the 10th of September, Saturday the 30th of September and Sunday the 1st of October. The date and time of the final show will be announced shortly.

Artistic coordinators: Stavros Gasparatos (composer, sound artist), Tassos Kanellos (Dipl Architect, MSc Computation), Dr. Anna Laskari (Dipl Architect, MPhil Architecture, MSc Computation, PhD

*To fill in the application form, please click here

The visual approach group of the Music Theatre Lab

With the guidance and supervision of the architects Tassos Kanellos and Anna Laskari, the group will engage with the visual aspect of the work. The participants will investigate methods for capturing, composing, processing and transforming data in real time with the use of digital computational media and programming techniques for the production of dynamic configurations with a visual and spatial expression.

Methodologically, the approach will evolve in three stages:

1. Parametric, rule-based definition of dynamically produced content (visual, spatial, kinetic) for the determination of the expressive range of the end result.
2. Control of the parametric content through generative processes described algorithmically and incorporating elements of complexity and adaptability.
3. Driving the generative processes with data that are extracted from dynamic environmental stimuli in real-time (e.g. sonic environment, human activity) for the introduction of interactive characteristics to the project.

Within the Music Theatre Lab framework, the participants of the visual approach group will attend intensive training seminars on the Processing programming language.

The aim of the group is to create a live interactive stage that negotiates the boundaries between the material and the digital and merges with the sound, the performers and the audience into a unified audiovisual whole. The incorporation of digital technology and the experimental computational approach aim to expand the expressive means and to identify new organizational structures and forms of performativity and dramatization in music theatre.

The visual approach group will consist of individuals with a background in visual arts (e.g. visual arts, graphic design, architecture, scenography, light design, photography, film, animation etc.), who are already familiar with the use of digital media for the production of two-dimensional and three-dimensional visual content and who are interested in investigating the possibilities of computational approaches in their own work.
Artistic Coordinators: Tassos Kanellos (Dipl Architect, MSc Computation), Dr. Anna Laskari (Dipl Architect, MPhil Architecture, MSc Computation, PhD)
Maximum number of participants: 15

The sonic approach group of the Music Theatre Lab

With the guidance and the supervision of Stavros Gasparatos (composer/sound artist), the group will be responsible for the sonic/musical part of the work. The participants will explore ways that the natural sound and the digital world interact and influence one another, as well as the organic use of technology as a tool of composition and interpretation. The aim of the group is to create an interactive sonic/musical installation.

Methodologically, the approach will evolve in the following stages:

1. Live digital processing of sound as a tool for composition.
2. The use of the computer and music software as a musical instrument.
3. The natural sound as a medium of handling electronic sound sources through the use of ordinary and contact microphones.
4. The movement and spatialization of sound as an element of a musical/sonic composition
5. Interaction of sound and image

The participants of the sonic approach group, will explore the possibilities and applications of the music software Ableton Live and Max for Live.
The aim of the group is to create a sonic/musical piece of work in the form of an interactive sound installation, which will contribute to the expansion of the expressive tools in musical theatre with the aid of technology.
This group will be formed by individuals with a background in music and sound arts (e.g. music theatre, music, sound art, electronic music, etc.), who are familiar with at least on music software (Digital Audio Workstation)

Artistic Coordinator: Stavros Gasparatos (composer, sound artist)
Maximum number of participants: 15

Selection process

Interested parties are invited to send the necessary documents via email to the email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with email subject either Visual Approach_Full Name_Music Theatre Lab or Sonic Approach_Full Name_Music Theatre Lab. In the occasion that the size of the files exceeds the maximum capacity of an email’s attachment, the interested party is kindly asked to send all files via wetransfer, with the appropriate indication, as described aboved.
In case the necessary documents/files are only available in hard copy, the interested party could send all files by either courrier sevices or post to the following address

Music Theatre Lab
Learning & Participation department of the Greek National Opera,
364 Syggrou Avenue
Kallithea, 17674, Athens,
Greece

The deadline of the open call is the 20th of April 2017 at 5pm.

The (30) selected participants will have the opportunity to attend the workshop for free. The 30 successful applicants are obliged to attend all the scheduled sessions of the Music Theatre Lab including the final presentation. In the occasion of one’s absence during the scheduled sessions of the Music Theatre Lab, the Greek National Opera may suspend his/her participation. No artist fee is to be given to the selected participants for their participation in all stages of the Music Theatre Lab.
All participants must be at least 18 years old by the deadline of application submission on the 20th of April 2017.

Necessary documents/files

Those interested in applying to the Music Theatre Lab, are kindly requested to provide the following:

• Application form
• A short CV (doc, docx and pdf only)
• Artist’s statement (maximum of 500 words, doc, docx and pdf only)
• Sample of musical/sound or visual material
• A short description explaining why you would like to participate in the Musical Theatre Lab of the GNO Alternative Stage (maximum of 1000 words, doc, docx and pdf only)

Terms and Conditions

• In case of application via email the files must be in one of the following formats:
  .zip .xls .gif .aac .mpeg-1 .mkv .rar .jpg .mp3 .mpeg-2 .mov .txt .doc .png .mp4 .vod .mwv .pdf .docx .jpeg .flv .wav .m4v .swf
• The submission of an application does not guarantee the applicant’s entry to the Music Theatre Lab of the GNO Alternative Stage.
• The Alternative Stage and the Learning and Participation department of the GNO are not obliged to explain the rejection of an application.
• The Alternative Stage and the Learning and Participation department of the GNO will not use or distribute the material and content of any application submission.
• The Alternative Stage and the Learning and Participation department of the GNO are not obliged to return the material and content of any application, if sent via post or courier.
• A notification letter of acceptance or rejection will be sent exclusively via email.
• Any enquiry regarding the application process for participation will be accepted ONLY via email. Please send e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the indication Music Theatre Lab.

The selection process will be conducted by the Artistic Coordinators of the Music Theatre Lab, the Head of Programming of the Alternative Stage and the Head of Learning and Participation of the Greek National Opera

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