My book about the pioneer greek guitarist Dimitri Fampas (1921-1996) was recently published (2017) by Panas Music. Pages: 456. Dimensions 17x24cm. ISBN: 978-6-18-531302-9. My goal is to investigate an unknown area in the history of modern Greek music and in particular to explore the rapid increase of interest in classical guitar in the second half of the twentieth century in Greece. Also, to investigate the foundations and development conditions of the Greek guitar school, through the study of the life and work of Dimitris Fampas.

The news of the ousting of Apostolos Kostios, Emeritus Professor of the University of Athens, is very sad. His contribution and presence was decisive for the musical things in Greece in the scientific and artistic field. His presence was also decisive for those who were lucky enough to attend his classes and get to know him closely. The passion with which he taught, inspired a generation of young scientists to turn to musicological research and love Greek art music. The same passion characterized his communication with people; his speech had the power to captivate you, to electrify you. An integral character, with a rare ethos, it was inevitable to be a role model for his students and a point of reference for his associates. His funeral took place in a close family circle. Those wishing to send a message of condolence to the family can contact using this address.

The conference entitled “Music Engraving in the 21st Century – Developments and Perspectives” is held in Mozarteum Music University in Salzburg, Austria, January 17th – 19th, 2020. According to the conference invitation “computers are everywhere today. Even in the music world, computers have become a tool used for many purposes; especially for music engraving, they are now indispensable. The old craft of music engravers has become extinct, and we now rely on programs to apply the knowledge and aesthetics accumulated over centuries. This brings opportunities and challenges that have to be considered as we head towards the future of musical applications in the digital age.” See the program of the conference

Tassos Kolydas gave a talk on January 17th, entitled “Locked in time: Utilizing blockchain technology for the long-term preservation of engraved music” . The source code for the presented examples is available at github.

The paper entitled Timestamping Metadata Using Blockchain: A Practical Approach was published in the Springer Nature series.

Abstract: Long-term preservation of digital information requires confidence in the credibility and ability of digital archives and systems to consistently provide accessible and usable content. Ensuring that the provided information has remained unchanged over time is a particular challenge. Trusted timestamping is an effective method that allows anyone to prove without any doubt that specific content existed at a particular date and time. A practical approach for trusted timestamping using the Ethereum blockchain is presented here. A complete metadata record is stored as transaction input data along with a document hash digest. The approach is uncomplicated, human and machine readable, self-explanatory, and modular. It supports metadata preservation and copyright protection of digital documents applying verification without disclosure. The approach aims at extending current digital archives and systems using existing, well-tested technology.

Keywords: Trusted Timestamping, Ethereum Blockchain, Digital Preservation, Copyright Protection

Tasos Kolidas and Nikos Poulakis presented a paper entitled “From handwritten sheet music to digital notation: Exploring the way Greek Composers compose their works using digital score". The presentation took place on Thursday, November 21, 11:00, at the main building of the University of Athens (Propylaea), in the context of the 11th Interdisciplinary Music Conference, "Innovation and Tradition (commemorating the 70th anniversary of Nikos Skalkota's death)," under the auspices of the Hellenic Music Society.

The purpose of the research is to investigate the way Greek composers today depict their compositions. Specifically, to what extent do they use the musical manuscript as a means of capturing a composition versus the digital score and what steps do they follow from conception of the original idea to production of the final "autograph".

Expected results of the research include outlining the use of digital scores by Greek composers and the process used to imprint a composition on musical notation. The resulting data is expected to contribute to the updating of research tools in the field of historical and systematic musicology and the reform of curricula in composition courses.

Tassos Kolydas presented a paper at the 13th International Conference on Metadata and Semantics Research, Rome, Italy, on October 29th, 2019.

The paper was entitled: Timestamping Metadata Using Blockchain: 
A Practical Approach

MTSR is an annual international inter-disciplinary conference, which brings together academics, researchers and practitioners in the specialized fields of metadata, ontologies and semantics research. The conference provides an opportunity for participants to share knowledge and novel approaches in the implementation of semantic technologies across diverse types of information environments and applications.

Title: Using blockchain technology for preserving digital documents in music libraries and archives

Short abstract:

Long-term preservation of digital information requires trust in the credibility and ability of the organization to provide consistently unchanged documents. Ensuring that the information provided has remained unchanged over time is a difficult challenge, if we take into account the many factors that can cause the modification of a digital document. The aim of the lecture is to suggest methods from the cryptography domain for digital documents preservation. In particular, blockchain technology is proposed for reliable trusted timestamping of documents in a way that is not questionable, without the need for a trusted 3rd party to guarantee the accuracy of the data. No proceedings are going to be published from the conference.

Tassos Kolydas presenter a paper at the 8th Conference of the Greek Society for Music Education, entitled Digital Scores: Selecting Software for Teaching Music in Greek Public Schools

Digital scores provide valuable support to music teachers, either as aids for lesson design and implementation or as products of the educational process. From teaching music notation to supporting school musical events, a digital score is a consistent part of a music teacher’s efforts. Factors related to day-to-day classroom management are taken into account along with factors including equipment availability, financial resources for the acquisition of hardware and software, increased teacher workloads, and teaching in multiple schools. Since learning a score editing program involves a steep learning curve, software selection must be undertaken with care to ensure that it offers long-term benefits to both teachers and students.

All things considered, it can be safely deduced that FOSS is the best choice for the Greek educational system.

Tassos Kolydas, Digital score as a historical source for recording music heritage; challenges, opportunities, perspectives

Music scores are a valuable kind of source for recording and studying music culture heritage. In particular, music manuscripts provide rich and diverse information; besides the musical content, they provide evidence for the conditions of creation of the musical work (corrections, additions and removals of material), composition (sketches, revisions, final version), identification of the work and the composer (creation date, original-copy distinction, writer's handwriting), etc. The ability to edit sheet music using a computer brings new  possibilities, gradually establishing digital score as the best way to write music. On the other hand, most of the mentioned information are missing from the digital score. The purpose of the announcement is to examine the challenges, opportunities, perspectives which occur from the study of the digital score.

A three-day conference titled The Arts in the Greek School: Present and Future was organized by the Department of Theater Studies and the Department of Music Studies of the School of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Department of Theater of the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Higher School of Fine Arts, and collaboration the Institute for Educational Policy of the Ministry of Education. The conference took place on October 11, 12 and 13 of 2018.

On November 9-11, 2018, an international conference entitled "The Birth of Contemporary Europe: World War I, Music and the Arts" was held.

World War I has been the turning point towards the birth of Contemporary Europe. It signaled the crucial end of the Empires and the shift towards new perspectives. The artistic and cultural output of the period in discussion has been rich and diverse, something that has been partially reflected on the scope of projects such as Europeana 1914-1918 , Europeana Migration and others.

In this international multidisciplinary conference, we expect to discuss several issues that have to do with artistic and cultural manifestations and their connection to music and sound in general, which occur both during, but also after, the end of the Great War.

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