About

Tassos Genpō 玄峰 Tataroglou is a musician, composer, improviser and choir conductor, born in 1985 in Thessaloniki, Greece. He lives in Basel since 2013. Studies in Greece in classical trumpet, music theory, modern singing, musicology and pedagogics. Postgraduate studies in free improvisation with Fred Frith and Alfred Zimmerlin at the Music Academy of Basel. Further studies in choir conducting at the Music Academy of Basel with Martin Wettges. Shakuhachi studies with Seian Genshin (Fuke Myōan). In June 2024 he received the name Genpō 玄峰 from Seian Genshin, 42nd Kanshu of Myoan-ji temple.

In 2016-2017 he designed the Microtone – Duplex trumpet, which is the result of a combination of different construction techniques for brass instruments from the Renaissance up to the 20th century. With the Microtone-Duplex trumpet, Tassos has significantly expanded the trumpet’s tonal and timbral palette, as well as its possibilities in the field of electroacoustic music. His research in the field of manipulation of feedback loops through the trumpet and electronic pedal effects led him create a unique way of performing the trumpet both as a musical instrument as well as an analogue controller of a synthesizer simultaneously. In the last case, the traditional model of trumpet playing is reversed, since the bell actually functions as a receiver than as a transmitter, in other words the bell becomes the ear and the valves, keys etc the controlling device.

Tassos is a member of Insub Meta Orchestra (Geneva) & Unorthodox Jukebox Orchestra (Basel). He has performed in major festivals of contemporary and improvised music across Europe and Russia. Collaborations among others with Axel Dörner, Florian Walter, Tom Djll, Giancarlo Nicolai, Eric Ruffing, Anna-Kaisa Meklin, Petr Vrba, Ilia Belorukov, Costis Drygianakis, Marina Tantanozi, Yorgos Dimitriadis, Mara Winter, Steve Buchanan, Clara de Asis, Camille Emaille, Gaudenz Badrutt, Francesca Naibo, Marina Djukliev, Fred Frith, Sebastien Branche, Christoph Schiller, Michael Szafirowski, George Kokkinaris, Dimos Vryzas, Dimos Dimitriadis, Andreas Mniestris, Nefeli Stamatogianopoulou, Sylvain Haenen, Igor Stepniewski, Hugo Panzer et al.

He has composed music for theater and film, as well as music for ensemble and solo instruments .

In February 2024 he toured Italy, Serbia, North Macedonia and Greece with his project Leuchtfeuer, a musical concept on sonified Lighthouse signals and improvisation with the trio Nicolai/Ruffing/Tataroglou. In June 2023 he presented his research on the performance of Honkyoku (original pieces for shakuhachi) with the Microtone – Duplex trumpet at the opening concert of the International Shakuhachi Festival of Prague (CZ).

He has recorded four personal albums and he has numerous other contributions. His book with the adaptation of Tsuru no Sugomori – Renpoken for solo shakuhachi in western staff notation was appreciated by leading shakuhachi experts from all over the world as well as from academic institutions.

FIM Basel, Photo by Urs Schmid