Vita
Manolis Vlitakis
The composer and music theorist Manolis (Emmanouil) Vlitakis was born in 1967 in Athens, Greece.
In his hometown he studied French Literature at the University of Athens and harmony, counterpoint and fugue at the N. Skalkottas Conservatory. This was followed by studies in Berlin and Paris with degrees in composition (diploma and Meisterschüler degree/University of the Arts Berlin), music theory (diploma/HfM Hanns Eisler Berlin) and a doctorate in musicology ("summa cum laude"/Technische Universität Berlin). His teachers include M. Travlos, W. Zimmermann, G. Neuwirth, G. Grisey, M. Stroppa (composition), E. Kokkoris, H. Fladt, J. Mainka, O. Trachier (music theory), M.-A. Dalbavie (instrumentation) and C. M. Schmidt (musicology). His dissertation on sound and instrumentation in compositions by Lachenmann, Boulez, Ligeti and Grisey was published as Sinefonia 11 by Wolke Verlag. An Erasmus exchange at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP) for three semesters was decisive for his development.
Vlitakis has received funding from various foundations and from the Senate of Berlin (composition residency at the Cité des Arts in Paris, composition scholarship 2004, Nafög doctoral scholarship). Performances and commissions connect him with the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Mosaik, Ensemble Echo, Ensemble Junge Musik, Trio IAMA and with musicians such as Enno Poppe, Kasper de Roo, Frank Gutschmidt, Miltos Logiadis, Ermis Theodorakis, Alexander Doroschkevich, Theodoros Kerkezos, Simone Otto, Yoann Mylonakis and others. His work is characterized by an expanded structural thinking, which is also due to the specificity of the sonic moment. The consideration of language, literature and philosophy continues to form an important, often generative aspect of his composing.
In his writings, Vlitakis, who pursues a decidedly analytical approach, deals with the relationship between sound/instrumentation and form, music theory and composition, as well as with questions of intercultural composition. A particular focus of his work is the music of the 20th and 21st century.
His expertise in various artistic and scientific matters is reflected in his extensive work as an evaluator for several organizations (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst, Swiss National Science Foundation, Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie, etc.).
Since 2000, Manolis Vlitakis has taught music theory, composition and instrumentation/orchestration at several music academies in Germany (UdK Berlin, HfM Hanns Eisler Berlin, HfM Franz Liszt Weimar, HfMDK Frankfurt a.M.) and abroad (visiting lectureship at CNSMD Paris, master classes for composition at the State Conservatory in Tbilisi/Georgia and for orchestration at the Mozarteum Salzburg). A visiting lectureship at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna (mdw) is planned for December 2026.
From 2017 to 2019 Vlitakis was a visiting professor of composition, and in February 2020 he was appointed Professor of Music Theory at the Berlin University of the Arts.