Polykarpos Tympas holds a degree in Musicology from the Department of Music Studies of the School of Philosophy at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), with a grade of 8.99/10 (Excellent), specializing in Byzantine Musicology (2016). He also holds a Master’s degree in Byzantine Musicology from the same department, with a grade of 9.90/10 (Excellent, 2018). Since January 2019, he has been a PhD candidate at the Department of Music Studies (NKUA), working on a dissertation titled “Petros the Melodist Bereketis: The Aesthetics of His Work,” under the supervision of Professor Achilleas Chaldaiakis.
His musical education has also led to the following qualifications:
• Diploma in Byzantine Chant with distinction (2006, School of Byzantine Ecclesiastical Music of the Metropolis of Trikki and Stagon, Trikala)
• Harmony Certificate in Advanced Music Theory with distinction (2007, Trikala Municipal Conservatory)
• Diploma in Byzantine Music with distinction and First Prize (2011, Orpheio Conservatory, Athens)
• Violin Certificate with distinction (2016, Kolovas Conservatory, Trikala)
Polykarpos Tympas’s academic and research experience includes:
• Cataloguing of musical manuscripts in the library of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem (2014–2017), under the supervision of Professors Dimitrios Balageorgos and Flora Kritikou (NKUA)
• Cataloguing of musical manuscripts in the library of Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai (2016), under the supervision of Professor Flora Kritikou (NKUA)
• Documentation of manuscripts from the monasteries of Mount Athos, as part of the EU-funded research project “Athonic Digital Ark” (2018), under the supervision of historian Kriton Chrysochoidis
He has served at the cantor’s stand from 2009 to 2015 as lampadarios (assistant cantor) at the pilgrimage church of Saint Barbara in the Municipality of the same name (Attica), and since then as protopsaltis (chief cantor) at the Cathedral of Saint Therapon in Zografou, Athens.
He is also active as a performer, being a member of the chant ensembles “The Maestros of the Art of Chanting,” “Melodoi of Trikki,” and “Ilisiotes Psaltes,” with appearances in Greece and abroad (Romania, South Korea, Italy, Israel). He has also performed as a violinist with the Athens Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of the Department of Music Studies at NKUA (2010–2015).
During the academic years 2019–2020, 2020–2021, and 2021–2022, Polykarpos Tympas taught Byzantine Music (Greek Traditional Music) in secondary education as a substitute teacher at the Music Schools of Chalkida, Lamia, and Karditsa, respectively. In the current academic year, he is serving as a substitute teacher at the 1st Primary School of Holargos. In the spring semester of the 2020–2021 academic year, he also taught at the Department of Music Studies (School of Philosophy, NKUA) as an academic fellow, offering the course Musical Notations in Byzantine Parasemantic Notation by Professor Achilleas Chaldaiakis.
