Music Classes at Kefalonia Philharmonic – Free Access

We are proud to announce the 2nd edition of the very successful music education programs launched last year in cooperation with and support of the Philharmonic School of Kefalonia.

This year’s program builds upon and expands the 2012 success story. We will repeat the classes in Canto and Piano, and are adding Violin classes and a 1-day seminar for Flute.

Complete programme:

• July 04–12: Violin — Areta Zhulla & Regi Papa
• July 09–16: Canto — Marina Krilovici / Konstantine Valianatos
• July 18: Flute — Tom Hancox
• July 18–28: Piano (Intermediate+) — Vassilis Varvaresos

These classes are FREE for all Kefalonia students. For more information, contact the Philharmonic School of Kefalonia.
The George & Marie Vergottis Foundation extends a big thank you to all the artists above who have generously offered to provide these seminars without fee.

BIOGRAPHY

Marina Krilovici
Born in Romania, the brilliant soprano Marina Krilovici can claim a remarkable series of triumph on the international musical score. Her spectacularly beautiful voice, mucicality and technic was heard and appreciated in the biggest lyric theatres of the world (Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Hamburg, Paris. Firenze. Venice. Vienna etc), singing principal roles next to the greatest conductors, singers and directors of the opera world (Domingo, Pavarotti, Carerras, Scotto, Verett, Bumbray, Brusson, Gobbi, Ghiaurov, Santi, Maazel, Solti, Abbado, Muti, Stein, Ponell, Ustinov, Menotti, Sanjust etc).
She graduated from the Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory of Bucharest and continued her studies in the Santa Cecilia Academy in Italy. As a young student she won many first prizes in vocal international competitions like Holland’s Hertogenbusch, Canada, Montreal, Brussels and most importantly the George Enescu competition in her home country.
She was applauded by the critics and the public, singing roles like, Aida, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Andriana Lecouvreur, Carmen, Lady Macbeth, Madama Butterfly, Elisabetta (Don Carlos), Santuza (Cavaleria Rusticana), Mini (Fanciulla del west), Desdaimona (Otello), Amelia (Simon Boccanegra), Leonora (Trovatore) and many more.
During the last few years she has been living in Greece, her mother’s home country, where she also introduced her art at the Greek National Opera, the Athens Concert Hall and many Greek Festivals. Lately she is devoting herself and her art in teaching many young talented singers. She is the head singing professor at the “Maria Callas Athenaeum Conservatory” of Athens. Many of her students are making international careers and have received prizes in several international competitions. She won a title of permanently honorable singer from Athens’ Municipality in 2003.
Marina Krilovici has received many honorable distinctions internationally, but the most important title is “Citizen of Honor” in Romania. She has also been a member of the jury in many international competitions all over the world: Athens (Maria Callas Grand Prix), Canada, America etc. She is still an active singer now. Marina Krilovici’s next appearance will be at the famous concert hall, Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, a concert which will also take place in Athens in December 2011, and several other countries as well.
A very prominent artist and sought-after teacher, Marina Krilovici has been invited to many master classes around the world, as her greatest love is to give her profound knowledge to the young generation of singers, and share with them her great artistry.

Konstantine Valianatos
Pianist Konstantine Valianatos has attracted attention as an exciting young musician of great talent in both the United States and in Europe. The recipient of numerous awards, he has won eleven first prizes, six of them at International Competitions, including the International Seiler Piano Competition, International Ibiza Piano Competition, the Senigallia International Piano Competition, and the San Gemini International Piano Competition, and the Aspen Music Festival Competition, and is the recipient of scholarships as winner of the Gina Bachauer, Yamaha, Onassis and I.K.Y. Foundation Competitions. In 2004, Valianatos’ artistry and integrity were officially acknowledged when the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos presented him with the highest accolade from the Athens Academy.
Born in 1989, Valianatos already enjoys an international performing career. He has appeared as a featured soloist in concerto performances with the Greek National Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Thessaloniki, the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, and the Montevideo National Orchestra. He has been heard both in recital and as chamber musician in numerous prestigious venues, including the Salle Cortot in Paris, Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation, and the Athens Megaron, and has been featured on WQXR’s McGraw-Hill Young Artist’s Showcase. During the upcoming 2012-2013 season, Valianatos will appear as soloist with the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Carter Austin.
A dedicated chamber partner, with violinist Regi Papa and pianist Benjamin Capps he is a founding member of the Olympus Piano Trio, a group dedicated to celebrating chamber music and the Hellenic spirit. A participant in numerous summer festivals both as soloist and chamber pianist, including the Aspen International Music Festival, the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, and the Poros Academy in Poros, Greece, Valianatos will be featured at the Kefalonia Dionisios Lavragas Festival in summer 2012.
Committed to sharing his gifts with the New York City community, and in particular with young people, Valianatos travels often to the Bronx to teach piano to schoolchildren from diverse backgrounds. He maintains ties with New York City’s Greek American community by accompanying the Greek Archdiocesan Metropolitan Youth Choir. In 2012, Valianatos will be teaching a piano class at the Juilliard School as a piano minor fellow.
A native of Athens, Greece, Valianatos began his piano studies at age seven at the National Conservatory of Greece. At age fourteen, he was awarded the “Diploma of Soloist” with highest distinction. He continued his studies at the Ecole Normale in Paris with Germaine Mounier and Agathe Leimoni, receiving the “Diplome Superieur d’Execution” and the “Diplome de Concertist”. Currently a student at the Juilliard School and recipient of the George and Marie Vergottis scholarship, he was awarded a Bachelor of Music Degree in May 2012 as a student of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Jerome Lowenthal. He will continue his studies at Juilliard as a Master’s Student in the fall of 2012 under the guidance of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin.
Valianatos has attended numerous master classes with renowned pianists, including Paul Badura-Skoda, Choong-Mo Kang, Ivo Pogorelich, Julian Martin, Veda Kaplinsky, Joseph Kalichstein, Alain Lefèvre, Jean-Claude Pennetier, France Clidat, Cyprien Katsaris, Martino Tirimo, duo Ganev, Raquel Boldorini, Aaron Shorr, Oxana Yablonskaya, Bernard Ringeissen and Luigi Mostacci, and has coached chamber music with Julian Martin, Joseph Kalichstein, Jerome Lowenthal, Bonnie Hampton, and Darrett Adkins.

Vassilis Varvaresos
Born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1983, Vassilis Varvaresos started studying music at the age of five, and received a scholarship to the Conservatory of Nothern Greece. He continued his studies at the Conservatory with Milena Mollova. At the age of 12, he won First Prize in the 1995 Petar Konjovic International Competition in Belgrade. He won First Prize again in the 1996 Pan-Hellenic Young Artist Competition in Athens, and was chosen as one of eleven young musicians from around the world to perform in Monte Carlo in a special “little Mozarts” concert organized by Italy’s RAI TV.
Vassilis holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal. His paper on Claude Debussy, which won the Scholastic Distinction Award from the The Juiliard School, was published in Greece by Kodikas Publications. Vassilis continued his studies at The Julliard School with Jerome Lowenthal, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Robert MacDonald, and in May 2011 received his Doctorate in Piano Performance.
Vassilis is currently pursuing the prestigious Diplôme d’ Artiste-Interpète degree at the Conservatoire Nationale et Superieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, France. He studies with Michel Dalberto.
He has been recipient of Musical Studies Grants from the Bagby Foundation and George & Marie Vergottis Scholarships at The Julliard School. Since 2008, he has also been the recipient of the Gina Bachauer Foundation Grant for Outstanding Talent in Music and Onassis Foundation Grant.

Areta Zhulla
Recently awarded the 2011 “Young Artist of the Year” by the National Critics Association of Music and Drama in Greece, and recipient of the Triandi Career Grant as well as the Tassos Prassopoulos Foundation Award, Greek violinist Areta Zhulla (Αρετή Ζούλα) is quickly establishing herself as a compelling artist.
Ms. Zhulla has performed extensively as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia, at many renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Auditorium du Louvre, Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and National Arts Centre of Canada. Ms. Zhulla made her Megaron Hall debut in Athens in 2010, performing under the baton of legendary French conductor Michel Plasson and the Athens State Symphony Orchestra. Other recent engagements include solo performances with the Camerata Orchestra of Greece, Westchester Philharmonic, Kenosha Symphony, and the State Symphony of Thessalonica.
From 2012-2015 Ms. Zhulla will perform with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as a Chamber Music Society Two Artist. For two seasons, Ms. Zhulla was a member of the LK String Quartet, which was praised by The Washington Post for “warm tone, elegant finish, a vivid engagement with the scores’ drama and ensemble that was tight as a drum.” She has performed with legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center. Other collaborations include performances with Pinchas Zukerman, Orli Shaham, Donald Weilerstein, Paul Katz, and the Cavani String Quartet. Ms. Zhulla has appeared in such music festivals as Music@Menlo, The Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, Kneisel Hall, and Pinchas Zukerman’s Young Artists Program in Canada, and has studied for seven summers at the Perlman Music Program Summer School.
Ms. Zhulla holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School in New York City, where she studied with Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho, and was a recipient of the Vergotis Scholarship. Other teachers include Pinchas Zukerman and Lefter Zhulla.
Ms. Zhulla performs on a copy of Stradivarius’s “Viotti,” made by her father in 2009, Greek luthier Lefter Zhulla.

Regi Alexandros Papa
Hailed as “an exciting young violinist with brilliant technique and an excellent sense of style (The Strad Magazine), violinist Regi Álexandros Papa has dazzled audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. In his native Greece, Mr. Papa has been heard in concert in numerous prestigious venues, including numerous appearances in the Athens Concert Hall, the Pallas Hall, the Parnassos Hall, and the Athenaeum Hall. He has been a featured soloist with many orchestras throughout Greece, among them the Soloists of Patras Orchestra (under Saulious Sondeckis), the Volos Symphony Orchestra (under Simeon Kogan) and the National Orchestra of Contemporary Music (under Andreas Pilarinos), the Kamerata Orchestra (under C. Warren-Green), the Greek National Radio Orchestra (under Nikos Tsouchlos), and the National State Orchestra of Thessaloniki. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2006, performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the New York Senior Concert Orchestra under the baton of David Gilbert, and has also appeared as featured soloist with the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble, the Manhattan School of Music Philharmonia. Mr. Papa has given numerous recitals in Greece, the United States, Italy and Spain, and also appeared as soloist with Feminarte Orchestra in Albania.
An avid chamber musician, he has performed extensively in various chamber ensembles throughout the United States and Europe. In May 2010 Mr. Papa was chosen to participate in the prestigious Carnegie Hall Chamber Workshop, and worked intensively with Leon Fleischer, Pamela Frank and Yo Yo Ma.
The recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, Mr. Papa was awarded 1st prize the 2002 Eurovision Contest (Greece), the Greek Ministry of Education’s Pan-Hellenic Contest, and the Wieniawski Competition (Kosciusko Foundation, New York City), and also received prizes in the Young Soloists Competition (Volos), the International “Jeunesses Musicales” Violin Competition (Romania), the Artur Balsam Competition for Duos (New York City), the Hudson Valley Competition for Strings, the Waldo Mayo Competition, and the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Concerto Competition. He was awarded scholarships from the Mundo en Armonia Foundation, the Onassis Foundation, and was the recipient of the Marie and George Vergottis Memorial Scholarship at Juilliard.
A native of Athens, Mr. Papa was born into a family of violinists. He began playing the violin at age 5, and studied at the Doukas School in Athens. When he was 15, as winner of the Greek Eurovision Competition, he received an Onassis Foundation scholarship and moved to New York City where he began his studies with Isaac Malkin at Manhattan School of Music while continuing his formal education at the Professional Children’s School. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music with Isaac Malkin in 2008. He received the Marie and George Vergottis Memorial Scholarship to attend the Juilliard School as a student of Kyung Wha Chung, and was awarded a Master’s Degree from Juilliard in 2010. Papa is currently in the Doctoral program at Stony Brook University. Papa has participated in master classes of Lydia Mortkovitch, Zakhar Bron, Boris Belkin, Emmanuel Borok, Griegori Zhislin, Robert Mann, Lambert Orkis, and Mikhail Kopelman, and studied with Ana Chumachenko as a participant in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. Mr. Papa currently makes his home in New York City.

Tom Hancox
Thomas Hancox read Music at St Peter’s College, University of Oxford, from where he graduated with a double-first, having held both academic and instrumental scholarships whilst there. He subsequently learnt with Patrick Gallois at the École Nationale de Musique, Paris, and currently studies with Paul Edmund-Davies and Samuel Coles at the Royal Academy of Music, with generous support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Musicians Benevolent Fund, the Leverhulme Trust, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, and the Craxton Memorial Trust.
As a flautist, Thomas has performed as a soloist alongside Trevor Pinnock, collaborated with ensembles including the Allegri and Sacconi string quartets, played as guest principal flute of the Philharmonia Orchestra, and also worked with the orchestra of English National Opera, the Dunedin Consort, the London Handel Orchestra, the Saraband Consort, and the Locrian Ensemble.
Having previously worked as the Junior Editor for Pan, the Journal of the British Flute Society, Thomas now acts as an animateur and co-ordinator for CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust. He also teaches at King’s College (London), the Dragon School (Oxford), and on several summer courses, including the London Flute Academy and the Flute Kitchen, Harrogate.