The Festival Quartet

The Festival Quartet

The Festival Quartet are ...

Andreas Papanikolaou, Violin

Andreas Papanikolaou, Violin

Andreas was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1982 and he received his Performer's Diploma from the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki with Mrs. Irina Dragneva in 2001. In 2004 he received his Bachelor of Music in performance with Prof. Taras Gabora at the Vancouver Academy of Music as a scholar of V.A.M. and 'Friends of Music foundation' (A.Trianti) - Athens Megaron.

He has been a prize winner in various solo and chamber music competitions, such as the Kay Meek competition, the Elsje De Ridder Armstrong Chamber Music competition, Friends of Chamber Music in Canada among others. He has attended numerous international masterclasses where he has worked with distinguished violinists such as Vallery Oistrakh, Julian Rachlin, Robert Rozek, Gilles Apap, Ara Malikian, Pedro Cortinas, Kosmas Galileas, Gwen Thompson, Sidney Harth, Stelios Kafantaris, Karen Turpie, among others.

Andreas is the founder of the Emilios Riadis String Quartet and the Thessaloniki String Ensemble which has given concerts in music festivals in Greece and abroad. He is often invited to teach, coach and perform as a soloist in recitals and chamber music concerts.

Andreas has performed as a soloist with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, the Municipality Symphony Orchestra of Thessaloniki, and the Vancouver Academy Symphony Orchestra, among others, collaborating with acclaimed conductors such as Martin Lebel, Michael Charry, Antony Walker, Mihkel Kutson, Sydney Harth and Viron Fidetzis. He has worked as concert master of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Academy Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Academy Strings and the Thessaloniki String Ensemble. He is the founder of "Animus", a non-profit organization in Greece which has given various concerts for UNICEF, Medecins Sans Frontieres and others.

He was a permanent member in the first violins of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra from 2001 until 2014 when he won the Principal - Leader position of the second violins of TSSO. He currently teaches the violin at the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki and his students have been awarded in numerous competitions.

Dimitris Chandrakis, Violin

Dimitris Chandrakis, Violin

Dimitris was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1965. He studied the violin at the Thessaloniki State Conservatory under Cosmas Galileas and at the Vienna Music Academy under G. Pichler. He graduated in 1988.

He was a founder member of the New Hellenic Quartet and has performed with them in numerous concerts as well as recordings for the BIS, EMI, Naxos and Legend labels and he has also appeared as a soloist with all of the major Greek orchestras.

From 1996 to 2003 he was the konzertmeister of the Thessaloniki State Orchestra and he has been teaching at the University of Macedonia since 2002.

Chara Sira, Viola

Chara Sira, Viola

Chara was born in Athens-Greece in 1970.

She studied at the "Hellenic Conservatory" of Athens under S.Pimenides and S.Kafandaris, and at the Paris Conservatoire under Jean Sulem. She was awarded a First Prize in viola in 1994 and went on to complete her training with Tasso Adamopoulos.

Chara was a member of the New Hellenic Quartet from 2001 to 2007 and performed with them in numerous concerts as well as recordings for the BIS, EMI, Naxos and Legend labels.

She has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in Greece.

As a former principal violist of the National Radio Orchestra and the "Orchestra of Colours" in Athens she holds the same position in the State orchestra of Thessaloniki.

Chara teaches the viola at the University of Macedonia.

Angelos Liakakis, Cello

Angelos Liakakis, Cello

Angelos was born in Athens in 1980. He began taking cello lessons from Hristos Sfetsas and continued his studies as a scholar of the Onassis and Greek State Scholarships Foundations with Csaba Onczay, Leonid Gorokhov and Kim Bak Dinitzen.

He is a frequent performer, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. He has given concerts and recitals in major festivals throughout Greece and abroad and has an extensive repertoire which ranges from the baroque to the contemporary.

His solo appearances include collaborations with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, the Athens and Thessaloniki State Orchestras, the Greek National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Athens Camerata and Orchester 1756, among others.

He has been a member of the renowned New Hellenic Quartet and has performed with them in numerous concerts and as well as recordings for the BIS, EMI, Naxos and Legend labels.

Angelos is a professor of cello and chamber music at the Athens Conservatoire and he also gives regular masterclasses at the Pelion Festival in Greece.