Bio
Born in Thessaloniki (Greece) into a musical family, Maria Skandalidou received her first piano lessons at the age of 9 at the Municipal Conservatory of Thermi in the class of Erieta Alakiozidou, with whom she obtained her piano diploma in 2016 with excellent marks. This is followed by music theory and counterpoint studies with Evangelia Kateli (completed in 2009 and 2013).
At the age of 17 she started singing lessons with Sophia Kyanidou and later was admitted to the Faculty of Musicology and Arts of the University of Macedonia Thessaloniki, specialization Voice, in the class of Angeliki Kathariou, where she graduated with honors (2011-2016). In 2017 she began her studies in the class of the international soloist and professor Prof. Manuela Uhl at the Lübeck University of Music, which she graduated in 2020 with distinction. Her mentors among others are Angelos Samartzis, Franco Farina and Taxiarchoula Kanati.
As a soprano and a pianist, she has taken part in theater and opera productions, solo concerts and chamber music concerts at music events and festivals in Greece and abroad. In addition, she was active in theater and opera productions such as: The Beautiful Helena, White Rose, Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, La Calisto, Magic Flute, Despite Flutes and Violins (Opera Pasticcio), Pimpinone, L’elisir d’amore, The Snow Bogatyr, Bloody Wedding.
During her music studies, she took part in courses, seminars and master classes with internationally renowned professors and soloists such as Daphne Evangelatos, Constantinos Contocristos, Sophia Kyanidou, Aris Christofelis, Haroula Glavopoulou, Harald Stamm, Brigitte Lindner, Ingrid Kaiserfeld, Bernhard Schröder, Anna Chierichetti, Vittoria Licari. To explore art more deeply and expand her creative identity, she studied theater with Konstantinos Kavakiotis, Katerina Diakomopoulou, Antje Birnbaum and Matthias Winter and dance with Mikaela Petintian, Eleni Tsouma, Anastasia Liagouri, Manolis Manelidis and Elisabeth Pelz. She has taken part in many chamber music ensembles and has been active in Germany since last year with the newly founded Trio Erilis.
