Maria Melachrinou

Musician – saz

Maria Melachrinou is a musician primarily specialized in the saz, with an active presence in both teaching and concert performance. Her artistic and pedagogical work focuses on the interpretive approach to modal idioms and oral musical traditions.

She is a graduate of the Postgraduate Program in Ethnomusicology and Cultural Anthropology from the Department of Music Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), specializing in the tambouras/saz within the field of Traditional Music Performance and Interpretation. She is currently a PhD candidate in the same department. 
Maria owes her love for the saz to her esteemed teachers: Periklis Papapetropoulos, Vassilis Barampoutis, Mehmet Erenler, and Erdal Erzincan. Additionally, she has studied the oud under the guidance of Necati Çelik and Yurdal Tokcan.

 

 

Critical milestones in her musical development include: 

     -- The Pallini Music High School, of which she is an alumna.

     --Her collaboration with Ross Daly through seminars at Houdetsi, Crete, which expanded her aesthetic horizons and brought her into profound contact with the music of the Eastern Mediterranean and the study of modal music (makam).

Diverse Expertise

Beyond traditional instruments, she holds a Diploma in Byzantine Music and a Degree in Fugue. Her multidisciplinary background also includes:

-- A degree from the Department of Psychology at the University of Rouen, France.

-- Studies in Music Therapy, Special Education, and the education of deaf-blind children.

Teaching & Professional Activity

Maria has extensive teaching experience in Music Schools and seminar programs. She currently teaches Tambouras-Saz in the "Ethnomusicology and Musical Practice" Master's program at NKUA.

As a singer and instrumentalist, she has collaborated on stage and in the studio with prominent artists of the Greek music scene. Her performances span major festivals and venues in Greece and abroad, including:

-- The Athens & Epidaurus Festival.

-- The Greek National Opera.

-- The Athens Megaron Concert Hall.

-- The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

-- Copenhagen Cathedral (Vor Frue Kirke).