Living Composer: Stella Ziopoulou

Updated: Jul 2, 2021

This month's Living Composer is Stella Ziopoulou - a composer and violinist from Athens, Greece. She also plays the electric violin, the mandolin, some percussion, and is a singer, songwriter, and lyricist!

Stella holds diplomas in violin, composition, harmony, counterpoint, and fugue. She graduated from Evangelos Kokkoris' composition class with Distinction, and was the first prize winner. She also holds a degree in International and European Studies (University of Piraeus) and a postgraduate degree in International Relations and Strategic Studies (Panteion University).

Stella's work has been presented in some of the most important music venues in Greece.

Some composition highlights:

Her work "Shades of Alleviation" was selected by the Thessaloniki City Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Greek Composer’s Union, and was performed in a concert dedicated to the special needs community.
"Une hirondelle dans les nuages" was selected by French composer Alain Louvier and presented during a masterclass at the Athens Conservatory in honour of Olivier Messiaen.
"La noche de una estrella" was presented as a part of the event "Hymns of the Night", hosted by the Nakas Conservatory.
She composed, in collaboration with Kostas Gakis, the music for a theatre show “From Antigone to Medea”. This led to an invitation for the show to be presented in South Korea for the Busan International Performing Arts Festival in South Korea, as well as being performed in festivals across Greece.
In the summer of 2021, she will be presenting a new composition at the 5th Musa Hellenica Festival on the island of Chios.

Along with composing, Stella also participates in performances in a variety of other ways. She performs as a stage musician and collaborates with orchestras as a violinist. She is a founding member of the Trio Triaccordo, and creates arrangements for the trio. She was also a founding member of the Athenian Rhapsody Quartet, and has been a member of the events string quartet of the “MusicNow" agency since 2019. She has collaborated with and contributed to recording the work of various Greek artists, such as Zoe Tiganouria, Eleni Voudouraki, Tzeni Tsilis, and Seqstyle.

Stella is currently employed as a violin professor at the National Conservatory of Greece, at the Nakas Conservatory, at Doukas School, and at the Ursuline Greek-French School, among other institutions. She wrote a pedagogical music book for young children entitled "Journey to the City of Music Notes", which is accompanied by a CD of songs with her own music and lyrics. In her spare time, she enjoys flamenco dancing!

Learn more about Stella: https://stellaziopoulou.com