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Sofia Kamayianni was born in Athens. Her musical interests cover a wide spectrum of activities and she particularly likes to collaborate and experiment with other artists who follow diverse directions. In recent years she has become increasingly involved in electroacoustic music, composing works for combinations of acoustic instruments and tape or electronic processing as well as performing using live electronics herself.

A consistent special focus in Sofia Kamayianni's activities to date has been on music and multimedia works, highlights of which include her play 'Rabila Co' (contemporary music, dance, poetry and images) which was staged in the Hororoes Theatre (Athens, 2003) and her experimental project 'MESA sto mesa' of 2006 (actress, video, flute, cello and recorded tape). In 2006 Sofia Kamayianni also took part as a composer and performer in the music theatre work 'The Storytelling Project', which was commissioned and funded as part of the 'European Capital of Culture: Patras 2006', Greece. These productions - amongst many others - took place under the auspices of the artistic society Spiza, of which she is a founder member. (See www.spiza.gr)

Sofia Kamayianni's music has been performed throughout Europe (many locations in Greece, London, Val Tidone and Piacenza in Italy, Holland) as well as in the USA (WEALR in 2006). She has worked with numerous musical ensembles (the Kreutzer Quartet, the Camerata Chamber Orchestra, the Kroussis Ensemble etc.) as well as with a diverse range of solo performers. In 2004 her piece “Arithmosofia-Arithmoplixia” was selected for the annual contemporary music workshops held in the Athens Megaron concert hall and organized by the Greek Composers' Union under the direction of Theodore Antoniou. She has also worked extensively in the world of song writing and music for the theatre, as well as writing the scores for two short films (screened at the 'Drama Short Films Festival' , Drama, in 2004) as well as a video-art film (screened at the Festival Miden, Ahens, in 2007). Recordings include specially written music for the performance 'The Dock' (for 6 musicians and actress) released on CD in 1999 as well as music commissioned to be part of a CD setting the poetry of Palamas (under the auspices of the University of Athens, commercially released in 2004).

Sofia has worked as a musician across a wide range of fields in Greece and abroad. Between 1992 and 2000 she was a member of the Plucked String Orchestra of Patras, performing throughout Greece and around the world (Italy, Germany, Austria, Japan etc.). She made many of the arrangements of Greek songs which were performed and recorded by the ensemble. In 1996 she was appointed to arrange Mikis Theodorakis's cycles of songs for piano and voice by the composer himself (published by Romanos Editions). At the same time she also began longstanding collaborations as a pianist with a variety of different singers and ensembles in Greece.

From 2003 to 2007 Sofia Kamayianni was commissioned together with Dora Panagopoulou to write, produce and present the program 'Twenty First Century: Trends and Experimentations' for Greek National Radio (ERT Radio 3) - a weekly program exploring and discussing the newest of contemporary music. She was also appointed in 2005 to lead the educational programs organized by the Music Ensembles of Greek National Radio. In parallel with these activities she undertook similar assignments in schools, conservatories and theatrical groups, always with an educational interest focusing on musical expression within practical team activities.

Sofia Kamayianni's formal musical education includes piano studies at the National Conservatory of Athens, Greece, and classical percussion and harmony at the Municipal Conservatory of Patras, Greece. She also studied composition for theatre and cinema with the composer Dimitris Papadimitriou at the Phillipos Nakas Conservatory in Athens, Greece (1997-1999). In 2001 she graduated from Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK, with an MMus in Contemporary Composition under the supervision of Sadie Harrison. In 2004 she attended the composition seminars of C.A. Landini at the Conservatory of Piacenza, Italy, and in 1999 she participated in the international summer course 'Music and Dance Education: Orff-Schulwerk' in Salzburg, Austria. Sofia is also a graduate in mathematics (BSc) from the University of Patras, Greece, and in mathematical education (MMus) from the University of Leeds, UK.

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Biography