Myrsini PONTIKOPOULOU-VENIERI

Born in Athens, Myrsini is a Greek traditional violin player. As a student of the Music High School of Pallini, she started playing the classical violin at the age of 12. Since 2016, she has been working as a professional traditional violin player in several live music venues in Athens participating in different bands. She is a founding member of the Greek traditional band “Kideria”. She is also participating in Medinea Network and has attended several Intercultural Creation Sessions, in Aix-en-Provence, France (2022) and Nuoro, Italy (2019).

She initiated her relationship with music at the early age of 4 when she had her first piano lessons. In 2019, she obtained her Piano Diploma from the Greek Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the International Conservatory of Athens.

As a traditional violin player, Myrsini has been exploring the sounds and idioms of old urban popular songs (rebetiko) and traditional music of different regions of Greece. She has attended several musical workshops on the folk music of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East held by Ross Daly (at “Labyrinth”) and on the traditional violin held by Giorgos Papaioannou, Kyriakos Gouventas and Giannis Zarias. In addition, she also wishes to engage in other kinds of music. In the period 2015-2016, she performed twice at the famous Greek students’ “Schoolwave Festival” with a “pirate-punk” band as a (self-taught) accordion player.

At the same time, Myrsini has graduated from the Department of Archaeology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Photo credit: Angeliki Digeni