Chios Music Festival

The Festival was conceived by two young Chian artists living and working permanently in Berlin, Germany.

Violinist Olga Holdorff Myriangou and composer Eleftherios Veniadis had spent about a decade nurturing the idea of a festival that would showcase the “Fragrant Island” of their childhood memories, an island renowned for its Mastic Villages, labyrinthine medieval settlements, atmospheric temples, important archaeological sites, picturesque squares, fragrant citrus fruit plains and unique landscapes. This idea matured over the years and began to take shape in recent years through cultural events and educational activities for students, in collaboration with local schools.

The great response, enthusiasm and practical interest shown by those who participated in, embraced and supported these events in every way, gradually provided the impetus for the creation of a larger organisation. And so, the Chios Music Festival was born –an international festival that has arrived at this particular time for a reason. It serves as a sign of respect and gratitude, as well as a message of joy and optimism to all the island’s residents, both permanent and transient.

Olga Holdorff Myriangou and Eleftherios Veniadis are the artistic directors of the festival. The scheme complements the work of a dynamic team of professionals who systematically welcome thousands of guests and provide an inclusive, engaging experience. Steadily expanding but remaining flexible, the festival team cares, anticipates, imagines, creates, communicates with a multitude of external partners and coordinates dozens of volunteers. 

Olga Holdorff Myriangou, Artistic Director

Olga Holdorff Myriangou has performed with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Staatstheater Braunschweig, the Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover, the Berliner Symphoniker, the Brandenburger Symphoniker, the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt (BSOF), the “Infektion!” Festival, for contemporary music theatre, the Berlin State Opera, as well as with various chamber music groups. She is a member of the contemporary music ensemble Lux:NM. She has travelled throughout Europe and to China, Korea, Canada and Saudi Arabia, among other places, to perform in concerts.

She has taught music at the Barenboim-Said Foundation in Palestine and for “El Sistema” in Venezuela. 

She is co-founder of the Sebun Quartet and the founder of the Berlin Music Ensemble (berlinmusicensemble.com). The orchestra specialises in recordings and was honoured with the German Record Critics’ Award, the “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik”, for one of the best recordings in the category of cinematic music in 2018.

Along with Eleftherios Veniadis, she is the co-founder and artistic director of the Chios Music Festival. 

Eleftherios Veniadis, Artistic direction 

He was born in Athens in 1977 and grew up in Chios, the island where his family is from. He studied acting, the piano, the violin and music theory in Athens. As a new actor, he performed in Spyros Evangelatos’s “Amphitheatre” for about two years. He continued his studies in composition at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin) with a scholarship from the Ioannis D. Pateras Foundation. He received his diploma with distinction and went on to complete the “Master’s in Composition with an Advanced Focus on Theory” at the Dresden College of Music (HfM Dresden), also with distinction. In Germany, he won first prize in the Berlineropernpries 12 International Opera Competition, alongside the music and dance group Kompanie Zwischen, for the project “Honolulu Vagamani”. He was also awarded the NaföG research fellowship of the City of Berlin. His works have been performed in Greece and abroad (at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Ruhrtriennale, the Munich and Cologne biennales, the Plectrum Festival in Helsinki, the Tirol-Austria Music Theatre Festival, the Athens Concert Hall and the Athens Epidaurus Festival).

He has guided pedagogical projects for teenagers in Berlin and Bremen alongside other artists from different disciplines. Together with Olga Holdorff Myriangou, he co-founded and is the artistic director of the Chios Music Festival. (veniadis.com)