The musician Eleanna Pitsikaki, who lives and works in Frankfurt, was featured today on the show “Take Your Time” with Prokopis Agelopoulos, on the occasion of tonight’s concert “Bridges” by E. Remboutsika at 21:00 at the Herodeion.
Eleanna Pitsikaki, born in Heraklion, Crete, is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso of the kanun. With her unique blend of intercultural and traditional elements, she transcends musical boundaries and creates a captivating sonic journey. In addition to her career as a soloist, Eleanna directs the musical sessions “Transcultural Bridges.”
She is deeply involved in music education, participating in various school programs and organizing seminars. She is also a member of the intercultural ensemble for children’s concerts Tiny Bridges. She teaches Eastern Music at the University of Music in Cologne (HfMT Köln) and intercultural music pedagogy at the University of Music in Mainz (HfM Mainz), and she also teaches at the Free Music Center in Munich.
She has founded two ensembles, EPI Music and the Balkan Fuego Trio. In 2025, she will release her first solo album, while in 2024, she presented her orchestration of Erotokritos with the Bridges Chamber Orchestra. She is a permanent member of the Bridges Chamber Orchestra and Trickster Orchester, and in the fall of 2024, she launched the Transcultural Music Academy at the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland Pfalz.
In 2020, she appeared as the main subject and collaborator in a ZDF documentary about Crete and the kanun. In 2019, she represented Greece and Germany at the Sharq Taronalari International Festival in Uzbekistan. Her musical education began partially self-taught and led her to study World Music at the Popakademie Mannheim. She continued with an Erasmus program at the HKU Conservatory in Utrecht and completed her studies with a master’s degree in Jazz Improvisation at the University of Music in Cologne. She also studied Systemic Psychotherapy for two years at ESYTHEPAS in Athens.
She has worked in Elementary Music pedagogy and early childhood music education. In 2018, she received a diploma in Byzantine Music from Papachronis Giannis, at the School of Agios Stefanos. In 2015, she represented Greece at the second Kanun Festival at the State Conservatory of Ankara and was a soloist with the Plovdiv Orchestra in Bulgaria.