Elzbieta Kallidou

My name is Elzbieta (Ela) Kallidou and it is my honor and great pleasure to participate in the 1st edition of the String Competition Online. I was born in Lodz, Poland, on August 1st, 2007 but I moved to Cyprus with my parents when I was 3 months old. Therefore, my biography is written in English. However, I can communicate in Polish verbally and I'm really happy about it.

My love for the violin started at the age of 6 when I began private tuition with Mrs. Irina Goubler. My passion for music developed rapidly and a year later, in 2014, I became a scholar at the Music School of the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra (CyYSO). I believe that my enthusiasm and dedication to music grew even more when in 2017 I was admitted in the 1stviolin section of the CyYSO, under the baton of Mr. Yiorgos Kountouris. I participated in all the activities of the orchestra: rehearsals, concerts, tours and the International Summer Academy. In 2021, I passed the audition for the concertmaster of the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra and with honor and passion I try to complete my mission. In this way, I gained extensive orchestral experience, having played masterpieces such as Beethove’s 5th, Tchaikovsky’s 5th, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, the “Coppelia” and “Sleeping Beauty” complete ballets and other important repertoire. I also participated in a joined-concert with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2018.

In 2019, I debuted as a soloist playing H. Wieniawski’s Violin concerto no.2 in D minor, op.22 with the CyYSO. In June, 2021, I played Eugène Ysaÿe’s Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op. 27, No. 3, “Ballade” and this year, 2022 I performed Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen at the Wiener Musikverein with CyYSO, as well as in May I had an honor to interpret the same opus along with Ravel’s Tzigane with the professional State Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. I have to admit that the joy and love that I experienced for these pieces were incredible.

As my greatest achievements I consider: II Special Award in 1st International Violin Masterclass in Norwegian Valley in Poland, Distinction Award in PAN-Hellenic Competition Solon Michaelides in Cyprus and holding the position of the concertmaster of CyYSO.

I constantly aim to improve my skills by practicing and attending masterclasses. I attended masterclasses with: Simos Papanas, Alexis Theophylactou, Christel Lee, Monika Urbaniak-Lisik, Amelia Maszonska, Antonis Sousamoglou, Georgios Demertzis, Levon Chilingririan and Yuri Kalantis. My future plans are definitely and wholeheartedly bound up with the violin. I often dream to play in a way to make people happy and touched and evoke their innermost feelings. By working wholeheartedly, I do hope to reach it every time I play.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully, Elzbieta Kallidou