Ioanna is an Artist (Musician, Painter, and Teacher) based in Frankfurt am Main. She is a classically trained pianist with a master’s in piano performance and a bachelor’s in music education (more details below). In parallel to her academic studies in music she has been exploring other aspects of music performance and arts such as piano improvisation (not jazz style), script writing, music composition, and Illustration. 

Starting her journey from Athens, then Thessaloniki in Greece (her homeland), Ioanna moved to Leuven in Belgium and since 2017 she decided to put her roots in Frankfurt am Main in Germany.

Ioanna works as a solo and collaborative Artist performing currently in local venues in Frankfurt and its surroundings. As a classical pianist she has been giving solo concerts since 2016 in German and Belgian Venues such as STUK and Art Base in Brussels, Petersberg Rathaus in Fulda, studio pompette, and Frankfurtersalon in Frankfurt am Main. Since 2020 she has been performing as an improv pianist (non-jazz style) for musical events and improv theater shows, composing music, and creating as a scriptwriter for music/Theater productions.

She presented (2023) her very first play called `I WALK` (scripted musical performance) in collaboration with ensemble ParaΞenon in Frankfurt am Main to Keller Theater, studio pompette, and Bel! R Festival. At 2022 she worked for Shakespearefrankfurt as a Pianist, Composer, and Illustrator and collaborated with the ensemble ParaΞenon (2023) as a Performance Artist, Pianist, Composer, and scriptwriter and performed in Various Festivals in Germany, among them were GO WEST, and Bel R! and Thessaloniki Piano Festival (2015) in Greece with classical solo repertoire. She is currently working on her next project called `Life is music and music is life`.

As a music educator, she led workshops for young kids with a focus on exploring music and physical movement at Frankfurt International School as well as music Workshops for young kids at Oper Frankfurt. Ioanna is a piano teacher with more than 15 years of experience. Currently, she is teaching private piano students in Frankfurt and takes part in music performances for kids (such as ANANA in Oman -which premiered on August 2023 in Frankfurt, and ANANA in Paris).

As a graphic designer, Ioanna has designed the Posters for the Season 2023/24 for the theater Plays of Shakespearefrankfurt, and since 2022 she has been working as an illustrator on commissions for companies from the area of US that specialize in therapy and awareness.

`Each culture, city, and country has a different feel and contribution to the world – As an Artist, and as part of naturally trying to find where I belonged, it was very interesting to observe that. For a long time, I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere. But as the years went by, I discovered that I always belong with me and with a community that feels like family- (in the way that I define that word). No need for constant searching and trying to be someone I am not. One can create family and community everywhere they go. Love, respect, and mutual support have no geography or genetic origins.

As an Artist, I want people to feel through my music performances and paintings how I see things, to travel with me in my world.

I wish to create a space where I can explore and feel together with my audience what the Art speaks about and be vulnerable to accept any emotion and feeling that comes at that moment. For me, this is what Art is about. I played the piano since I was eight years old, and I devoted many years of my life to mastering my skills as a classical pianist. Still, perfection as we define the term, is not what I am about. The ability to evoke feelings and my creativity in the way I perceive and express my Art is my strength and what personally moves me.

As a piano teacher with more than 12 years of experience, my goal is to share further my passion for music and piano playing, with students who are willing to go through this fantastic process of exploration and self-development. It is such a pleasure for me to dive into the world of music together and see my students flourishing with time and enjoying music.

Eager to meet the renowned professor and pianist Alan Weiss, Ioanna joined the Erasmus program in Leuven (Belgium). After this amazing experience, she decided to study Piano Performance (Master of Arts Degree) under Prof Weiss`s mentorship and graduated with distinction “cum laude”.

With Professor Weiss, she has been guided and encouraged to follow her nature as a musician and felt very supported in her journey to always keep discovering her own understanding and personal relation when playing a piece of music. In addition, she had the opportunity to explore a wide range of chamber music repertoire in ensembles such as piano duo, with clarinet, Flute, voice, and Violin in the class of Professors: Makiko Sakai, Paul Beelaerts, Philip Benoit, and Marc Tooten.

In 2007, Ioanna joined the Music Science and Arts Department of the University of Macedonia of Thessaloniki (Greece) where she had the opportunity to study with Professor P. Vouvari, K. P. Kalakwna, and Charalambos Angelopoulos. There, aside from developing her classical piano performance, and pedagogic skills as a teacher, many interesting people, and influences at the university made her explore and discover her interest in jazz music, experiments with jazz improvisations, and little piano compositions.

Her curiosity led her also to the international competition ‘Jugend Musiziert’ with flute ensemble, where she was awarded the 1st Prize in Greece and 1st prize in Alexandria (Egypt). This international experience awakened her interest and commitment for further studies abroad.

Ioanna was born in September 1989 in Athens, Greece. At the age of 7 years, she started learning the piano at the Arianeio Conservatory, Athens (with R.Georgiou). Shortly after, Ioanna and her family moved to Thessaloniki, At that time, Ioanna discovered her special connection to classical music and started her personal journey of becoming a classical pianist.

In terms of piano classes, she continued her studies in the Conservatory of Northern Greece in Thessaloniki in the class of the Russian teacher E. Guseinova. At the age of 11 (in 2001), she had her first competition experience at the Hellenic piano competition ‘Filonas’ in Athens, closing ‘with distinction’. In 2002, she entered the piano class in the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki (with the class of L. Vassileiadou and (later) the class of E. Zacharopoulou) and studied chamber music with M.Liakopoulou.

(active participation)

• Βrandt Fredriksen
• Daniel Rivera
• Jun Kanno
• Ethel Latos
• Johan Schmidt
• Geoffrey J. Haydon
• Miki Itoh
• Diane Andersen
• Reima Raijas
• Frederic Rzewski
• Haruhi Hata
• Giorgos Thumis

Competition Chamber Music

• 1st Price Greece
• 2nd Price in Alexandria (Egypt)