Dimitra Mantzouratou began studying the piano with Anastasia Kounalaki. She obtained her piano diploma in the class of Betty Barzouka-Gaitanou, receiving the highest distinction. She has completed advanced studies in harmony, counterpoint and fugue, receiving diplomas in all three with the highest distinction. Moreover, she studied Musicology at the Kapodistrian University of Athens, where she also completed her Ph.D. Her thesis was entitled “The historical evolution of the piano school in Athens in the first half of the 20th century”. After obtaining a scholarship from the Greek State Scholarship Foundation (IKY), she continued her piano stud- ies at the Royal Flemish Conservatory in Brussels, under the guidance of Daniel Blumenthal, graduating with a master’s degree. She has participated in numerous masterclasses, including being a two-time participant in the Mozarteum summer courses in Salzburg, where she studied with S. Dorensky and J. Lateiner. She gives solo and chamber music concerts in Greece and other countries, has premiered works by various Greek composers, and recorded for the National Greek Radio. She is often invited to be part of the judging panels of Greek piano competitions. Mantzouratou teaches the piano at the Ilion Music School of Athens. Over the last six years, she has performed important works of the violin and piano repertoire in Greece and abroad, in col- laboration with the violinist Dimitri Semsis.

Born in Munich in 1959, he is descended from a family whose musical roots can be traced to the beginning of the 19th century. Initially instructed by his father, Michalis Semsis, he later continued his violin studies with Tibor Varga and Otto Büchner at the Academies of Detmold and Munich, as well as with Alexander Pavlovich at the Academy of Belgrade. He holds diplomas from the “Athineon” Conservatory of Athens and the Royal College of Music, London. For two years, he was a member of the renowned Munich Bach Orchestra, working under the baton of Carl Richter. For a decade he was concertmaster of the chamber orchestra ‘Camerata Hellenica’, which was founded by his father. He subsequently became concertmaster of the ‘Camerata – Friends of Music Society Orchestra’, which he co-founded and worked for until June 1997. As a soloist, he has collaborated with both symphonic and chamber music orchestras and appeared in multiple coun- tries, including Greece, France, Switzerland, Italy, Ukraine, Serbia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, the US, Romania and Belgium. Moreover, he is a founding member of the piano trio ‘Opus I’, with which he has presented numerous programmes in Athens and other greek cities. From Janu- ary 1999, he was concertmaster of the National Radio Orchestra. He remained in that position until October 2003, at which point he assumed the same position at the Athens State Orchestra. He has participated in educational programmes for youths and children, both at Megaron – The Athens Music Hall and in vari- ous places across Greece. Moreover, he has participated in open lessons whose purpose was to introduce and familiarise young people with music. In 2011, he became artistic director and conductor of the ‘Friends of Music Society Youth Orchestra’. The orchestra has performed at Megaron – The Athens Music Hall, and the Music Hall of Thessaloniki, as well as participated in numerous festivals and educational programmes in multiple major greek cities. He held this position until 2018, when he became the orchestra’s honorary conductor. He permanent partner with pianist Dimitra Mantzouratou with whom they perform in Greece and abroad. He currently teaches the violin at the Orfeio Conservatory of Athens. Dimitris plays on a Lorenzo Storioni violin that was made in Cremona in 1794.

George Dousis holds a degree in Musicology from the University of Athens; he is a pianist and was awarded First Prize for his piano diploma. Having received a scholarship from the Greek State Scholarship Foundation (IKY), he earned a master’s degree in Composi- tion with distinction in the United Kingdom. He has attended composition seminars with W.Rihm, B. Ferneyhough and M. Stroppa, I.Fedele and S.Sciarrino, among others, and par- ticipated actively in numerous festivals in Greece and abroad. In 2011, he received a Ph.D. in Composition from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is a founding member of the Momo trio, with which he has recorded and released three albums. Dousis has received commissions to compose works for numerous ensembles; many of those works have been performed worldwide (England, America, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, etc.). His compo- sitions include a series of works for symphonic orchestra, five string quartets, a piano con- certo, and four operas. As an orchestrator, he has collaborated with major Greek and foreign orchestras (Boston Pops, Cannes Symphonic Orchestra, ERT Symphony, and Contemporary Orchestra, Color Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Orchestra Armonia Atenea – The Friends of Music Orchestra, etc.). He is a member of the Union of Composers of Electroacoustic Music and the Greek Composers’ Association.