Eleanna Pitsikaki
Qanun Artist

A list of available concerts!

Jun 08
7:00 am - 5:00 pm
Jun 21
Jul 26
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sep 18
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Biography

Eleanna Pitsikaki
Qanun Virtuoso | Composer | Cultural Mediator | Educator | Explorer of Sound & Soul

Eleanna Pitsikaki doesn’t just play the qanun — she lets it breathe. Born and raised in Crete, she weaves stories through strings, building sonic bridges between worlds. Her music is a living conversation: East meets West, tradition meets improvisation, makam meets jazz, and ancestral memory flows freely into bold new forms. She calls her music Ethno Jazz.

Whether performing at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens, or teaching in a university seminar room, Eleanna shows up fully — with heart, heritage, and a fearless spirit of exploration. As one of the few female qanun players on the international stage, she is more than a musician: she is a connector, a translator of cultures, and a passionate voice for artistic and academic transformation.

The Sound of a Journey

Her debut album Àroma (2025) is more than just a release — it’s a sonic diary. Deeply personal and meticulously crafted, it reflects years of composing, performing, and dreaming.
From the ancient stones of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens to the rhythmic pulse of Uzbekistan’s Sharq Taronalari Festival, Eleanna’s journey has been anything but linear.

She has shared the stage with iconic artists such as Yasmin Levy, Ross Daly, Kelly Thoma, Evanthia Reboutsika, Pantelis Thalassinos, Yorgos Kazantzis, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Oumeima El Khalil, Nil Venditti, Bar Avni, Yurdal Tokcan, Göksel Baktagir, and László Fenyő.
And she continues to blur musical borders — weaving together threads of Greek, Turkish, Balkan, and Arabic traditions with jazz, improvisation, and poetic curiosity.

Since 2023, she has been a member of the Trickster Orchestra, an ensemble that fuses transtraditional with contemporary jazz. Their work led to a recording with the legendary ECM Records.
Prior to that, she spent seven years as a core member of Frankfurt’s Bridges Kammerorchester, where she performed, arranged, and helped shape the orchestra’s transcultural identity — earning multiple major awards along the way.

What She Does

Eleanna wears many hats — and somehow, they all fit. She’s a researcher, composer, mediator, lecturer, composer, and educator who uses music as a space for empathy, inclusion, and creative dialogue.

She currently teaches at the University of Music Mainz, teacheing intercultural music education, and offers courses in qanun and Ottoman makam at the Freies Musikzentrum in Munich. Her academic work explores the intersection of music, migration, and belonging — and she is currently pursuing a PhD in University of Music Mainz in this very field.

She has taught at institutions such as the University of Cologne, led innovative workshops like Transcultural Bridges, and contributed to European research on cultural literacy and social cohesion through the arts.

Eleanna is also a co-researcher at the University of Cologne, working on the project Advancing Cultural Literacy for Social Inclusion through Dialogical Arts Education, as part of the dialoguing@rts program.

Since September 2024, she has received a scholarship from the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. In addition, she actively contributes to the dialoguingarts community at Leuphana University Lüneburg, engaging in artistic exchange and interdisciplinary collaboration.

She’s also deeply committed to music as a tool for connection and has creative projects like Peraxenon Ensemble MIGRA, teaching in Frankfurt’s Culture Lab program, and regularly working with children through playful, cross-cultural sound explorations.

Moments That Matter

In 2020, she appeared in a ZDF documentary about Crete, sharing both music and memory.
Her group Balkan Fuego Trio  has been igniting festival stages from Jazz & Joy to Schleswig-Holstein.

As part of the Bridges Kammerorchester, she won the German Record Critics’ Award twice (for Complementarity and Identigration), the Power of the Arts Award, and the Frankfurt Diversity Prize — celebrating music as a force for connection.

She represented Greece at the 2nd Qanun Festival at the Ankara State Conservatory in 2015 and made her solo debut with the Plovdiv Music Academy Orchestra in Bulgaria in 2014.

In 2025, as a member of the Trickster Orchestra, she was awarded the WDR  Liminal Music Prize.

Where It All Began

Eleanna began where many great musical journeys do — in her mother’s choir, with a qanun on her lap and a stage beneath her feet.

She studied World Music at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg in Mannheim and completed an Erasmus semester in the Musician 3.0 program at HKU Conservatory in Utrecht. She later earned her Master’s degree in Jazz Improvisation from the University of Music and Dance in Cologne.

Eleanna has also attended numerous seminars at the Labyrinth Musical Workshop, studying under the renowned Göksel Baktagir.

She holds a diploma in Byzantine Music, and has additional training in early music education, elementary music pedagogy, and systematic music psychology, which she studied for two years.

Through all of this, one thread remains constant: a devotion to sound as a tool for connection, reflection, and transformation.

In Her Own Words…

“To me, music is not just sound. It’s a meeting point.
It’s how we carry memory, share emotion,
and create space for something new — together.”

SEE MORE:

News

ZDF Documentary about Crete 1024 683 Eleanna Pitsikaki - Qanun Music Artist

ZDF Documentary about Crete

Featured in the ZDF Documentary About Crete I had the great honor of being part of a ZDF documentary about Crete, where I shared my story as a musician born and raised on this beautiful…

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Aroma CD is out 1920 1080 Eleanna Pitsikaki - Qanun Music Artist

Aroma CD is out

I am thrilled to announce the release of the highly anticipated CD Aroma! This captivating album promises to take you on a unique auditory journey, blending unforgettable melodies with rich, atmospheric sounds. Aroma Video Teaser…

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Elbphilharmonie Hamburg 1170 1174 Eleanna Pitsikaki - Qanun Music Artist

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

With its debut at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Bridges Kammerorchester launched its anniversary season 24/25 on August 26 at the sold-out Elbphilharmonie, celebrating its 5th anniversary. Foto Credits: Sophie Wolter

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Odeon of Herodes Atticus 1920 1280 Eleanna Pitsikaki - Qanun Music Artist

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

“Bridges,” a concert of Evanthia Reboutsika with, Christina Poulitsi, and Yasmin Levy, is a captivating musical event that brings together these renowned artists to create a unique blend of sounds.

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Awards/ Reviews/ Press

Award

WDR Liminal Music Prize with Trickster Orchester

Press


Eleanna Pitsikaki is in ERTEcho!

Listen here

Award

Discography

My album Aroma is out on Bandcamp. The next single, Summer, will be released on Spotify on June 6.
Order your CD

Ensembles & Bands

A list of my projects

Teaching

Sharing music is at the heart of what I do — not only on stage, but also in the classroom, rehearsal room, and in one-on-one lessons. I offer lessons and guidance in:

🎵 Qanun – Technique, repertoire, improvisation
🎵 Ottoman Makam Theory & Practice – Deep listening, understanding modal systems
🎵 Transcultural Ensemble Playing – Group coaching with an intercultural approach
🎵 Co-Creative Teaching (Cobrainie T’ Method) – A creative, collaborative method I co-developed that combines intuition, structure, and cultural dialogue in music education

Lecturer in Intercultural Music Pedagogy – University of Mainz

Since 2024, I have been a lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz, where I lead seminars on intercultural music pedagogy. My focus is on how music can build bridges, challenge stereotypes, and create new spaces of belonging — both in education and society.

Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced musician, I’m always excited to work with curious, passionate people who want to explore music beyond borders.

➡️ Interested in learning with me or inviting me for a workshop or collaboration?
Feel free to get in touch — I’d love to hear from you.

Qanun / Kanun Lessons

Turkish Makam/ Maqam

Transcultural music ensemble

All workshops and lessons are available both on site and online. Take the opportunity and get in touch to book Eleanna Pitsikaki for your musical events. Immerse yourself in a world full of sound and cultural diversity!

Upcoming Workshops

All workshops and lessons are available both on site and online. Take the opportunity and get in touch to book Eleanna Pitsikaki for your musical events. Immerse yourself in a world full of sound and cultural diversity!


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