Maria Asteriadou

Heralded as “an artist with intense personality, virtuosic flair, unusual poise and intimate
contact with style” by The New York Times, Greek pianist Maria Asteriadou is an
acclaimed soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue.

A Steinway Artist, Maria Asteriadou has appeared in recitals and as soloist with orchestra
in major concert halls throughout the United States, South America, Canada and
Europe. She has performed with the Moscow Radio Symphony, Academy of Saint Martin
in the Fields, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony of Costa Rica, the
Stuttgart Kamerata, Luxembourg Philharmonia, the Bucharest Chamber Orchestra, Iasi
Philharmonic Romania, the Adrian (Michigan) Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian
Chamber Academy, the Louisiana Sinfonietta, the Athens Camerata as well as the Athens
and Thessaloniki State Orchestras. She has also performed for WQXR in New York and
WRTI in Philadelphia radio stations.

A devoted chamber musician, Maria Asteriadou has collaborated with many
distinguished artists and performs regularly at venues in the US and abroad. Together
with her husband, violinist Kurt Nikkanen, she appears in recitals worldwide presenting
programs showcasing composers from Baroque to present.

Her love for her native Greece and her enthusiasm for contemporary music have resulted
in prestigious premieres by many of Greece's most prominent composers including
Dimitri Mitropoulos, Nikos Skalkottas, Christos Samaras, and Yiorgos Sicillianos, as
well as numerous collaborations with the American-born Greek composer George
Tsontakis, Dinos Constantinides and Christos Hatzis. In addition, she has frequently
collaborated with the American composer David Noon, having also premiered his
Concerto for Piano and Percussion Ensemble.
 

Maria Asteriadou has recorded the complete piano and string chamber works of Nikos
Skalkottas with violinist George Demertzis and the New Hellenic Quartet for the BIS
label, receiving highest critical acclaim by BBC, Gramophone and Repertoire Music
Magazines: “Demertzis and Asteriadou give all its rage, sadness and paranoia. A duo
like Argerich and Kremer might have given us heightened psychic density and human
drama. The Greek duo gave us a version that is austere, incisive and mysterious: possibly
the best introduction to music that strikes us a real revelation.” On the same label she has
also recorded his Concertino for Two Pianos, and the complete violin and piano works of
Carl Nielsen.  Other recordings include works by Greek composers Christos Samaras,
Yiorgos Sicilianos, Emilios Riadis, Dinos Constantinides, Dimitri Mitropoulos and the
American composer Ron Wasserman.

The recipient of numerous awards and prizes, Maria Asteriadou was awarded first prize
in performance from the State Conservatory of Greece, and the Maria Callas International
Piano Competition. A winner of the Dora Zaslovsky concerto competition at the
Manhattan School of Music, Maria Asteriadou gave a critical acclaimed performance of
Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto. She also enjoys the distinction of being the only
pianist selected from the Musik Hochschule in Freiburg to perform in honor of Maestro
Pierre Boulez.
 

Maria Asteriadou is also an energetic, dedicated and passionate pedagogue. She teaches
at Manhattan School of Music, Precollege Division and at Kutztown University in
Pennsylvania, where she is a Professor of Piano and Chamber Music. Since 2010 she
serves as the artistic director of the Kutztown University Summer Music Festival, a one
week fully immersive music program with students and faculty from around the world.
 

Maria Asteriadou has also served as the chamber music coach for the biennial New York
International Piano Competition, and she travels frequently to give master classes at
universities and conservatories in the US and abroad. She has been an artist-faculty
member at many festivals including the University of Michigan's Summer Arts Institute,
Canada's International School of Musical Arts, El Paso Pro Musica, the West Branch
International Music Festival in New York and the International Chamber Music festival
(FIMCE) in La Serena, Chile. She has been also invited as a visiting artist at the
Conservatorio Nacional de Musica in the Dominican Republic. In her native country has
appeared at the Music Village Workshops, the Saint George International Festival, the
Megaron Concert Hall Piano Workshop, the International Youth Chamber Festival in
Porto Carras, and the Macedonia University Piano Workshop. She serves on the board of
the Hellenic American Cultural Foundation in New York and is a member of the Music
Teachers National Association (MTNA).
 

For her commitment to teaching and inspiring young musicians, Maria Asteriadou was
inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame.
 

Maria Asteriadou holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Manhattan School of
Music where she was a student of the esteemed pianist and pedagogue Constance Keene. 
She received her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School as a scholarship
student of the legenbdary Jacob Lateiner.  Following her undergraduate studies at the
State Conservatory of Music in Thessaloniki, Greece, Maria Asteriadou was accepted at
the Musik Hochschule in Freiburg, Germany where she studied with Tibor Hazay and
received her Graduate Soloist Diploma with honors. She has also worked with renowned
pianists such as Vitalij Margulis, Gyorgy Sebok and Richard Goode.