Eugenia Manolidou

Eugenia Karagiannidou (Greek: Ευγενία Καραγιαννίδου), better known as Eugenia Manolidou (Μανωλίδου) or Manolides, is a Greek classical composer, conductor, entertainment television presenter and is married to politician and Minister for Development and Investment of Greece Adonis Georgiadis.

Personal life[]

Born on February 27, 1975 as Eugenia Karagiannidou in Athens, Greece. Eugenia married painter Theodore Manolides, in 1995. They separated in 2002 but Theodore denied to file the divorce for quite a while. Afterwards she lived with editor, New Democracy party Vice President and former Minister Adonis Georgiades. She has given birth to 4 children, 2 of which with Theodore (Alexandros, 1996 and Theodora, 1997) and 2 with Adonis, called Perseus (2005) and Alcaeus (2014).^[1] Eventually Eugenia and Adonis got married on June 22, 2009.^{[2][better source needed]}

Biography[]

Eugenia Manolidou started piano lessons at the age of 5 and she kept practising all along, though her goal has always been composing. During her childhood her father died. At some point she paused her piano studies in Conservatory J.S. Bach, with Russian teacher Alla Halapsis. After graduation from high school she began to study management but soon enough she pursued her dream overseas. In New York she managed to get accepted in the Juilliard School. She studied composition and orchestration with composer Daron Hagen as well as orchestral conducting with founder of the New York Grand Opera Company, Vincent La Selva. At the same time she resumed advanced piano studies with soloist Julie Jordan. Four years later, in 1998, she returned to Europe for postgraduate studies with Belgian composer and conductor Robert Janssens at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

Awards & Acknowledgements[]

• 2006, December: Eugenia's first opera Epos received the 2nd distinction at the International Competition for Opera Composition Nancy van de Vate for women composers organised in Vienna, Austria by Vienna Masterworks (BMI).^[3]
• 2011, October: Dr. Anastasia Bakogianni presented her paper Haunting melodies of an ancient past: classical themes in the works of the modern Greek composer Eugenia Manolides in a paper session during the conference Re-Creation: Musical Reception of Classical Antiquity held by University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.^[4] A later interview of Dr. Bakogianni with the composer was published in the 6th issue of e-journal Practitioners' Voices in Classical Reception Studies (2015) releashed by the Department of Classical Studies of The Open University.
• 2014, June: Eugenia's second opera La Pisanella, the girl from Pisa was awarded the Popularity Prize at the Opera Composition Competition "Key to the Future" Final held during the Bartók Plus Opera Festival in Miskolc, Hungary. La Pisanella, the girl from Pisa, which is a lyrical drama based upon the Gabriele D'Annunzio's theatrical play (1912–13) for symphony orchestra, choir and medieval instruments, received the majority of audience votes in the aforementioned final. Thus she earned this special prize. It has not been performed anywhere else yet.^[5]

Career in Greece[]

• 2000, July: Debut in front of Greek audience in Apollon Theatre, Syros conducting her own music with the Greek Orchestra of Colours, soprano Hara Kefala and tenor Konstantinos Paliatsaras
• 2003, November: Presented her work during a conference on Timelessness of the Greek Language organised by Hellenic Linguistic Heritage society in Athens Concert Hall conducting Athens State Orchestra with soprano Hara Kefala and baritone Pantelis Psihas.
• 2004: Musical score for the 3-hour documentary Alexander the Great: Myth and Reality.
• 2004, December: Concert in the amphitheatre of Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens conducting Chamber Orchestra of Athens State Orchestra in classical and contemporary pieces.
• 2006: Concert in the theatre of ACS Athens with the City of Athens Symphony Orchestra
• 2007, May 3: Conducted City of Thessaloniki Symphony Orchestra at Thessaloniki Concert Hall in a concert organised by AHEPA Hellas. Program included Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings and Violin Concerto with the violin soloist Andreas Papanikolaou as well as excerpts from Manolides' award winning opera Epos with soprano Maria Kokka, tenor Zahos Terzakis and actor Grigoris Valtinos as narrator.
• 2007, July: 3 concerts in Delphi, Mykonos and Syros presenting her work Delos' Idyll. This musical-theatrical play refers to the mythical competition between deities of music, Apollo and Dionysus. Actors: Tassos Apostolou, George Giannakakos, Margarita Vandorou. Harp, flute and percussion soloists from Athens State Orchestra. Ballet: Hellenic Dance Company group from Greek National School of Dance. Text and lyrics by Dr.John Poulakos.
• 2012, December to 2014, February: Formed a brand new orchestra with 25 members after the name Symphomaniacs and gave 21 concerts all over Greece conducting the performance Musical, my love with 7 (on aggregate) prominent and talented artists: Nina Lotsari, Sia Koskina, Panagiotis Petrakis, Evdokia Moisidou, Yannis Filias, Antigoni Psihrami, Stavros Salabasopoulos. Orchestration by Konstantinos Payiatis. As the name suggests performance was about Greek and international musicals.
• 2015: Composed the music for the digital performance Messenger of the Universe of Eugenides Foundation. That film was dedicated to the International Year of Light, a global initiative under the auspices of UNESCO.^[6]

International career[]

• 1999: Eugenia conducted her ballet work Gaia in Wuppertal, Germany performed by the dancing group Tanztempel and choreographed by Linda Calder
• 2000, September 23: Eugenia's premiere at the Brahms-Saal of the Musikverein in Vienna, conducting Dvořák Symphony Orchestra from Prague, with soprano Richetta Manager and tenor Vladimír Doležal. She presented her own compositions regarding Orphic Hymns, her ballet Gaia and the symphonic poem Mythical Couples. President of Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde was so impressed that asked Eugenia to set Rainer Maria Rilke's poems into music.
• 2001, April: Gave 2 concerts at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, with Bilkent Symphony Orchestra from Ankara, where she conducted Beethoven’s overture Egmont and Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 as a conclusion to her postgraduate studies there.
• 2002, March 2: Eugenia Manolides presented her work Tempel im Gehör, Rilke Vertont at the Brahms-Saal of Wiener Musikverein, conducting Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinů from Zlín (Czech Republic), with soprano Ildikó Raimondi, tenor Herbert Lippert and the chamber choir of University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Tempel im Gehör, Rilke Vertont consists of R.M. Rilke's Die Sonette an Orpheus and Das Stunden-Buch.^[7]
• 2002, July: Manolides' Suite for Violin and Harp entitled Hellenic Touch was performed at the World Harp Congress in Geneva, Switzerland.
• 2007, April: Eugenia and her husband Adonis were invited by Orange Coast College in California for a visiting scholar program to discuss about Greek contributions to science, art and the humanities. Eugenia in particular gave a speech regarding music in Ancient Greece. Her presentation entitled Ancient Greek Music: Mystic, Restless, Timeless.^[8]
• 2008, August 17: Eugenia Manolides' Olympic Symphonic Concert in Beijing, China under the auspices of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. Hosts had selected Eugenia Manolides to perform in front of Chinese audience as a guest artist from Greece, the birthplace of Olympic Games, in the framework of the Cultural Year of Greece in China.^[9] Eugenia worked in a span of 4 years and presented her symphonic tale Two Cultures, One Spirit in Beijing Concert Hall conducting the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater Symphony Orchestra and Choir, with soprano Hara Kefala and Chinese traditional instrument Pipa soloist Cài Jǐn. Text and lyrics written by Dr. John Poulakos. Two Cultures, One Spirit is a symphony in 13 movements which tries to find linking points between Chinese and Greek cultures through a whole new story by merging western symphonic music with eastern ethnic sound.^[10]
• 2016, March 25: Soprano Evdokia Moisidou and Eugenia represented Greece in Europa Season Project in Craiova, Romania. On National Day of Greece Eugenia conducted the Filarmonica Oltenia Symphony Orchestra and Academic Choir and Evdokia Moisidou in a program consisted of Nikos Skalkottas' 5 Greek Dances (for String Orchestra), Brahms' Symphony No. 1 and her own Tempel im Göher, Rilke Vertont. Concert took place in Filarmonica Oltenia Craiova.^[11]
• 2016, July 15: Eugenia's interpretation of Wessobrunner Gebet sung by Via-Nova-Chor in Allerheiligen-Hofkirche in Munich, Germany for the 2016 Diabelli Contest Final. In fact her composition qualified as top-5 online rated among 120 participations from all over the world.

Discography[]

• 1999 – Meanings and Symbols: Eugenia's first attempt to express her musical perception of 14 meaningful and symbolic myths of ancient Greece, “an infinite source of inspiration”, as the composer has often stated since. Primarily recorded in New York in 1998, her last year as a student in the Juilliard School, where she conducted a chamber music ensemble under the supervision of her professor Daron Hagen. A later recording in May 1999 with Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra SIF 309 was released in Greece from Kunduru Music/Universal. This album is not available anymore.
• 2001 – Greek Hymns: Eugenia's second album presenting musical interpretation of 10 Orphic hymns. Recorded in Czech Republic with Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinů, soprano Hara Kefala, tenor Konstantinos Paliatsaras and choir. It was released in Greece by Als SA. It is no longer available.
• 2004 – Archetypon (i.e. Original Model): Featuring Manolides' first symphony Mythical Couples plus 2 compositions of hers dedicated to her country and Alexander the Great. Mythical Couples is in fact a symphonic poem in 4 movements and was recorded back in October 1998 with Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra SIF 309. Both Hymn to Greece and Hymn to Alexander were recorded with Czech Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinů, soprano Hara Kefala and bass-baritone Tassos Apostolou.
• 2004 – Gaia (i.e. Earth): Music of ballet in 2 acts Gaia which was recorded in September 1999 with Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra SIF 309 and staged the same year in Wuppertal.
• 2007 – Epos (i.e. Logos): Epos technically is a lyric drama in 3 acts for full symphony orchestra, soloists, choir and narrator. It was recorded in 2005 in Athens with members of Athens State Orchestra, soprano Hara Kefala, tenor Konstantinos Paliatsaras, bass-baritone Tassos Apostolou, alto Nona Voudouri, baritone Theodoros Efstratiades, narrator George Spanopoulos and Polymnia vocalis as chorus. Ioannis Ganassos assisted Eugenia Manolidou in writing the lyrics.
• 2003 to 2009 – Hercules: The real face of the great hero, Alexander the Great: The living legend, Iliad-Odyssey: A series of educational recordings for children with her husband depicting Greek history and mythology as fairytales with the use of music, narration and sound effects.

TV career[]

Following her grand approval in 2008 Beijing Olympic Concert Eugenia Manolidou decided to start a TV career. She was originally supposed to participate either as a judge for the 1st season of The X Factor (Greek TV series) or as the hostess of the legendary morning show Πρωινός Καφές i.e. "Morning Coffee". However the broadcasting channel ANT1 thought it would be more intriguing for her to be hostess of the Greek version of The Moment of Truth (U.S. game show) reality show.

They turned to be right as Moment of Truth in 2009 made a huge impact on Greek audience and caused a lot of debate on how moral is for such programmes to be televised. As a matter of fact, political rivals of Eugenia's husband, Adonis Georgiades, took advantage of her media inexperience aiming at her and Adonis' ethics. Consequently, the National Radio & Television Broadcasting Council after the end of 1st season, disallowed the show to carry on for a 2nd one. There is a major percentage of civilians criticizing her personality since then.

In first semester of 2010 Eugenia came back participating in 2 shows. She was the female judge of Ellada Eheis Talento (season 3) (Greece Got Talent) along with male judges Ilias Psinakis and Vangelis Perris. The host of the show was Hristos Ferentinos. Her different point of view on what is considered to be a talent, resulted in numerous arguments between the judges and heavy criticism from TV critics. In the end, it proved to be the most successful season of the show.

At the same time, Eugenia competed in the 1st season of Dancing with the Stars (Greek TV series) with pro-partner Elias Ladas. The intriguing part there was that she had to compete with Matthildi Maggira who replaced in Greece Got Talent. She performed remarkably well, gaining audience's interest. Eugenia and Elias eventually got eliminated in the semi-final (3rd place). There were rumors that she was denied final spot because she had already signed for her next step with rival TV channel Mega Channel. After 5 seasons of Dancing With The Stars in Greece, Eugenia is still considered to be in top-5 overall contestants, with several guest appearances in the show.

So, in second semester of 2010, Eugenia Manolidou presented the 1st season of cooking show MasterChef Greece broadcast from Mega Channel, an adaptation of the original MasterChef (UK TV series) BBC show. The 3 judges were chefs Lefteris Lazarou, Giannis Loukakos and Dimitris Skarmoutsos. Although many predicted failure, MasterChef proved to be the most successful cooking show ever in Greek TV. Anticipation for next episode grew larger and larger and the Big Final on December 28, 2010 has been an audience's measurement milestone. ""Master Chef"" was declared contestant Akis Petretzikis and he remains unique since 2nd season of MasterChef Greece never ended. Eugenia's spontaneous reaction on winner announcement was never cut on editing and thus an urban slogan emerged: Θα καταρρεύσω i.e. I am about to collapse. She opted not to present either Junior version or 2nd season despite proposals for both.

In 2011, Eugenia returned to ""ANT1" for the 4th season of Greece Got Talent, but due to financial reasons, the show was postponed for the next year. Meanwhile, she accepted to present Dancing With the Stars Daily, a programme based upon Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two from BBC that followed action of 2nd season of Dancing with the Stars (Greek TV series). DWTS Daily eventually embedded in morning infotainment programme of ANT1.

In 2012, Ellada Eheis Talento (season 4) was finally aired and Eugenia kept her position as the female judge. Unlike her, Ilias Psinakis could not return and Haris Hristopoulos took his place. There were not any arguments except some nasty contestants and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was the final edition of the show till now as well as Eugenia's most recent job on TV.

External links[]

• EugeniaManolides.com
• Eugenia Manolidou | Practitioners' Voices in Classical Reception Studies | Open University
• Eugenia Manolidou at IMDb

References[]