Violinist Katerina Chatzinikolaou holds the position of concertmaster at the Athens State Orchestra and is the first woman in the orchestra's history to serve in this role.
She has previously served as concertmaster with the Duisburger Philharmoniker at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, as well as with the Bergische Symphoniker. She made her solo debut under conductor Christoph Eschenbach in July 2022.
Katerina has won first prizes at the Golden Classical Music Awards, the eMuse International Music Competition, and the Thöne International Competition. She has also been awarded at the London International Music Competition and the Panhellenic Competition for Young Soloists. Additionally, she is a recipient of the Alois Kottmann Prize.
Her solo career includes performances in prestigious venues such as the Cologne Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall in New York, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, rbb-Rundfunksaal Berlin, Royal Theatre of Thessaloniki, Beethovenhalle Bonn, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Liederhalle Stuttgart, and the Ruhrtriennale Festival.
She has appeared with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bremerhaven, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, the State Symphony Orchestra of Thessaloniki, Neues Rheinisches Kammerorchester Köln, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, and Cognimus Kollektiv.
She has received scholarships from Tarisio Auctions, the Horst and Gretl Will Foundation, and the Franz and Christel Kuhlmann Foundation. She is also a recipient of the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now scholarship, the NRW Scholarship, the E.ON Foundation, and a DAAD scholarship.
Katerina began her music studies in Greece (Kilkis/Goumenissa) and continued in Germany in the Pre-College program at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf with Professor Alexander Kramarov. She holds a Master’s degree from the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, where she studied solo violin with Professor A. Daskalaki and also Musicology.
