{"id":572,"date":"2025-11-07T13:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/the-festival\/who-we-are\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T12:06:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T09:06:40","slug":"poioi-eimaste","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/el\/festival\/poioi-eimaste\/","title":{"rendered":"\u03a0\u039f\u0399\u039f\u0399 \u0395\u0399\u039c\u0391\u03a3\u03a4\u0395"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Who<\/p>\n

Who We Are<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

Our Team<\/h1>\n
\n

\"Yorgos<\/p>\n

Yorgos Ziavras<\/h3>\n

Artistic Director<\/p>\n

\n

Conductor based in Germany, he studied orchestral conducting with Michael Luig at the Cologne University of Music and Dance, piano in Athens with Elisavet Kounalaki and in Cologne with the Brazilian pianist Paulo \u00c1lvares, as well as architecture at the National Technical University of Athens.<\/p>\n

Since September 2025 he serves as Principal Conductor of the Opera in Wuppertal.<\/p>\n

He began his collaboration with the Theater Krefeld and M\u00f6nchengladbach (North Rhine\u2013Westphalia) in 2014 as a member of the newly founded Lower Rhine Opera Studio. Within five years, he was appointed Deputy Artistic Director, expanding his repertoire with numerous works across opera, operetta, musical theatre, Baroque, and other genres.<\/p>\n

He is the founder of the CoGNiMUS Collektiv, an artistic platform with its own orchestra based in Cologne, with a strong focus on contemporary music, and in 2019 he co-founded the \u00c9RMA Ensemble.<\/p>\n

Since the 2017\/18 season, he has collaborated with the Greek National Opera as a guest conductor and has led several ensembles in Greece and Germany, including the Philharmonie S\u00fcdwestfalen, the Lower Rhine Symphony Orchestra, the Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, Ensemble MusikFabrik, TETTTIX, ERGON Ensemble, among others.<\/p>\n

He has twice been awarded a scholarship (2020 \/ 2021) by the Ministry of Culture of North Rhine\u2013Westphalia, and since 2023, together with the \u00c9RMA Ensemble, he has been a fellow of the InSzene \u2013 Podium Gegenwart program of the Deutscher Musikrat (German Music Council). During his tenure at the Theater Krefeld and M\u00f6nchengladbach (2020), he received the F\u00f6rderpreis of the Friends of Music Association for his artistic merit and contribution to the theatre.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

\n

\"Jay<\/p>\n

Jay Raissis<\/h3>\n

Executive Director<\/p>\n

\n

He began his career as a sailing journalist before expanding into photojournalism and political reporting.<\/p>\n

His work has been published in leading outlets such as The Guardian, Bloomberg, Ta Nea, and Radio France. He has contributed reports to respected newspapers including Documento and MoneyReview.gr, maintained a personal column at neolaia.gr, covered news for the Associated Press in Athens, and continues to write occasionally through his personal blog, from which reputable media have sourced information for their stories.<\/p>\n

In addition, he has worked as a communications consultant for NGOs such as Fridays for Future and the Scouts of Greece.<\/p>\n

Since 2022, he has specialized in Public Relations and Production Management in the performing arts, with a focus on Classical Music, Opera, and Film. He has founded his own agency, representing internationally acclaimed artists, music ensembles, and productions.<\/p>\n

He has collaborated with the Greek National Opera on major productions such as MOIROL\u00d3I (2024) and the national initiative All of Greece, One Culture (2024), and has served as a Press Office Associate for Olympia Municipal Music Theatre \u201cMaria Callas.\u201d In parallel, he works as Head of Public Relations & Sponsorships and Associate to the Artistic Director at CoGNiMUS Ensemble, based in Cologne, Germany.<\/p>\n

Within the festival, he serves as Managing Director, overseeing all aspects of organization and operations, with a focus on strategic planning, fundraising, and production management.<\/p>\n

He studied Communication and Public Relations at The American College of Greece \u2013 Deree.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

\n

\"Stamatis<\/p>\n

Stamatis Pasopoulos<\/h3>\n

Artistic Programing Consultant<\/p>\n

\n

Born in 1986 in Serres (Greece), he began his musical studies with accordion and Byzantine music, while the strong influence of his region\u2019s musical traditions led him to explore various traditional instruments and dance.<\/p>\n

He studied at the Department of Music Science and Art of the University of Macedonia, majoring in composition under Ilias Papadopoulos and classical accordion under Konstantinos Rapti. He continued his postgraduate studies at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam, specializing in contemporary composition with Robin de Raaff (acoustic composition) and Ren\u00e9 Uijlenhoet (electronic composition). During this period, he began his research on ways of bridging Greek musical tradition and contemporary art, decoding common structural and functional elements between these seemingly opposite musical worlds \u2014 a synthesis that defines his compositional work. Improvisation, both acoustic and electronic, also plays a key role in his artistic identity as both composer and performer.<\/p>\n

He teaches composition at the Department of Music Science and Art, University of Macedonia, within the specialization Poetics of the Greek Traditional (Folk) Music program. Since the 2020\u201321 academic year, he has been pursuing a Ph.D. at the same department, supported by the Foundation for Education and European Culture.<\/p>\n

Active both as a composer and performer, he moves between traditional and contemporary music. He is a member and artistic director of the contemporary music ensemble TETTTIX, part of the free improvisation trio handful of windows, and a core organizer of the Thessaloniki International Accordion Festival \u201cREEDBLOCKS.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a composer, he has collaborated with major institutions such as the Onassis Stegi Foundation, the Greek National Opera, the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, and the Ministry of Culture as part of the national program \u201cAll of Greece, One Culture\u201d (2021, 2022, 2023). His distinctions include the 1st Prize at the G.A. Papaioannou International Composition Competition (2016) and 1st Prizes at the National Accordion Competitions (2007, 2009, 2012).<\/p>\n

He is currently participating in \u201cM\u00e9lisma\u201d, an annual program of artistic and educational workshops in Northern Evia, organized by the Educational and Social Activities Department of the Greek National Opera.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

\n

\"Sofia<\/p>\n

Sofia Zouzeli<\/h3>\n

Local Community Link<\/p>\n

\n

Born in Florina in 1970, she studied Journalism at the Center for Liberal Philosophical and Social Studies in Thessaloniki, from which she graduated in 1991. She has attended journalism seminars across Europe, including the Baltic and European Media Centers.<\/p>\n

Since 1988, she has been active in cultural reporting, writing for Exostis magazine in Thessaloniki and completing an internship at the Avriani newspaper of Northern Greece. From 1991 to 1995, she worked in radio and television in Heraklion, Crete.<\/p>\n

In 1996, she joined ERT Florina, where she served for many years as chief editor of the local radio station and worked as a radio producer. She coordinated regional radio stations (Florina, Kor\u00e7\u00eb, Bitola) within the framework of ERT\u2019s collaborations with public broadcasters in Albania and North Macedonia, and participated in cross-border seminars and meetings in the Balkans and Brussels.<\/p>\n

In 2016, she received the European URTI Radio Documentary Award for her work on refugee issues. She has also worked as a correspondent for ERT TV in Kastoria and Prespa, covering events in neighboring countries.<\/p>\n

She currently serves as Head of the Press Office for the Municipality of Prespa.<\/p>\n

Since 2000, she has been living in Prespa, where she works on cross-border programs with the NGO \u201cPrespa Cultural Triangle\u201d, coordinating joint initiatives with Albania and North Macedonia.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

\n

\"Nalia<\/p>\n

Nalia Zikou<\/h3>\n

Production Associate<\/p>\n

\n

Nalia Zikou works in the Production Department of the Greek National Opera, focusing on the development, production, and execution of the Alternative Stage\u2019s program.<\/p>\n

She is a distinction graduate of the Department of Theatre Studies at the School of Fine Arts, University of the Peloponnese, and of the \u201cArchi\u201d Drama School of Nelli Karra. She completed her internship at the Greek Film Centre and has participated in three European continuing education programs in Ireland, Germany, and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

She has extensive experience in theatre and film production management, having worked as an assistant director (at the Theatre of the New World and the Athens & Epidaurus Festival) and in production direction and management for Creative Europe cultural programs, involving theatre, music, and multimedia projection activities across the Balkans (Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Greece).<\/p>\n

She also works on the production of short audiovisual projects for promotion and performance purposes (ERT, All of Greece, One Culture, and independent productions). Additionally, she is active in the creation of podcasts featuring original narration, sound design, and music composition, which have been presented at festivals in Greece and have received distinctions, including an honourable mention at the Thessaloniki Film Festival.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n


\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who We Are Our Team Yorgos Ziavras Artistic Director Conductor based in Germany, he studied orchestral conducting with Michael Luig at the Cologne University of Music and Dance, piano in Athens with Elisavet Kounalaki and in Cologne with the Brazilian pianist Paulo \u00c1lvares, as well as architecture at the National Technical University of Athens. Since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":570,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-572","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":656,"href":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/572\/revisions\/656"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.triethnesfest.eu\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}