Maria-Lida Karapanou Biography

Maria Lida Karapanou was born in Athens, Greece.  She started playing the piano at the age of three creating her own “compositions”.  In one of them she had created words, it was called “lonely seashore”.  She was inspired by the famous pianist Rubinstein that she saw on the Greek TV playing Chopin F minor concerto when she was only a baby.  She started piano lessons 3 and a half years old with the composer and pedagoge Vaggelis Kyritsis.  She entered the Athens Conservatory 5 and a half years old after audition.  Her first teachers where Maria Karytinou, Konstantinos Karydis (the later conductor) and Erasiklia Mantgagriotou.  She studied at the historic Athens Conservatory with eminent musicians (Aliki Vatikioti-piano,Tatsis Apostolidis-chamber music, Babis Kanas-solfege and theory-harmony, Antonis Kontogeorgiou-choir, Loukas Karytinos-music morphology, Chara Tompra-piano pedagogy, Markos Dragoumis music history).  During her studies she gained awards many times for the piano and for chamber music.  All her performances at the Conservatory were of exceptional quality and she was recognized by all the teachers and pianists already as a soloist of international caliber.  In 1998 she was finalist at the young soloists Eurovision competition and she performed on the national Greek TV.  She also started teaching piano at the age of 14 and all of her students were excellent. 

In 2000 she graduated with Piano Diploma “excellent unanimously and First Prize for the piano unanimously”. 

The same year she auditioned for the Royal College of Music in London and she gained a scholarship for postgraduate studies for soloists.  She was chosen among hundreds of pianists and other instrumentalists to be a scholar of the RCM.   

She also won the first prize at the competition of the Gina Bachauer Foundation in Athens, Greece gaining another scholarship for Greek Artists who study abroad. 

At the Royal College she studied with the famous pianist and professor Yonty Solomon.  She received excellent critics for her performances especially for her interpretations on Chopin, Bach, Beethoven and Scarllatti.   

She received the postgraduate Diploma in Performance solo recitalist in 2001. 

Though she was accepted by the RCM to continue her studies in London she chose to follow a Master’s course exclusively in Performance (recitals, recording, concerto with the orchestra) offered at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland.  Also in 2001 she received the three years scholarship award as the first prize of the competition of the Foundation of the State Scholarships of Greece.  She studied with the famous professor Fali Pavri who was touring with Mitislav Rostropovitch in India.She gained another scholarship from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama after audition.   

She received the highest mark for her interpretation and special arrangement of the first Partita by Bach.  She received excellent critics for her extraordinary performance of the Rachmaninoff piano concerto no2 with the Royal Scottish Academy Symphony Orchestra.   

She wrote 24 poems for her performance of the complete 24 preludes by Chopin.  She introduced Yannis Konstantnidis ‘music to the Scottish audience with great success.  In July 2003 she received the Master in Piano Solo Performance. 

On October 18, 2003 at Saint Luke’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Glasgow Maria got married with George Manias, student of Mathematics in Glasgow University. 

She continued living in Great Britain (Glasgow). She gave many concerts and taught piano while being an active member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians.  Her students gained distinction from the Grade System of the Royal Schools (ABRSM).  She was also the official accompanist of the Milngave Choir and for the Bothwell Philharmonic Society.  Her biggest project with the Milngavie choir was the whole opera “Carmen” by Bizet that she performed on the piano with the choir other three instruments and with soloists big artists from Scotland and Milan, Italy.  She collaborated with the famous baritone Mark Donelly, director of the Bothwell  Phillarmonic Society.  Furthermore, she developed special improvisation skills for Ballet Music working as a pianist for the Scottish Ballet (Junior Department) and for the Dance School of Scotland, a unique school for young talented dancers. She also organized and participated in a series of concerts for charity for the Greek Orthodox Saint Luke’s Cathedral in Glasgow in collaboration with other artists. (Andreas Hanniotis-violin,Taylor Wilson –soprano, Flora Tzanetaki-piano and many others).   

Maria has appeared in many concerts in Greece (Athens, “Phillipos Nakas Hall”, Athens Conservatory Hall, Thessaloniki, Patra, Iraklion, Chalkidiki, Rhodes) and in Great Britain (London: RCM Concert Hall, Saint Michaels, Kent, Glasgow: Mat Thomson Concert Hall, Pollock House, Saint Luke’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Edinburgh: Queen’s Hall and other Halls) with works for piano solo, piano and orchestra, harpsichord and orchestra, voice and piano, piano and choir, chamber music.  She was selected to play in international piano master classes in Athens, London and Glasgow with eminent pianists such as Boris Berman, Martino Tirimo, Dominique Merlet, Steven Osborne, Duo Ganev, Lilia Boyiagieva, Alexandra Papastefanou.  She was specially invited for masterclasses and performances in Hungary and Israel. 

In January 2007 she returned to Greece with her husband in Arnaia, Chalkidiki in order for her husband to be ordained. Father George Manias was ordained as a deacon in Megali Panagia on the 2nd of February of 2007 (Ipapantis Kyriou) and as a priest on the 11th of March of 2007 (Kiriaki Of Stavroproskiniseos).   Presbytera Maria taught piano, theory, solfege (Singing) and Children’s Choir with Instruments all the students of all the levels of the Music School of Arnaia under the direction of the famous conductor Kostis Papazoglou from Thessaloniki.  In Arnaia she gave twice a unique performance of her own arrangement of the work for Alosis of Constantinople by the famous Greek composer Stamatis Spanoudakis in collaboration with the Internationally recognized choir of Arnaia directed by Basilios Kokaliaris for piano and choir.  She later transformed the same work for piano solo. 

In August 2008, she and her husband went to live and work in Rhodes, Father George’s birth place.  Maria taught at the College of Rhodes piano, music for children 2 – 5 years old, music in primary school, music and movement and music for the dance classes.  She also collaborated as a pianist with the theater classes and was the accompanist of the students’ choir. She composed many songs for the children and they performed them in various occasions.  Furthermore, she created a musical story for kids 2 and 3 years old for use in the classroom combining music and movement, singing and use of percussion instruments and she composed piano pieces for her students to perform for various levels. 

Although very busy in school Maria Lida managed to participate respectfully in 2010 at the international piano completion in Rhodes with great pianists from all over the world. 

As part of her performing activities she performed for the first and the second festival of Arts of Rhodes in 2009 and 2010 which was organized by the College of Rhodes as a soloist.  She received extraordinary critics for her solo performances and also for her collaboration with the famous German Opera Singer Gisella Schubert.  She received two special honorary awards for her offer to the festival.  She performed for two Greek TV channels.  She also performed for the International Piano Forum in Rhodes in 2009 with a piano recital dedicated to the Greek composer Yiannis Konstandinidis.  Her performance inspired many pianists from all over the world to be interested in Konstantinidis music.  In 2010, she participated again with a Chopin recital.   

In Rhodes Maria also taught piano in Melanthio Conservatory and in Corelli Conservatory.  

Presvytera Maria was inspired to learn Byzantine Music by her husband Rev.Fr.Georgios Manias,with whom she learned the elementary Byzantine notation 

Since February 2007 she started studying the Byzantine Traditional Music first with the Protopsaltis of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Stefanos Arnaia Chalkidiki Vasilios Kokkaliaris and then in Rhodes with Protopsaltis Pantelis Anastasopoulos who is also a famous kanonaki player and singer (student of Lukourgos Aggelopoulos) and with Protopsaltis Eleutherios Kastrounis (student of Pantelis Anastasopoulos).  Her grandfather,  Haralampos Karapanos,  died before she was born, he was Protopsaltis and Byzantine music teacher in Agrinio Aitoloakarnania.  She graduated with diploma in byzantine Music “Excellent” in June 2013, Melanthio Conservatory having being evaluated by a jury in which the famous Archon Protopsaltis of the Patriarchate in Constantinople and director of the famous Hellenic Byzantine Choir Lykourgos Aggelopoulos was a member (student of Simon Karas).   From 2010 – 2013 she served as a psaltria of the left analogio to a parish of Rhodes dedicated to Saint John the Theologian where Father George was serving as a Priest .   

She also taught byzantine music to  people from the Parish.   She received a special honorary award for her services for the Church. 

For the same parish she organized a series of piano recitals and concerts  with a choir that she created for the children of the Sunday School.  She taught the children both byzantine and classical music.  She organized special events creating a choir with children from all the Sunday schools of the island (more than 100 children) and they performed at the main theatre of Rhodes and for the TV. 

Maria studied harmony with the great composer Babis Kanas and the professor Michael Vekiaris.  She graduated in 2012 with degree in Harmony “Excellent” Melanthio Conservatory.               

In April of 2014, Maria gave birth to her first son Michael Angel. 

In February 2015, Father George Manias and his Family officially moved to America in order to serve to the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of the Detroit and the Annunciation Cathedral in Greek Town.  Presvytera Maria has served the Annunciation Cathedral as the Organist of the Choir under the direction of Evey Simon and then Kimberly Lianos.  She has chanted many times for ecclesiastical  services at the Cathedral,  especially in the Summer when the Cathedral Choir is on Summer Break.  Presvytera Maria has also taught at the Assumption Nursery School children from 3 – 5 years old a special program with music and movement, songs, rhythmic patterns, notation and basic piano skills, and teaches piano privately.  She has also taught Greek School at the Annunciation Cathedral and she taught Byzantine Music to a group of people at the Church and collaborated with her husband with the new Byzantine Choir of the Cathedral.  In April 2015, she participated with a small performance in a concert with the famous Greek Cellist Yiannis Tsitselikis under the direction of the conductor Dr. Kypros Markou at the Assumption Orthodox Church of Detroit.   

In July 2015 the new Byzantine choir of the Cathedral had its first concert at the Annunciation Cathedral and the next concert was on December 9th, 2015 at the Cathedral with Christmas Hymns and carols from many places of Greece. 

Maria also performed a piano recital in November of 2015 at the Annunciation Cathedral.   

In September of 2016 she had another Piano Recital at the Cathedral. In December of 2016 the Byzantine Choir had its Christmas Concert.   

In May of 2017 she played the piano at the concert for “the Fall of Constantinople” at the Cathedral.  In December of 2017 in the Byzantine choirs Christmas Concert, they included also several Greek Schools in the Choir from the Metropolis of Detroit.  In February she played Modern Greek songs with the Byzantine Choir in a concert dedicated to the couples in memory of the Greek Orthodox Saints, St Aquila and St. Priscilla. 

In May of 2018, Maria had a Piano Recital at the Annunciation Cathedral where she performed works by:  Bach Scarlatti, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy and Konstandinidis.  

In February of 2019, Maria had a Piano Recital at Exodus Rooftop in Detroit Greektown where she performed works by Greek Compossers:  Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hatzidakis and Yiannis Konstandinidis. 

On March 11 2020 she gave birth to her second son Vasilios-Fanourios. 

In November 2020 during the covid 19 pandemicMaria gave an extraordinary live-streaming virtual Chopin Recital broadcasted from the Annunciation Cathedral. 

In June 2020 she started her YouTube channel Maria Lida Karapanou while she started recording at the brookwood studio with the audio engineer David Lau. 

She has started collaborating with the Grammy winner conductor-violinist John McLaughlin Williams. On May 15th they performed their first violin and piano concert. 

She is going to perform on December 10th 2021 with the Royal Oak Symphony Orchestra Rachmaninov second piano concerto with the conductor John McLaughlin Williams. 

She teaches piano privately all levels all ages. 

She also teaches Byzantine music. 

Soon she is going to publish her website www.pianistmarialidakarapanou.com. 

At the beginning of November 2021 her Chopin album is going to be released by Subways Music. 

On February 19th 2022, she is going to give a violin and piano plus solo piano recital at the Steinway Gallery in Michigan with John Mclaughlin Williams.  

Many more performances are going to follow: Solo Piano Recitals, Chamber Music Concerts and Concertos with Orchestras. 

More recordings are going to follow.