Meet our friends

Eirini Tornesaki (aka Erini), from Crete, Greece is a vocalist of jazz and Greek traditional music, who blurs the lines between genres and explores intercultural dialogue through music. Erini is an alumni of the Master’s Program of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, she toured with Cirque Du Soleil for 3 years and participated in their Emmy Award winning VR short film “Kurios inside the Box”. She has collaborated with Bary Manilow, Luciana Souza, Christos Zotos, Mario Frangoulis and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, NY, amongst other prestigious venues around the world.

Vasilis Kostas is an acclaimed laouto player from Epirus, Greece who has been featured at Carnegie Hall, Montreal Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival and WOMEX. He is a graduate of the Masters Program of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute and has shared the stage with Simon Shaheen, Antonio Serrano and Tigran Hamasyan. His groundbreaking performances on the laouto aim to open new horizons for the instrument in both the Greek traditional and jazz worlds. This is featured in his latest collaboration with Grammy Award winning pianist Danilo Perez’s “Global Messengers’ group and his upcoming duo album recording with master clarinetist Petroloukas Halkias.

NEKTARIOS S. ANTONIOU (DMA, PHD) IS THE PRINCIPAL CANTOR AT THE ARCHDIOCESAN CATHEDRAL OF THE HOLY TRINITY IN NEW YORK, CURATOR OF THE TREASURY NYC AND ARTISTIC AND FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF SCHOLA CANTORUM.

A SEASONED PERFORMER AND EDUCATOR OF BYZANTINE MUSIC, NEKTARIOS HAS TAUGHT AT THE HELLENIC COLLEGE AND HOLY CROSS (BROOKLINE, MA), AS WELL AS SEVERAL SCHOOLS AND CONSERVATORIES ACROSS GREECE, FOR MORE THAN A DECADE. IN 2011, HE CO-FOUNDED DUNYA INC IN BOSTON AND WAS A FEATURED CONDUCTOR AND SOLOIST IN THEIR GRAMMY-NOMINATED (2011) “A STORY OF THE CITY: CONSTANTINOPLE-ISTANBUL”.

HE SERVED AS MUSIC EDITOR FOR THE YALE ARTS MAGAZINE AND WAS THE RECIPIENT OF THE DIRECTOR'S AWARD FROM YALE INSTITUTE OF SACRED MUSIC, WHERE HE PRESENTED AND CURATED PROGRAMS INCLUDING THE SUMMER GREEK ART STUDIO AND A FORTHCOMING DOCUMENTARY ON CHANTING.

NEKTARIOS IS THE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE AXION ESTIN FOUNDATION, PRESENTING THE ANNUAL PANEGYRIS CONCERT SERIES SPONSORED BY NYSCA AND THE CELEBRATED METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART HOLIDAY 'POP-UPS' CONCERT SERIES.

STEFANOS DORBARAKIS IS AN ATHENS-BORN COMPOSER, QANUN PLAYER AND SINGER. AFTER BEGINNING WITH PIANO KEYBOARD LESSONS AT A YOUNG AGE, HIS LOVE FOR BOTH GREEK SACRED AND TRADITIONAL MUSIC LED HIM TO THE QANUN, WHICH HE STUDIED UNDER THE GREATS HALIL KARADUMAN & PANOS DIMITRAKOPOULOS.

AN ALUMNUS OF THE NATIONAL KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, HE RECEIVED A DIPLOMA IN BYZANTINE MUSIC WITH HONORS IN 2009 AND HAS SINCE BEEN PERFORMING BYZANTINE HYMNS AS A CHOIR DIRECTOR, SOLO VOCALIST AND MEMBER, AS WELL AS QANUN REPERTOIRE WITH SEVERAL EMERGING GROUPS, INCLUDING THE GROUNDBREAKING POLIS ENSEMBLE. HE HAS ADDITIONALLY RECORDED ON SEVERAL ALBUMS, INCLUDING HIS OWN RELEASES, AS WELL AS MUSIC BROADCASTS ON TELEVISION AND RADIO.

HIS NOTABLE COLLABORATIONS SO FAR INCLUDE THE REVERED CHR. AIDONIDIS , THE GREATS S. SINOPOULOS AND M. ACHALINOTOPOULOS, AS WELL AS INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS D.TURKAN, N. NEDYALKOV , EL. KARAINDROU & Z. MOULTAKA.

KRISTINA HEADRICK IS A GREEK-AMERICAN writer and creative marketing strategist with a decade of experience across wellness, lifestyle, the arts, and travel. she has worked with top brands such as noom and korres.

KRISTINA IS THE CREATOR OF DELPHI RECLAIMED – A PUBLICATION AND COMMUNITY THAT ELEVATES THE VOICES OF GREEK CREATIVES AROUND THE GLOBE – & YIA MAS – a brand and workshop series dedicated to health, Hellenism, and community.