SOFIA STAIKOU

VIOLIST & VIOLINIST

Sofia Staikou began studying the violin at the age of 7 at a conservatory in Western Thessaloniki. In 2012, she enrolled at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki, where she studied violaunder Professor Alexandra Voltsi, Second Principal of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra (TSSO). She graduated with honors in 2023. In 2015, she entered the University of Macedonia, specializing in viola under Professor Chara Seira, First Principal of TSSO, and later under Professor Thanasis Sourgkounis, a TSSO member. Under his guidance, she completed her Bachelor’s recital in 2021, earning the highest distinction (10/10). Currently, she is pursuing a Master’s degree in Philosophy and the Arts at the Hellenic Open University.

Sofia has been an active performer in numerous orchestras and musical collaborations. During the 2016–2017 season, she played violin in the Balkan Youth Symphony Orchestra, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2019, she performed as a violist in a collaboration between the Underground Youth Orchestra and the Julius-Stern-Institut String Orchestra at the Young Euro Classic festival in Berlin, under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach.

Her work extends beyond classical music into contemporary and experimental genres. In 2020, she collaborated with the electronic music duo “Sky Inspired”, recording viola and violin for their album, and contributed viola recordings to the album IV by the band Naxatras. The following year, she participated as a vocalist, violist, and violinist in “7th Floor”, an album by the artist KAPPA, released by Plus Rec. In 2022, she performed original chamber music compositions as a violist at the Contemporary Music Workshop at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall.

In 2023, she joined the Larissa Symphony Orchestra, first collaborating in a production of Beethoven’s opera “Fidelio”, and has been a permanent member ever since. That same year, she performed alongside Dimitris Zervoudakis as part of the Jovenata Ensemble. During the 2023–2024 season, she played violin in the symphonic concert series “100 Years of Disney” in Greece and Cyprus, a collaboration that continues into 2025.

Alongside her performance career, Sofia has been teaching violin, viola, music theory, and early music education at conservatories in Northern Greece since 2017.

Since 2016, she has been an active violinist, violist, and vocalist in various local music ensembles, exploring a wide range of genres, including Greek rebetiko, pop, rock, punk, traditional Greek music, and classical music. In October 2024, she became a member of the band Koza Mostra (punk, ska, rock), touring Germany and the UK while also performing extensively across Greece.

Since January 2025, she has been a permanent member of BullStrings, the remote recording string ensemble of BullStreet Production Studio in Edessa.