MUSICOPOLIS - Key Persons


Andreas Michalopoulos

Job Titles:
  • Master of Arts in Composition for Film and Television, University of Bristol, 2014
Andreas Michalopoulos is a composer and pianist who teaches music theory and accompanies the choir at Musicopolis. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Composition from the Ionian University and a Master of Arts in Composition of Music for Film and Television from the University of Bristol. In addition to his work with Musicopolis, he is a musician and instructor for Lexi Theatre and a piano instructor at Nicosia Youth Multicentre of the Cyprus Youth Board. He has also participated as a music educator in the ‘Project for the Confrontation of School Failure and Functional Illiteracy in Education Priority Zones' of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus.

Constantinos Constantinou

Constantinos Constantinou is a pianist, keyboardist, and songwriter active both as a performer and teacher. Since completing his studies at the University of Nicosia in 2012, he has maintained an active performance schedule in clubs all around Cyprus. He has been teaching piano at Musicopolis since 2016.

Dr. Dina Savvidou

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance, Arizona State University ( 2011 ) Master of Music in Piano Performance, Florida State University ( 1999 )
  • Managing Director, Piano, Ensembles
Dr. Dina Savvidou is a concert pianist and performance pedagogue. As Managing Director of Musicopolis, she is a member the Executive Committee and director of Pianopolis and the Musicopolis Conservatory. She is also a piano instructor at the University of Nicosia, where she teaches piano performance and piano pedagogy at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. She received her DMA in Piano Performance at Arizona State University, where she was a student of Robert Hamilton. She has performed as a soloist, in chamber ensembles, and in duo piano performances in USA, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus. A specialist in teaching group piano, she was the first to introduce the method to Cyprus in 2005, while serving on the faculty at the European University of Cyprus. She has since trained many Cypriot piano instructors who have adopted it in various institutional contexts. Her research interests include contemporary piano composers and teaching techniques for elementary and intermediate piano students. She regularly presents piano pedagogy seminars, workshops, and master classes for teachers and graduate students in various European universities and conservatories. Her most recent research focuses on the teaching piano to preschool students. An active member of numerous music pedagogical associations, she has presented her research in many national and international conferences and publications.

Elena-Maria Polydorou

Elena-Maria Polydorou is a music educator and performer. She completed her undergraduate studies in Musicology at the University of Athens, where she was an active volunteer for organizing musical activities for vulnerable social groups. Following her studies, she obtained a diploma in piano performance from the Hellenic Conservatory and has begun her post-graduate studies in Music Education at the European University of Cyprus. She worked for two years as a music teacher in public schools in the context of the special program ‘Educational Priority Zones'. Elena-Maria is the pianist for the Livadia Municipal Choir and the Livadia Municipal Children's Choir. Since 2014, she has been president and member of the professional female vocal ensemble Intonation.

Irene Leoni

Job Titles:
  • Master of Music in Violin Performance and Pedagogy, University of Nicosia ( 2017 )

Irine Leoni

Irine Leoni is a classical violinist and teacher, originally from Athens, Greece. She currently lives in Cyprus where she performs as a temporary member of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra and as a permanent member of the Commandaria Orchestra. She received her Master of Music at the University of Nicosia, studying with Janna Dimont-Sargerson. Before coming to Cyprus, she earned a Diploma in Violin Performance from the Synchrono Odeion of Athens, where she studied with Vladislav Halapsis. She holds degrees in harmony, counterpoint, and fugue from Dimitris Makropodis. She has performed extensively in Greece and Cyprus, including being a member of the Bios Chamber Orchestra of Athens and the Camerata Junior of Megaron Mousikis Concert Hall in Athens. In 2011, she was the winner of the Rhodes International Music Festival Competition.

Kalliroy Ioannou

Job Titles:
  • Piano, Voice

Kenneth Owen Smith

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor
  • Director
  • Associate Professor of Music, University of Nicosia
  • Executive Director, Musicopolis Institute
  • Professor
Kenneth Owen Smith is a musicologist, university professor, and social entrepreneur. As Executive Director of the Musicopolis Institute, he is the project leader of all non-profit and social entrepreneurship activities undertaken by Musicopolis. He also chairs Musicopolis's Executive Committee, which oversees organizational strategy, financial management, and HR management. Ken serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Music and Dance at the University of Nicosia, where he has been since 2007. His university teaching covers all areas of European Music History, World Music, Research Methods, Performance Studies, and Arts Management. As a researcher, his publications have mainly concentrated on French baroque music and art music in contemporary Cyprus. He is also a member of the editorial board of the online journal Mousikos Logos. Ken completed his PhD at the University of Illinois in 2005 under the supervision of John Walter Hill, with the support of a Chateaubriand Fellowship from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Currently, he is earning an MBA in Management from the University of Nicosia. A classically trained saxophonist, he enjoys playing all kinds of music with friends and students.

Margarita Savvidou Garrett

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Managing Director, Early Childhood Music, Ukulele, Ensembles
  • Master of Education in the Arts, University of Nicosia ( 2014 )
Margarita Savvidou Garrett is a music educator specialized in Curriculum Development for Pre-Primary and Primary-Level Music Education. As Managing Director of Musicopolis, she is a member of the Executive Committee and director of Micropolis. As the lead instructor and trainer of the Micropolis programs, she is responsible for developing Musicopolis's propriety curriculum for early childhood music education. Following the completion of her bachelor's degree at Florida State University in 2000, Margarita served for ten years as a public school teacher in Orlando, where she taught Music and English Literacy to students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. During her time in the Florida public schools, Margarita participated in numerous professional development programs, including Music Curriculum Development, Reading and Literacy Pedagogy, Website Design for Educators, Teaching English as a Second Language, and Integration of Technology into Music Education. Margarita returned to Cyprus in 2011 to found Musicopolis's early childhood music education programs. She completed her Master of Education in Arts Education at the University of Nicosia, where she specialized in Multiple Intelligences and Creativity in the Arts. In addition to her work at Musicopolis, Margarita regularly presents training workshops and teaching demonstrations to local pre-primary and primary school teachers, and she has presented her innovative curricula to the European Association of Music in Schools.

Miros Evangelides

Job Titles:
  • Education