Yanna was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1966. An educator, concert pianist, conductor, accompanist, coach and proud grandmother of four beautiful girls.
Her musical heritage transcends the traditions of her family’s ancestry (Asia Minor), the diversity of her musical education and her parents’ unusual taste in music which encompassed anything from Sinatra and Theodorakis to Wagner and Verdi.
Yanna is an experienced and eclectic pianist. In 1987 she was awarded the Dimitri Sgouros ‘Prize and Scholarship’ by the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki from where she graduated in 1988 with a ‘Diploma for Piano Performance and Teaching’. In the same year, she won a competition to represent Greece in the senior category at the ‘Jugend Musiziert’ competition in Frankfurt.
From 1988-1990 Yanna studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London where she was fortunate to be awarded the Cipriani Potter Exhibition prize in her second year as a student in the ‘Advanced Studies’ postgraduate course. Yanna studied piano with Hamish Milne, conducting with Denise Ham, Chamber Music with Malcolm Martineau and graduated with the 'Diploma of Advanced Studies' in 1990. An influential figure John Streets MBE FRAM; a distinguished musician with expertise in French song and a hugely supportive tutor.
Yanna was accepted at the Eastman School of Music, U.S.A. in 1991 where she studied piano with Jeffrey Kahane. It was there that she expanded her musical horizons and forged lifelong friendships. During an internship at the Montessori School of Rochester, Yanna carved new paths in the delivery of music education inspired by the inclusivity and freedom of the Montessori education system. At ESM, she was fortunate to accompany many fellow musicians and play a vast amount of chamber music. She gained her Master’s in ‘Piano Performance and Literature’ in 1993.
Yanna taught the piano in Greece since she was 16 years old and continued in the U.S.A. and UK for a few years until she decided to venture out as a secondary school music teacher and a Head or Director of Music in seven different schools across the UK until 2016 when she decided to retire from classroom teaching. During her teaching years Yanna conducted numerous Musicals such as Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, and Les Miserables. She introduced music tours abroad with a large number of students and held large-scale concerts in Gloucester Cathedral. She returned to piano teaching briefly for a few months before eventually deciding to relocate to Greece in 2023.
As a co-Director of the first 'Sani Classic' festival, alongside Directors Caroline Lumsden and Mina Apostollidis in Halkidiki Greece, in 1994, Yanna was privileged to work with and perform with a 78-strong International Youth Orchestra and other international artists: pianist Giorgos Lazarides, soprano Julia Souglakou and cellist Emma Denton.
Yanna worked both as an accompanist and conductor with amateur and student choirs some of which she created out of her love of choral music. She has supported and promoted young musicians throughout her career something she hopes to continue doing.
In 2018 Yanna co-founded ANIMO, an innovative flute and piano duo, with flautist Sarah Waycott. During the 30+ years of living in the UK, Yanna created 5 chamber music ensembles, all based on the idea of collaboration, connecting through music, and performing music without labels and limitations.
Both at home in intimate and grand scale settings, Yanna believes in letting music speak for itself and directly to the audience. She enjoys creating concerts in unusual spaces such as Clearwell Caves in 2023, a farewell to the UK concert with friends, music colleagues and family present.
She now lives near Thessaloniki with her dog Molly where she hopes she can continue to play music with friends just for fun!