Contact Information
E-mail: amalia.sagona@gmail.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amaliasagona
Education
1. The Ohio State University (U.S.A.), School of Music
Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance
- under Prof. Steven Glaser
- Document Topic: “Edvard Grieg’s Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Melody, Op.24, for Piano,
and Old Norwegian Melody with Variations, Op.51, for Two Pianos:
An Analytical Overview and Interpretive Study of the Variation Procedure”
- Degree of Graduation, Excellent, 4.0/4.0
2. Bowling Green State University (U.S.A.), College of Musical Arts
Master of Music in Piano Performance
- under Prof. Maxim Mogilevsky
- Degree of Graduation, Excellent, 4.0/4.0
3. University of Macedonia (Greece), Department of Music Science and Art
Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance
- under Professors Lambis Vassiliadis and Vinia Tsopela
- Degree of Graduation, Excellent, 9.71/10.0
4. Contemporary Conservatory of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Diploma in Piano Studies
- under Professor Lambis Vassiliadis
- Grade: Excellent
- Certified by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture
5. Agrinio Conservatory of Contemporary Art (Greece)
Certificate in Counterpoint
- Grade: Excellent
- Certified by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture
6. Agrinio Conservatory of Contemporary Art (Greece)
Certificate in Piano Studies
- Grade: Excellent
- Certified by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture
7. Agrinio Conservatory of Contemporary Art (Greece)
Certificate in Harmony
- Grade: Excellent
- Certified by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Master classes with pianists
Kostas Loukos (www.kostasloukos.gr)
Hideyo Harada (www.hideyo-harada.com)
Burcin Büke (www.burcinbuke.com)
Nazzareno Carusi (www.nazzarenocarusi.live)
Pancho Vladigerov Jr. (www.vladigerov.org/en/the-intellectual-legacy-of-pancho-vladigerov-foundation)
Viktor Merzhanov (Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Russia)
Alexander Toradze (Indiana University South Bend, U.S.A.)
Awadagin Pratt (University of Cincinnati, U.S.A.)
Eitan Globerson (Jerusalem Academy of Music, Israel)
Robert Satterlee (Bowling Green State University, U.S.A.)
Reinhard Becker (University of Music, Trossingen, Germany)
Alan Fraser (University of Novi Sad, Serbia)
Distinctions
1. Α. Peter Costanza Distinguished Dissertation and DMA Document Award 2010
- awarded by The Ohio State University – School of Music
- for her D.M.A. Document:
“Edvard Grieg’s Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Melody, Op.24, for Piano,
and Old Norwegian Melody with Variations, Op.51, for Two Pianos:
An Analytical Overview and Interpretive Study of the Variation Procedure”
2. Graduate Outstanding Achievement Award 2009
- awarded by The Ohio State University – School of Music
3. Graduate Teaching Associateship
- including full tuition scholarship for doctoral studies
- awarded by The Ohio State University – School of Music
4. University Fellowship
- full tuition scholarship for graduate studies plus a monthly stipend
- awarded by The Ohio State University – Graduate School
5. Graduate Assistantship in Piano Accompanying
- including full tuition scholarship for graduate studies
- awarded by Bowling Green State University – College of Musical Arts
6. Third Prize Winner, “Annual Scholarship Auditins” 2007
- awarded by the art organization Women in Music-Columbus
7. I.S.S. Award (Institution of State Scholarships)
- prize for exceptional achievement in studies during academic year 2000-01 of attendance
at University of Macedonia – Department of Music Science and Art (Greece)
- awarded by the Hellenic Ministry of Education
8. 1st Prize for proficiency at Piano Diploma Recital
- awarded by the Contemporary Conservatory of Thessaloniki
Publications & Conferences
1. Speaker at the Edvard Grieg - 2011 International Conference
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- organized by the International Edvard Grieg Society
- awarded a Travel Grant
- Paper presented: “Edvard Grieg’s Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Melody, Op.24, for Piano,
and Old Norwegian Melody with Variations, Op.51, for Two Pianos: An Interpretive Study of the Variation Procedure”
- http://griegsociety.com/amalia-sagona-paper-2011/
2. D.M.A. Document, The Ohio State University, OhioLINK
- Columbus, U.S.A., 2009
- Document Title: “Edvard Grieg’s Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Melody, Op.24, for Piano,
and Old Norwegian Melody with Variations, Op.51, for Two Pianos:
An Analytical Overview and Interpretive Study of the Variation Procedure”
- https://etd.ohiolink.edu/rws_etd/document/get/osu1257892076/inline
Teaching Experience
1. Music School of Kalamata "Maria Callas"
- September 2020 until today, Kalamata, Greece
- piano
2. Sychrono Conservatory of Athens
- September 2017 - June 2020, Athens, Greece
- piano
3. Byzantine Conservatory
- September 2016 - June 2020, Athens, Greece
- piano & chamber music
4. Conservatory En Organis
- September 2016 - June 2019, Athens, Greece
- piano
5. Music School of Agrinio
- October 2010 - June 2015, Agrinio, Greece
- hired by the Hellenic Ministry of Education
- adjunct instructor of piano
6. Music seminars Piano Plus Festival 2012
- Athens, Greece
- piano master class at Attico Conservatory
7. “Sea Culture” - Academy of Performing Arts - Dance/Theatre/Music Workshops 2010
- Athens, Greece
- piano master class
8. The Ohio State University- School of Music:
- Columbus, U.S.A.
- Course code: MUS 202, Winter Quarter 2009
- September 2007 - June 2009, Columbus, U.S.A.
9. Bowling Green State University - College of Musical Arts
- Creative Arts Program, for non-degree seeking individuals
- 2004 /2005 Bowling Green, U.S.A.
- teaching piano to beginners/children
10. Music Seminars International Music Days - Brache 2003
- Brache, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
- organized by the Ionian University – Department of Music Studies (Greece)
- teaching assistant to piano professor Lambis Vassiliadis
Piano Accompanying & Chamber Music Experience
1. Vocal accompanist at Panarmonio Conservatory
- Athens, Greece
2.Collaboration with Prof. Athanasios Zervas’s saxophone students
- Athens, Greece
- served as an accompanist at several graduation recitals of Prof. Zervas’s students
at the Athens Conservatoire, the Byzantine Conservatory and the Art Music School Fakanas
3. Accompanist at the end-of-year concert of Eleutheria Handakari’s violin class (Byzantine Conservatory)
- at the Music Library of Greece L.Voudouri, Athens, Greece
4. Collaboration with the Students’ Classical Orchestra of the Byzantine Conservatory
Athens, Greece
- concerts at the Music Library of Greece L.Voudouri and the Anna & Maria Kalouta Theatre
5. Cello Seminar “The Art of Music Interpretation” with renowned cellist Dimitris Gouzios,
at the Conservatory En Organis
- Athens, Greece
- official accompanist
6. Conservatory En Organis
- Athens, Greece
- accompanist of the Children and Youth Choir
- choir director, Athena Gratsouna
- participation in several concerts (at the Conservatory En Organis Concert Hall, and the Music Library of Greece L.Voudouri)
and choir festivals in Athens
7. Classical Singing Workshop with the internationally acclaimed tenor Zachos Terzakis
- organized by the cultural association Friends of the Museum & Archaeological Site of Ancient Thermo
- "Thermika 2015", Thermo, Greece
- official accompanist
8. Music School of Agrinio
- Agrinio, Greece
- accompanying school choir “Althaia”
- concerts in: Agrinio, Greece (at the Music High School Auditorium, and Papastrateio Hall)
Karditsa, Greece (at the 4th Pan-Hellenic School-Choir Festival)
Vienna, Austria (at the Old Town Hall after invitation of the Intercultural Association “Macedonia”)
9. Music School of Kalamata "Maria Callas"
- Kalamata, Greece
- accompanying school choirs (lessons and concerts)
10. The Ohio State University – School of Music
- Columbus, U.S.A.
- Graduate Assistant in piano accompanying *
- accompanying undergrad/grad students (in lessons, master classes, college recitals)
- vocal and instrumental
11. Bowling Green State University – College of Musical Arts
- Bowling Green, U.S.A.
- Graduate Assistant in piano accompanying *
- accompanying undergrad/grad students (in lessons, master classes, college recitals)
- vocal and instrumental
11. Music seminars International Music Days – Brache
- 2003, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
- organized by the Ionian University – Department of Music Studies (Greece)
- vocal and instrumental piano accompanying (in lessons, concerts)
12. Music Seminars Vertiskos International Music Courses
- 2002, Vertiskos, Greece
- organized by the Contemporary Conservatory of Thessaloniki (Greece)
- instrumental piano accompanying (in lessons, concerts)
* as a Graduate Assistant in piano accompanying at Bowling Green State University and The Ohio State University,
she worked under the following professors, soloists and composers (in their students’ lessons or master classes):
John Sampen (Prof. of saxophone, Bowling Green State University - B.G..S.U., U.S.A.)
Csaba Erdelyi (Prof. of viola, B.G..S.U., U.S.A.)
Laura Melton (Prof. of piano, B.G..S.U., U.S.A.)
Μyra Merritt (Prof. of voice, B.G..S.U., U.S.A.)
Vasile Beluska (Prof. of violin, B.G..S.U., U.S.A.)
Alan Smith (Prof. of cello, B.G..S.U., U.S.A.)
David Okerlund (Prof. of voice, Florida State University, U.S.A.)
Bruce Henniss (Prof. of horn, The Ohio State University – O.S.U., U.S.A.)
Katherine Borst Jones (Prof. of flute, O.S.U., U.S.A.)
Christopher Scholl (Prof. of voice, B.G..S.U., U.S.A.)
Kevin Schempf (Prof. of clarinet, B.G..S.U., U.S.A.)
Yizhak Schotten (Prof. of viola, University of Michigan, U.S.A.)
Tamara Raatz (Prof. of clarinet, Eastern New Mexico University, U.S.A.)
Won-Bin Yim (Prof. of violin, University of Cincinnati, U.S.A.)
Robin Rice (Prof. of voice, O.S.U., U.S.A.)
Joseph Duchi (Prof. of trombone, O.S.U., U.S.A.)
Roger Chase (Prof. of viola, Roosevelt University, U.S.A.)
Nancy Hadden (Prof. of Baroque flute, Strasbourg Conservatoire, France)
Marylin Horn (American mezzo-soprano opera singer)
John Anthony Lennon (American Composer)
Thomas Pasatieri (American Composer)
Performances
Her performances include personal and chamber music recitals in Greece, Germany, U.S.A. and Romania.
She has collaborated, among others, with composer Dinos Constantinides (Louisiana State University, U.S.A.),
composer & saxophonist Athanasios Zervas (University of Macedonia, Greece), composer Nickos Harizanos
(Contemporary Music Research Center, Greece), composer Michalis Andronikou (Ambrose University, Canada),
composer Niloufar Iravani (U.S.A), composer Tilemachos Voulgaris (Greece), the opera singers Zachos Terzakis (tenor, Greece), Anna Stylianaki (soprano, Greece), Loukia Spanaki (soprano, Greece), Cara Waring (soprano, U.S.A.), Maria Zoi (mezzo soprano, Greece),
Lydia Angelopoulou (mezzo soprano, Greece), Stamatis Beris (tenor, Greece), violinist Spiros Gikontis (Ionian University, Greece), violinist Michalis Kountouris (Greece), cellist Dionysis Kottaridis (Greece), violinist and youth-choir director Athena Gratsouna (Greece), cellist Varvara Tsotra (Greece),
and also with conductors Viron Fidetzis (Greece) and Cristian Brancusi (Romania), and the orchestras Nuremberg
Symphony (Germany), Constanta Symphony (Romania) and the Louisiana Sinfonietta (U.S.A.).
Professional References
“Dr. Sagona will be an outstanding asset to any music department for she is capable of teaching a variety of subject areas
including but not limited to performance (solo and collaborative), pedagogy, music history, and theory with experience,
expertise, exuberance and joy.”
Prof. Steven Glaser, Professor of Piano, The Ohio State University, U.S.
“Amalia is an outstanding musician. Her technique is of a high professional level.
She learns new repertoire quickly and she has a deep understanding of both the emotional
and the intellectual content of compositions.”
Csaba Erdélyi, the only violist ever to win the Carl Flesch Violin Competition (1972)
“I assure that Ms. Amalia Sagona, given her knowledge, professional status and also her excellent personality,
will be a trustworthy choice of any academic or other institution that credits choices of excellent quality and artistic integrity.
I recommend without any reservation Ms. Sagona as an excellent artistic presence for any organization of cultural
and artistic activities; I am confident that Ms. Sagona will respond successfully to any professional artistic challenge.”
Prof. Lambis Vassiliadis, Professor of Piano, Ionian University, Greece
“I have no reservations in recommending Ms. Sagona for positions that include solo and collaborative piano performance
as well as teaching positions that would include work with students at any age or level of advancement.
She is also qualified to teach supportive courses in piano literature and music history and theory.”
Dr. Kenneth Williams, Professor of Piano Pedagogy, The Ohio State University, U.S.
“As her supervisor for accompanying activities attached to her graduate assistantship, I have observed Amalia
collaborating with vocalists of all ranges and instrumentalists from violinists to saxophonists. She has an enormous repertoire
and a phenomenal ear for flexibility. Her collaborative work is thoughtful and supportive. She receives nothing but compliments
from the faculty and is extremely collegial. Amalia was truly an asset to our graduate piano program.”
Dr. Laura Melton, Professor of Piano, Coordinator of Keyboard Area Studies, Bowling Green State University, U.S.
“I recommend with great enthusiasm and without reservation Amalia Sagona. I trust she will find outlets for her great talent as a pianist.”
Prof. Katherine Borst Jones, Professor of Flute and Area Head - The Ohio State University, Past President - National Flute Association, U.S.
"We will miss her talents here but know that she will make a strong contribution wherever her musical career takes her."
Prof. Bruce Hennis, Associate Professor of Horn, The Ohio State University, U.S.
© 2014 Amalia Sagona, all rights reserved