CAMERATA JUNIOR – Youth Orchestra of the Friends of Music, Orchestra in Residence of the Megaron Athens Concert Hall, was founded in 2010 within the framework of the educational actions of the Society of the Friends of Music. Its goal is to cultivate young talented musicians, foster a spirit of cooperation, and educate them through the valuable experience of group musical activity.
The first teacher and conductor was the violinist Dimitris Semsis (now its conductor emeritus), who, through his teaching and inspiration of the young members, nurtured it into an incubator for future artists. In October 2018, the distinguished concertmaster Nikos Haliassas took over as teacher and conductor, with Aristea Tsichli as assistant conductor and Thanos Kouimtzoglou as teaching assistant during the current season. Wendy Clark, Margarita Plesti and Christina Kaminari have also served as teaching assistants in the past.
The Orchestra counts 80 members, aged 9–26 years, and operates on two levels, training a children’s string ensemble (pure string orchestra) and a youth symphonic ensemble. Its composition is constantly renewed, as new members are added following auditions, while older ones evolve professionally. Participation for members is free of charge and weekly lessons take place every Saturday 15:00–16:30 (children’s section) and 17:00–20:30 (youth section) at the Megaron Athens Concert Hall, where the Orchestra performs regularly.
Camerata Junior has also performed at major venues across Attica (Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Presidential Mansion, Athens Conservatoire, Piraeus Municipal Theatre, Ilioupoli Film Club, municipalities of Kifissia, Zografou, Ymittos, Ilion, etc.) as well as across the country (Thessaloniki Concert Hall, Kalamata Dance Hall, Municipality of Aigialia, International Festivals of Nafplio, Andros, Philippi, Argos, Trikala, Larissa, Sparta, Tinos, Halki, Paros, Rhodes, etc.). It has performed works specifically written for it (by G. Kouroupos, P. Fountas, A. Ntarlas, N. Xanthoulis etc.), while its rich repertoire includes many premier Greek and international performances. The Orchestra has collaborated with the MUSICA–Mixed Choir of the Friends of Music, the Rosarte Children’s Choir and the Friends of Music Choir of Thessaloniki, as well as with leading soloists such as M. Petersen, D. Blumenthal, Ch. Dimaras, D. Semsis, D. Vamvas, D. Kitsos, S. Mourikis, A. Hatzinikolaou, S. Karapanos, S. Kyanidou, V. Karagianni, S. Zhu, and others.
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The Music Ensembles of Camerata Junior were founded in 2023 by the Society of the Friends of Music, featuring participating musicians from Camerata Junior – Youth Orchestra of the Friends of Music. Under the direction and teaching of Aristea Tsichli, they have appeared in classical and contemporary repertoire concerts across Attica (Megaron Athens Concert Hall, Olympia Theatre, Maria Callas Museum, West Attica University, Technopolis of the City of Athens, Jazzét Music Hall, Gardens of the Presidential Mansion, Council of State, Piraeus Conservatoire, Nea Makri Festival, etc.) as well as in major concert venues across Greece (Volos, Seli, Tripoli, Soufli, Larissa, Corinth, Koroni). They have also recorded for modern music releases. Within the framework of the “Anamochlefsis” composition competition, established in 2024 by the Society of the Friends of Music, the Camerata Junior Ensembles present winning works in premiere performances during their regular concerts.
From 2017 to 2022, Camerata Junior was supported through donations by the Spanish Foundation Mundo en Harmonía, chaired by Princess Irene and the Alekos Goulandris Family.
Since 2022, the Grand Sponsor of the Orchestra has been Mrs. Foteini G. Livanou.
Follow Camerata Junior on social media:
Facebook: Camerata Junior – Ορχήστρα Νέων των Φίλων της Μουσικής
Instagram: Camerata Junior
Watch concert videos on the Friends of Music Society’s Youtube channel: Friends of Music Society
Nikos Ηaliassas
Born in Athens in 1968, Nikos Ηaliassas studied violin with Tatsis Apostolidis at the Athens Conservatoire, where he received his diploma in 1989. He pursued postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Howard Davis, and later at the Royal College of Music under Grigori Zhislin, supported by a scholarship from the Onassis Foundation. During this time, he also took conducting courses at the Royal College of Music. He completed postgraduate studies in orchestral conducting at Trinity College of Music with Peter Stark, graduating in 1999. He has also attended masterclasses with Sergiu Celibidache and Jorma Panula. Since 2001, he has been a permanent member of the Athens State Orchestra, serving as a principal violinist. He has conducted the Athens and Thessaloniki State Orchestras, the Symphony Orchestra of the Greek National Opera, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, the Thüringen Sinfoniker, the State Orchestras of Istanbul, Antalya, Izmir, Adana, and Bursa, the Eskişehir Symphony Orchestra, the Musica Vitae Chamber Orchestra in Växjö, Sweden, the Estonian Klaaspärlimäng Sinfonietta, the Astana Symphony Orchestra in Kazakhstan, the ERT Symphony Orchestra, and various chamber ensembles in Copenhagen, Bodrum, and Karşıyaka, as well as the Athens Municipality Symphony Orchestra and other smaller ensembles. He has conducted over 400 concerts in Greece and abroad. Since 2016, he has served as Artistic Director of the MousiKos Festival in the Dodecanese. Since 2018, he has been the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Camerata Junior – Youth Orchestra of the Friends of Music, and since 2022, the Artistic Director of the Chalki Festival “Dimitris Kremastinos.”
Aristea Tsichli
She was born in Athens, where she studied piano, advanced music theory, and cello (piano diploma, harmony, counterpoint, fugue diplomas, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music – Music Theory, Grade 8, cello diploma). She works as a piano and theory teacher and is actively involved in orchestration and transcription for orchestra and chamber music ensembles.
She studied orchestral conducting with Georgios Papadopoulos, obtaining the Diploma of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music – Music Direction (Symphony Orchestra). She has worked in teaching and conducting both student and professional choirs and orchestras, with performances at the Lilian Voudouri Music Library at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), Rematia Theater in Chalandri, the “Mikis Theodorakis” Hall of the Cholargos City Hall, the Municipal Theater of Piraeus, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, among others.
She has participated in seminars on orchestral conducting and musical phenomenology with Konrad Von Abel (assistant to Sergiu Celibidache), working with the Filarmonica Târgu Mureș and Filarmonica Mihail Jora Bacău in Romania. In recent years, she has served as assistant conductor to Nikos Haliasas and is responsible for the Music Ensembles of the Camerata Junior – Youth Orchestra of the Friends of Music.
Thanos Kouimtzoglou
He began his musical studies at the age of 6 and completed them at the Municipal Conservatoire of Korydallos, earning his violin degree and diploma with unanimous highest honors (class of Giorgos Mandylas), as well as a degree in harmony with highest honors (class of Antonis Antonopoulos). In parallel, he is a graduate of the Department of Management Science and Technology at the Athens University of Economics and Business.
He is an active guest member of the Athens State Orchestra, the ERT National Symphony Orchestra, the ERT Contemporary Music Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra of Athens, participating in concerts at the Megaron Athens Concert Hall, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Piraeus Municipal Theatre, the Athens Conservatoire, and the Cultural Conference Center of Heraklion (CCCH), as well as in audio and video recordings.
He is an active member of the Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra (GYSO), with performances in international venues such as Carnegie Hall (New York), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), St Martin-in-the-Fields (London) and the Megaron Athens Concert Hall.
He has also participated in the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España (JONDE) in concerts across major cities in Spain, while he has served as a member of Camerata Junior – Youth Orchestra of the Friends of Music, performing as a soloist in concerts and chamber music ensembles.
He is a co-founder and member of the Quattro Echo string quartet, which has performed concerts under the auspices of the Greek Composers’ Union and has participated in various festivals.
Alongside his concert activity, he is a violin teacher at the Piraeus Conservatoire of the Piraeus Society and at the Iridanos Conservatoire. Since 2026, she has been a teaching assistant with Camerata Junior—the Youth Orchestra of the Friends of Music.
