Sofi Simeonidis - CV

Sofi Simeonidis was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and received her musical education at the Zakaria Paliashvili Music School for Gifted Children, with a focus on piano, art song, and chamber music. She then continued her studies at the State Vano Sarajishvili Conservatory in Tbilisi, where she earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

In 2017, she moved to Germany to continue her studies at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold with Professors Jacob Leuschner and Manuel Lange. From 2021 to 2023, she studied art song (Master of Music) at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln under Professor Ulrich Eisenlohr and, in 2025, completed her concert exam in art song with distinction.

Since 2022, Sofi Simeonidis has formed a permanent art song duo with soprano Valerie Haunz. Their collaboration began with the project Musica non grata, which is dedicated to composers Maria Herz and Eduard Erdmann, who were ostracized by the National Socialists, and led to a recording with WDR.

The duo has received multiple awards: in 2025, they won the Genre Music Prize and were invited by the Dutch concert agency Vrienden van het Lied; in 2024, they received First Prize at the International Song Duo Competition in Groningen, the Fürstin-Eugénie Prize for song duo, and the Song Award at the Internationaal Festival Vocallis; and in 2023, they won First Prize at the Music Competition in Isenbügel.

Sofi has gained valuable insights and inspiration in numerous masterclasses with Paul Badura-Skoda, Eliso Virsaladze, Moritz Eggert, Sophie Koch, Jan Philip Schulze, Anne Le Bozec, Paulina Tukiainen, Peter Nelson, and Michael Gees.

She has performed at various festivals, including the Haydn Festival in Brühl, the International Lied Festival Zeist, the concert series “Spitzentöne” in Cologne, the Steingraeber & Söhne Piano Festival in Bayreuth, the Humperdinck Festival in Siegburg, the Telavi International Music Festival in Georgia, the Youth Classics Festival in Switzerland, and the György Cziffra Festival in France.

Her passion for music and literature led her to art song and poetry. In addition to the classical and Romantic repertoire, she is particularly enthusiastic about contemporary art song.

"The versatility of the art song as a song pianist is an adventure and a pleasure"