Lina Tonia

Lina Tonia (1985- ) is a Greek composer. Her portfolio includes over 100 compositions encompassing music for opera, concertos, orchestral works, and pieces for smaller ensembles, many of which have been performed and awarded in cities such as Paris, Vienna, London, New York, Boston, Moscow, Weimar, Berlin, Edinburgh, Zagreb, Sofia, Plovdiv, Tirana, Thessaloniki, and Athens. She has been honored by the President of the Republic, Mr. Karolos Papoulias, the Rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Mr. Anastasios Manthos, the Hellenic Association of Music and Theatre Critics, and the publishing companies Baerenreiter and Sempre Piu. She graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Music Studies, specializing in Composition under the guidance of Professor Christos Samaras, supported by a scholarship from the Triantafyllia Kriezi bequest (2002-2008). Following her First Prize at the 4th International Jurgenson Composition Competition in Moscow, where she competed among 145 composers from 39 countries, she was honored by the Rectorate of A.U.Th. in December 2007. Additionally, in January 2006, she graduated with distinction from the Counterpoint class at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory in Thessaloniki, and in January 2008, she graduated with distinction from the Fugue class, completing her advanced theoretical studies in Greece. Ms. Tonia pursued a Ph.D. in Composition from 2008 to 2012 at the University of Edinburgh, studying under Professors Nigel Osborne and Michael Edwards, supported by scholarships from AEPI (2008-2009) and IKY (2009-2012). During her studies at the University of Edinburgh, she participated in composition workshops in Edinburgh, Boston, London, and Sondershausen, as well as seminars and conferences in London, Philadelphia, and Weimar. She was honored by the Hellenic Association of Music and Theatre Critics with the title of "New Emerging Artist" in 2008 and by the publishing company Baerenreiter in 2009, where she donated her monetary award to the library of the Department of Music Studies at A.U.Th. She completed her doctoral studies in November 2012 with a distinction for outstanding performance. Concurrently, she was part of a team of composers for the production of the educational contemporary works edition "Music Without Borders" in collaboration with the Italian publishing house Sconfinarte Editions based in Milan. In June 2012, her opera "The Outcast" was presented and awarded by the Greek National Opera at the Olympia Theatre in Athens. Subsequently, for the academic year 2012-2013, she attended the postgraduate Composition program at the University of Vienna under Professor Michael Jarrell, graduating in June 2013. Upon completing her studies, she was awarded by the University of Vienna and the Kunsthaus Muerz Institute for her work KIVOS for 12 cellos, which was presented in June 2013 at the Muerz festival and in October 2013 at the Musikverein in Vienna. For the academic year 2013-2014, she was granted an Excellence Scholarship by the Research Committee of A.U.Th. to conduct postdoctoral research on the subject of Fugue as a Composition technique. In April 2015, her opera "Fear (&)s the Love" was presented at the Zagreb Music Biennale, where it won the 3rd prize in the international opera composition competition "5-minute Opera". In November 2015, her work ENNEA for string quartet was presented at the Wien Modern contemporary music festival in Vienna by the Arditti Quartet. In February 2016, she was featured as a guest composer at the 15th International Piano Competition - Piano Campus - in Cergy Pontoise, France, where she was commissioned to compose a concerto for piano and orchestra, which was performed by the finalists during the competition's final phase. In April 2017, her piece SQUALL for piano and orchestra was showcased at the Zagreb Biennale by the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Dian Tchobanov. In June 2017, she was selected as part of a ten-member group of composers from around the world to attend the workshop-style composition seminars at the IRCAM research center in Paris, under the guidance of Toshio Hosokawa. During the same period, her latest orchestral work, "Butterfly Effect," was recorded by the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra in Paris, conducted by Pierre Andre Valade. She has delivered seminars and lectures on contemporary music, with her research interests including the analysis and theoretical development of music based on the use of numerical sets. She has collaborated with the following orchestras: Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Thessaloniki City Symphony Orchestra, Athens State Orchestra, Orchestra of Colours, Greek National Opera, Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, Zagreb Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Cergy Pontoise Symphony Orchestra, Jalas Chamber Orchestra, London Contemporary Sinfonietta, Baskent Chamber Orchestra, Cergy Pontoise Symphony Orchestra, Athens Youth Symphony Orchestra, and with musical ensembles such as Arditti Quartet, Idee Fix Ensemble, Dissonart Ensemble, Edinburgh Quartet, Ensemble Marges, Duo 9, Alea III. She is a member of the Greek Composers' Union, the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM), and a permanent member of the jury for international competitions in piano, violin, wind instruments, and chamber music at the ENKOR Academy of Arts and Sciences. Since September 2016, she has been teaching Composition at the University of Macedonia in the Department of Music Science and Art. Her works have been recorded by UT3 Records and Irida Classical music, and are published by Donemus Publishing House based in The Hague and Sempre Piu based in Paris.