Eftihia
Papageorgiou first began pursuing her passion for performing as a youth
during
tours of Europe, Greece, and Turkey with the Panagouda choir, based in
Thessaloniki, Greece. Years later and
thousands
of miles removed, she now is a familiar face as a performer and a music
educator in the Chicago metropolitan
area, where over
the past 16 years she has been performing, providing individual
instruction in
piano and voice, directing choirs and musicals, and coaching vocalists
and vocal
ensembles.
Education
and Performing Experience
In
1997, Eftihia earned a Bachelor’s degree in both vocal performance and
psychology from Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), where as an
undergraduate she studied piano under the tutelage of Dr. Elyse Mach
and voice
under Dr. Phyllis Hurt, as well as drama and dance.
As an undergraduate, Eftihia also studied
vocal pedagogy and opera under Dr. Ronald Combs.
Eftihia also performed frequently while pursuing her undergraduate
studies at NEIU. Over a period of two years, she was a featured soloist at a popular piano
bar in downtown Chicago, and she was a regular soloist for and a member of NEIU's Chorus, which
performed a varied repertoire of classical works, madrigals, masses.
Eftihia's undergraduate education culminated in a highly praised
recital featuring classical works by prominent
Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn, Baroque Italian composers
Giovanni Paisiello and Alessandro Scarlatti, and German operatic
reformer Christoph von Gluck.
Upon
auditioning for and being awarded a full scholarship to NEIU as a
graduate
student, Eftihia continued her study of vocal pedagogy and opera under
Dr.
Combs. As a
graduate student, her studies also included classical piano and
extensive research on classical, romantic, and contemporary French art
songs.
In 1999,
Eftihia was awarded a Master’s
degree in
vocal pedagogy by NEIU. Eftihia
concluded her
graduate studies with a challenging recital thesis of French vocal
music of the 19th and
20th centuries, including a series of arias by Georges Bizet; Les Nuits
d'Été, a song cycle by Romantic composer
Hector Berlioz; Claude Debussy's Les Chansons de Bilitis; mélodies of Gabriel Fauré, Ernest
Chausson, and Olivier Messiaen; and Maurice Ravel's Cinq
Mélodies Grecques.
While
a student at NEIU, Eftihia performed in numerous productions of the
works of
Italian, American, Russian, and French composers. As
a lyrical soprano, Eftihia performed lead
roles in Puccini’s Gianni Schichi,
Cimarosa’s Secret Marriage, and Rorem’s What
Men Live By, as well as leading
roles in selections from Puccini’s acclaimed
Madame Butterfly, Mozart’s legendary Magic
Flute, Thomas’ Mignon,
Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and Menotti’s The
Saint of Bleecker Street.
Eftihia also has
been honored to appear as a guest performer at the Northshore Center
for the
Performing Arts.
A
Dedicated Educator
Since
1992, Eftihia has been providing individual instruction in piano and
voice to
youth and adults, drawing on her extensive performance experience and
educational background to encourage and challenge her students to
attain higher
levels of musicianship. Eftihia also
has more than 9 years of experience teaching music and the Greek
language at
Greek schools throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.
From
2002 through 2007, she held the position of Choral Director at Chicago
International Charter School Northtown Academy Campus and its
predecessor, Good
Counsel High School. While Choral
Director, Eftihia’s highly effective curriculum included ear training,
music
theory,
and music history, which greatly contributed to the success of her
choirs. As Choral Director, she also
assumed the
position of co-director of musical productions of Fiddler
on the Roof, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls,
and Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Additionally,
since 2004, Eftihia has been the guest vocal instructor for the Orpheus
Hellenic
Folklore Society. She led the Orpheus
choral group to a
first-place finish over choirs from all over the nation in the Choral
Competition at the 2006 Greek
Orthodox
Folk Dance and Choral Festival (FDF), where Eftihia was awarded FDF’s
prestigious Choir
Director Award.
Numerous students of Eftihia have gone on to
pursue higher education in
music and have successfully pursued careers in music and music related
fields.
Founding
ODEION
In 2006, Eftihia
founded ODEION
School of Music, where she holds the title of Director and oversees the
music
education of students enrolled in individual lessons for piano,
voice,
guitar, and violin, as well students enrolled in music theory and group
courses. Through ODEION, she
also offers individual instruction on a limited basis and offers
open-enrollment
group classes such as vocal performance workshops, music theory for
adults, and
music fundamentals for young children. Combining
her commitment to education with her dedication
to her Hellenic heritage, Eftihia founded the Chicago Hellenic Choir in
2004, which became a program of ODEION in 2006.
