Biography
"So great that time and space become meaningless, and only the miracle of music remains"
- Mannheimer Morgen
Biography
Born in 1987 in a french-greek-syrian family, Marie-Claudine Papadopoulos grew up in Strasbourg and began playing violin at 5. In 2012, Marie-Claudine Papadopoulos was awarded the 1st prize at the "Ton und Erklärung" (sound and explanation) competition, held by the Deutsche Wirtschaft, in Munich. Since then, she has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, the Göttinger Symphoniker, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the Capella Istropolitana orchestra, the Philharmonic orchestra of San Pedro Sula, the Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquestra do Norte, the Kurpfälsisches Kammerorchester, the Schlesische Philarmonie, and the Slovak Sinfonietta. She has worked with numerous prestigious conductors, including Volker Schmitt-Gertenbach, Christoph Müller, Klaus Arp, David Geringas, Zbynek Müller, José Ferreira Lobo, Kaspar Zehnder,
Marie-Claudine studied the violin under Ana Haas and Alexis Galpérine at Strasbourg’s National Conservatory, where she graduated with the highest distinction (gold medal) at the age of 14. In 2002, she began studying under Ulf Hoelscher at Karlsruhe’s Musikhochschule, where she obtained a Masters degree in 2011. Since 2012, she has been attending soloist classes under Roman Nodel at Mannheim’s Musikhochschule. She received in 2017 the "Diplôme d'artiste" at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris.
Marie-Claudine is active with several chamber music ensembles and has performed in numerous important festivals, including the Festival Radio France, The "Festival der Nationen" (Bad Wörishofen), the "Heidelberger Frühling", the Heraklion summer festival (Greece), the “Murten Classics” (Switzerland), the "Thy chamber music festival" (Denmark), the "Festival jeunes talents" (Paris), the “Festival di musica da camera in Cervo" (Italy), "Imnufest" (Honduras). Her fellow chamber music colleagues include Arnulf von Arnim, Gustav Rivinius, Jean Sulem, Wolfgang Boettcher, Davide Formisano, Elisabeth Zeuthen Schneider, Craig Goodman, Herbert Kefer and Ulf Hoelscher. She has attended Masterclasses by Boris Belkin, Ruggiero Ricci, Midori, and has benefited from mentoring by Bruno Canino, Martin Ostertag, the Trio de Trieste, and the Minguett Quartett.
Marie-Claudine was laureate and finalist of numerous international competitions, including the DAAD-Preis, the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy competition, the Oldenburg Promenade and the Henri Marteau competition, where the jury awarded her a special distinction for the best interpretation of works by J.S. Bach. Since March 2021, within the scope of the “Neustart Kultur” (New-start culture) initiative, Marie-Claudine Papadopoulos is a grant recipient of the “Deutscher Musikrat” (German Council of Music). This program is aimed at relaunching concert activity as soon as the pandemic recedes.
She forms a duo with her brother Dimitri Papadopoulos, with whom she has already recorded three CDs, two of which are devoted to J. Haydn's sonatas. She recently created the trio Klassik 3 with Katharina Königsfeld (piano/organ) and Alexandre Vay (cello). Her discography also includes radio recordings for SWR, SWR 2, BR-Klassik, France Musique, France 3 and d' ICI TV, among others. Passionate about teaching, and driven by the urge to transmit her love for music, Marie-Claudine created in 2008 together with the cellist Alexandre Vay the Summer Academy for Chamber Music in Trouville-sur-mer, where she teaches every summer. She is also giving masterclasses in Craponne-sur-Arzon every year. Marie-Claudine obtained the highest diploma of teaching in France (Certificat d'Aptitude de professeure de violon) at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in 2020. She is sponsored by the Fondation Meyer and the Rotary Club. In 2008, she obtained the prestigious prize of the Kulturfonds from Salzburg, and performed in Mozarteum concert Hall.
Marie-Claudine plays since 2016 on a magnificent Niccolò Amati violin, graciously lent to her by a private collector.
