Aya Safiya

Violin

Aya Safiya is a Bay Area-born violinist who specializes in traditional Greek music. She has studied Greek violin for over 25 years with various teachers including Nicos Chatzopoulos and Nikos Oikonomidhis. Aya’s music career started at the age of 16 when she started performing at Folk Dance Festival (FDF) and has since performed at many Greek festivals in the US and Greece, such as the Oakland Greek Food Festival and the Traditional Music Festival of the Dodecanese. She has been teaching Greek violin repertoire and technique for 18 years, providing private lessons as well as group courses at summer camps and venues such as the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. In a class with Aya you can expect to learn a few tunes from different regions across Greece, with a focus on rhythm and bowing, left-hand ornamentation, and intonation.

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