MA Melina Harrer

Melina began her violin studies in Vienna with Ulf Wallin. At the age of nine she was enrolled in the preparatory course at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna admitted to Dora Schwarzberg's class (assistants: Marina Sorokowa and Leonid Sorokov). She completed the first phase of her studies with excellent results. She then continued her studies at the Franz Lizst Music Academy in Budapest with András Kiss. your academic degree (Master of Arts) and Melina received her concert diploma at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in Gerhard Schulz's class. She then studied for two semesters postgraduate with Matheos Kariolou at the Anton Bruckner Private University Linz. She also received important impulses from Tibor Varga, Pierre Amoyal, Maxim Vengerov, Ivry Gitlis, Barbara Gorzynska, Erich Grünberg, Shmuel Ashkenasi and Charles Castleman.

She made her debut at the age of twelve as a soloist in a concert tour of the Cyprus National Youth Orchestra. The concert tour took us to Athens, Patras, Nicosia and Limassol. Two years later she performed as a soloist with the Budapest State Opera Orchestra as part of the Grafenegger Castle Concerts. Together with the concertmaster of the orchestra she played the Concerto for Two Violins by JS Bach. Melina's career has taken her to Italy, Germany, Hungary, France, Liechtenstein, Sweden, Great Britain, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus, China, Turkmenistan, Japan and Turkey.

She won several first and second prizes, including a special prize at Great musiccompetitions, as well as a first prize at Concorso Internationale di Musica Città di Stresa, in Italy. She was a prizewinner at the Giulio Viozzi international chamber music competition in Trieste. In 1997 she won first prize in the Vienna Music High School competition. In 1998 she was a scholarship holder Feiling Foundation. She was included in the project Live Music Now the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. In 2003 she received a scholarship for outstanding achievements at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In addition to her solo work, she devotes herself to chamber music, orchestral playing and teaching. She was concertmaster in Webern Symphony Orchestra in Vienna and Ljubiljana.

Since her studies, Melina has been giving violin lessons regularly. In 2004 she learned the method of early musical education Little Piano School according to educator Kim Monika Wright. The playful teaching structure of this method is particularly suitable for small children aged 18 months and over. and taught at the school of the same name in Vienna. At university she delved into the science of instrumental teaching. In her diploma thesis entitled Leopold Auer and his violin school Melina deals with the origins, development and differences of common violin schools. The focus is on the development of the Franco-Belgian Violin School. From 2010 to 2018, Melina Harrer taught Musical Talent Development Program, the first state-founded program to support young, talented string players in Cyprus, supported by mentors Martha Argerich and Ivry Gitlis. Within the Musical Talent Development Program Melina specialized in teaching beginners to toddlers. In 2016, one of her students received first prize 6th International Talent Review of the competition in honor of the violin virtuoso Vasa Přihoda, New European Violin Talents, in Budweis, Czech Republic. In 2017 she was a guest lecturer at the international orchestra camp Camp Styria in Schladming, Austria. In 2018/19 Melina taught at the Amadeus International School Vienna. In 2019 she completed her training Suzuki teacher. In 2020 she worked in the newly founded orchestra of the composer and conductor Nazanin Aghakhani IUNCTUS, the Orchestra with. In September 2022, Melina led the concertmaster's podium together with Iva Nikolova-Hölzl IUNCTUS, the Orchestra in the Mozart Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus under the direction of chief conductor Aghakhani. In 2021 and 2022 she received engagements as a substitute at the Mörbisch Lake Festival.