Maria Manousaki

Maria Manousaki was born in Johannesburg of bicultural parentage.

 After completing the English Royal School of Music Violin examinations, Maria graduated from the Greek Conservatory Filippos Nakas with a Jazz Violinist Degree. She received a scholarship from the world renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA, earning an Honours Degree in Professional Music in 2002.

Since her arrival in New York, Maria has performed alongside some of the renowned musicians including Shai Maestro, Guy Mintus, Gilad Hekselman, Sergio Salvatore, Petros Klampanis, Jean Michel Pilc, Christos Rafalides, Ziv Ravitz, Tamer Pirnabasi, Panayiotis Andreou, and more.

Maria’s debut album "Sole Voyage" comprises her own original music and the excitingly unusual combinations of Cretan melodies woven into a tapestry of Jazz with polyrhythmic percussion.
Her upcoming album “Hidden Trails” will be released in 2020.

Maria is the founder of the Cretan world music festival which was initiated in Alikianos Hania Crete in July 2014. The festival brings worldwide renowned musicians together, who perform different genres of music and local traditional folk musicians, bringing a unique flavour to the island.