Niki Vasilakis

Last updated

Niki Vasilakis is an Australian violinist. [1] Together with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Vasilakis was nominated for the 2006 ARIA Award for Best Classical Album for the album Mendelssohn, Bruch, Ravel. [2]

Contents

Vasilakis featured in the 2007 film 4 playing Summer from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons . [3] She presented the TV series Classical Destinations on SBS. [4] She was named Young South Australian of the Year in 2008 and the state's nominee for Young Australian of the Year. [5]

Vasilakis is of Greek heritage, and her family originates on the island of Ikaria. [6]

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected details
TitleDetails
Mendelssohn, Bruch, Ravel
(with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra & Sebastian Lang-Lessing)
  • Released: 2006
  • Format: CD
  • Label: ABC Classics
4 The Soundtrack
(with Sayaka Shoji, Cho-Liang Lin & Pekka Kuusisto)
  • Released: 2007
  • Format: CD
  • Label: ABC Classics (442 9963)
Sacred
  • Released: August 2016
  • Format: Digital
  • Label: Niki Vasilakis Violin

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

YearNominee / workAwardResultRef.
2006 Mendelssohn, Bruch, Ravel (with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra & Sebastian Lang-Lessing) Best Classical Album Nominated [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jet (band)</span> Australian rock band

Jet are an Australian rock band formed in 2001. Founding mainstays are brothers Nic and Chris Cester together with Cameron Muncey. They were joined in the following year by Mark Wilson. The quartet released three studio albums Get Born (2003), Shine On (2006) and Shaka Rock (2009) before disbanding in 2012. Get Born is their highest charting work, which peaked at number one in Australia, top 20 in the United Kingdom and top 30 in the United States. Its lead single "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" (2003) reached the top 20 in Australia and UK and top 30 in the US. Both Shine On and Shaka Rock are Australian top five albums, while their other top 20 singles are "Look What You've Done" (2004), "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" (2006) and "She's a Genius" (2009).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Birdy</span> Australian alternative rock band

Little Birdy was an Australian alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia, in 2002 by singer and guitarist Katy Steele, drummer Matt Chequer, guitarist and keyboardist Simon Leach, and bass guitarist Scott O'Donoghue. They gained public attention when their single "Relapse" gained popularity on alternative radio stations such as Triple J, leading them to be signed by the record label Eleven: A Music Company. They released three studio albums, two EPs, and ten singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kasey Chambers</span> Australian rock singer-songwriter and musician (born 1976)

Kasey Chambers is an Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier to fellow musicians Diane and Bill Chambers. Her older brother is musician and producer Nash Chambers. All four were members of family country-music group Dead Ringer Band in Bowral, New South Wales from 1992 to 1998; Chambers launched her solo career thereafter. Five of her twelve studio albums have reached No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Barricades & Brickwalls, Wayward Angel, CarnivalRattlin' Bones, and Dragonfly. In November 2018 she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and has won an additional 14 ARIA Music Awards with nine for Best Country Album. Her autobiography, A Little Bird Told Me..., co-authored with music journalist Jeff Apter, was released in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbourne Symphony Orchestra</span> Australian orchestra

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Presets</span> Australian electronic music duo

The Presets are an Australian electronic music duo of Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes. Formed in 2003 and signed to Modular Records, The Presets released two EPs in advance of their debut album, Beams, released in 2005 to positive critical response. After two years of touring, including as the Australian support for Daft Punk, the band's 2008 release, Apocalypso, debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, and went on to win six awards at ARIA Awards 2008, including Album of the Year.

Slava Grigoryan is an Australian classical guitarist and recording artist. He frequently collaborates and performs with his younger brother, fellow guitarist Leonard Grigoryan, performing as the Grigoryan Brothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Tedeschi</span> Musical artist

Simon Tedeschi is an Australian classical pianist and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicola Benedetti</span> Italian-Scottish classical violinist

Nicola Joy Nadia Benedetti is an Italian-Scottish classical solo violinist and festival director. Her ability was recognised when she was a child, including the award of BBC Young Musician of the Year when she was 16. She works with orchestras in Europe and America as well as with Alexei Grynyuk, her regular pianist. Since 2012, she has played the Gariel Stradivarius violin. In 2019, she founded the music education charity The Benedetti Foundation and became the first woman to lead the Edinburgh International Festival when she was made Festival Director on 1 October 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missy Higgins</span> Australian musician (born 1983)

Melissa Morrison Higgins, stage name Missy Higgins, is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Her Australian number-one albums are The Sound of White (2004), On a Clear Night (2007) and The Ol' Razzle Dazzle (2012), and her singles include "Scar", "Steer" and "Where I Stood". Higgins was nominated for five ARIA Music Awards in 2004 and won 'Best Pop Release' for "Scar". In 2005, she was nominated for seven more awards and won five. Higgins won her seventh ARIA in 2007. Her third album, The Ol' Razzle Dazzle, was released in Australia in June 2012. As of August 2014, Higgins' first three studio albums had sold over one million units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Miller-Heidke</span> Australian singer (born 1981)

Kate Melina Miller-Heidke is an Australian singer and songwriter. Although classically trained, she has generally followed a career in alternative pop music. She signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in the UK, but since 2014 has been an independent artist. Four of her solo studio albums have peaked in the top 10 of the ARIA Albums Chart, Curiouser, Nightflight, O Vertigo! and Child in Reverse. Her most popular single, "The Last Day on Earth", reached No. 3 on the ARIA Singles Chart after being used in promos for TV soap, Neighbours, earlier in that year. At the ARIA Music Awards Miller-Heidke has been nominated 17 times.

William Barton is an Aboriginal Australian didgeridoo player. He was born in Mount Isa, Queensland on 4 June 1981 and learned to play at the age of 11 from Uncle Arthur Peterson an elder of the Wannyi, Lardil and Kalkadungu tribes of Western Queensland. He is widely recognised as one of Australia's finest traditional didgeridoo players and a leading didgeridoo (yidaki) player in the classical world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operator Please</span> Australian pop band

Operator Please were an Australian pop band, originating in the Gold Coast, Queensland, in 2005. Their final line-up consisted of vocalist and guitarist Amandah Wilkinson, drummer Tim Commandeur, keyboardist Chris Holland, bassist Ashley McConnell and violinist Taylor Henderson. They are best known for their 2007 single "Just a Song About Ping Pong", which won an ARIA Music Award at the 2007 ceremony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Chen</span> Taiwanese-Australian violinist (born 1989)

Ray Chen is a Taiwanese-Australian violinist. He was the winner of the 2008 International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition and the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Since then, he has regularly collaborated with the world’s foremost orchestras and appeared at renowned concert halls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiona Joy Hawkins</span> Musical artist

Fiona Joy Hawkins, is an Australian vocalist and pianist. Her collaborations have included five albums produced by Will Ackerman. Her influences include George Winston, Michael Nyman, Chopin, and Mendelssohn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamara-Anna Cislowska</span> Australian musician

Tamara-Anna Cislowska is an Australian concert pianist. She has performed across many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, South America, Italy, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, The Netherlands and Poland, and has played with the Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic and Romanian Philharmonic orchestras as well as all six major Australian symphony orchestras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Washington</span> Australian musician and songwriter

Megan Alexanda Washington is an Australian musician and songwriter who has worked mononymously as Washington. Originally performing jazz music, her style shifted to indie pop and alternative rock. She has released three studio albums, I Believe You Liar, There There and Batflowers. Both I Believe You Liar and There There reached the top 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart and Batflowers peaked in the top 25.

Sally Whitwell is an Australian classical music pianist, composer, arranger, conductor and teacher. She has released five solo albums all on the ABC Classics record label. The first three albums peaked in the top 5 on the ARIA Charts' Classical Albums.

Jane Sheldon is a Sydney-born Australian soprano, largely based in New York City. She is an artistic associate at Sydney Chamber Opera.

Sebastian Lang-Lessing is a German conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beryl Kimber</span> Australian violinist and educator (1928–2022)

Beryl Kimber was an Australian violinist. In addition to her performing career, she taught violin at the Elder Conservatorium of Music for 34 years.

References

  1. Burdon, Peter (26 April 2015), "Violinist Niki Vasilakis delights patrons at the latest Cocktail Concert at the Adelaide Festival Centre", The Advertiser
  2. McLean, Sandra (13 September 2006), "Urban hops as pop", Courier Mail
  3. Hall, Sandra (11 August 2007), "4", The Sydney Morning Herald
  4. Lim, Annie (4 January 2017), "Acclaimed violinist plays language of God to reach the suffering", Eternity News
  5. "Niki Vasilakis". Australian of the Year Awards. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
  6. See article by Neos Kosmos
  7. ARIA Award previous winners. "ARIA Awards – Winners by Award". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 12 November 2018.