Nina Assimakoplous Biographical Information

“In the hands of Nina Assimakopoulos, the flute is a kite, a nymph, a bolt of lightning.”
(Rochester City Paper)

Internationally acclaimed flutist Nina Assimakopoulos has been hailed as “...a marvel!” (Münchner Merkur), and a versatile virtuoso with a “dramatic sense of pacing” who demonstrates “not just perfect technique and total breath control but supreme intelligent, elegant phrasing; broad tone color; lyricism; a full range of dynamic expression; and above all STYLE that paints the differences from Bach to Bartok...” (American Record Guide).

A champion of contemporary music, Nina Assimakopoulos is credited with over 50 international world-premiere performances and commissions, as well as multimedia collaborative projects and concerts integrating baroque through contemporary flute music with visual and digital arts, dance, and theater.

Career Highlights include her New York Solo Debut at Carnegie Hall, solo recitals at The Alden Theater “Rising Stars” Concert Series in Washington, D.C., the “Dame Myra Hess Radio Broadcast Concert Series” in Chicago, the “Live from Hochstein” radio broadcast concert series in Rochester, New York, and the AmBul New Music Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria.

She has performed as principal flute with the Munich City Opera, Bavarian Radio Symphony Academy Orchestra, the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra, and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

Assimakopoulos is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the Aaron Copland Fund Grant for New Music Recording, two Fulbright Grants, the National Society of Arts and Letters Career Award, the Yehudi Menuhin Chamber Music Endowment, and the Munich Academy of Music “Meisterklasse” Certificate.

Her solo recordings include Flute Impressions, Arcadian Murmurs, and Points of Entry, Works for Solo Flute by American Women Composers, Volumes I and II released on Capstone Records and Euterpe Recordings. Her fifth CD, Chrome, is scheduled for release in 2012.

In great demand as a teacher, Nina Assimakopoulos has given master classes and performances at the Eastman School of Music; Arizona State University; University of North Texas; University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana; University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Michigan; Michigan State University; Flute Festival Mid-South; Great Lakes Flute Festival; and the National Music Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria. Her students have been finalists and prize-winners in numerous competitions including the Fischoff Competition and the National Flute Association, Rochester Flute Association, Southeast Michigan Flute Association, Oklahoma Flute Association, and the Kentucky Flute Association Young Artist Competitions.

She is currently visiting professor of flute at West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.V., and has served on the faculties of Houghton College and Bowling Green State University.

In addition to her work as a musician, Assimakopoulos is a prize-winning painter whose work has been exhibited at museums and in internationally juried shows.

Nina Assimakopoulos studied with Peter Lloyd at the Indiana University School of Music and Paul Meisen at the Munich Academy of Music.