Biography
The Cypriot percussion player Dona Amyrotou, from a very young age was experimenting with many aspects of music until she decided that from all the percussion instruments, her passion was playing the marimba.
Dona has participated in and observed masterclasses of some of today’s most experienced and talented marimbists, timpanists, and percussionists. These include Katarzyna Mycka, Wieland Welzel, Nick Woud, Tatiana Koleva, Fumito Nunoya, Rachel Zhang, Conrado Moya, Pedro Carneiro, Beverley Johnston, and Brian Zator. Dona recently won the second runner-up place at the 2024 Young Soloists Competition, organized by the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. At the Finalists Concerts, she had the opportunity to perform one movement of a marimba concerto with the orchestra. In 2023, Dona won first place with distinction at the 3rd Panhellenic Music Competition for all instruments, Solon Michaelides. She also secured third place (ex aequo) in the 2021 competition ‘IV Uczelniany Konkurs „Polska Miniatura,” organized by Akademia Muzyczna im. Stanisława Moniuszki w Gdańsku in Poland.
She is an active musician and seeks to perform in every possible opportunity. She participated in many festivals as a spectator or a performer with her academy’s percussion chamber class like the Festival bicích nástrojů (Brno, Czech Republic 2021), Amsterdam Marimba Weekend (Amsterdam, Netherlands 2022) and I Ogólnopolski Kongres Perkusyjnych Kół Naukowych (Katowice, Poland 2023). Moreover, she participated as a percussionist in the 3rd Workshop on Women Composers in Athens 2023, supported by the MBB (Musical Bounce Back) program.
Regarding her education, Dona in 2020 completed her BMus degree in Music at Arte Music Academy in Cyprus with specialization in percussion performance with the support of her percussion teacher, Mr. Mario Nicolaou. She continued and completed her Master studies(2022) and Postgraduate studies (2024) at Akademia Muzyczna im. Stanisława Moniuszki w Gdańsku in Poland with the guidance of one of the most important marimba players of our times, Katarzyna Mycka. In 2022 after finishing her studies Dona participated in the Erasmus+ Traineeship program at the percussion department of Westfälische Wilhelms – Universität Münster Musikhochschule in Germany for 3 months. Now she is working on her Doctoral degree at Universität Münster Musikhochschule.
Additionally, she has been playing as a guest percussion player in the percussion section in different orchestras like the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, Nicosia’s Concert Orchestra and the Polska Filharmonia Bałtycka im. Fryderyka Chopina w Gdańsku.
