George Harliono-Evans has been awarded the Grand Prix Category A of the International Evangelia Tjiarri Piano Competition in Larnaka, Cyprus. Winner in the category B was Lambis Pavlou.
The International Evangelia Tjiarri Piano Competition is organised by the Evangelia Tjiarri Music Foundation. The basic aims of the Foundation are to organize musical events and to encourage the efforts of young talents for studies in Cyprus and abroad. Evangelia's love for and devotion to music will continue to exist through the activities of the Foundation. The income of the Foundation comes from the annual memberships, donations, sponsorships and the support of the Larnaka Municipality and the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Foundation has today some 80 members and is administered by a Committee of eleven members. The first Chairman of the Committee was Mr. Nicos Tjiarris, Evangelia's father, who held this position until his death in 1999. Today, the Committee composition is the following,
Evangelia Tjiarri was born in Nicosia in 1964. She started piano lessons at the age of 4 at the Greek Music Academy with Nora Karashik. At the age of 9 she continued her piano lessons in the European Conservatoire under Mrs. Litsa Koutalari-Ioannou who inspired her to decide to follow a professional career in music. At 15, she gave her first recital in Larnaka and a year later she gave a recital with Marianna Hadjinicolaou, playing piano works for 4 hands. At 17 she had the opportunity to play as a soloist with an orchestra. In 1983, she got her diploma from the European Conservatoire and also her L.R.S.M. in piano performing.
She was then immediately accepted at the Conservatoire Royale de Musique de Bruxelles, where she studied with Sonjia Anschultzs. She got her diploma, "1er Prix" from the Conservatoire in 1987 with top marks, winning an award for the best graduate of that year. She also got best marks in her diploma in chamber music which she passed in the same year. In 1991 she got the "Diplome Superieur", the highest diploma awarded by the Conservatoire winning an award for the best graduate of that year. She played with great success in recitals in Belgium, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Cyprus. She also participated in a concert together with the renowned pianist Jean-Claude Van den Eyden. She also very successfully took part in chamber music concerts. Apart from her studies and her playing, she taught in several Academies of Music and at the Conservatoire in Brussels.
She was planning, after her wedding towards the end of 1995, to open her own music school in Brussels, when she met with sudden death in a road accident in Italy on 31st July, 1995.
