Maria Bazou

Maria Bazou was born in Athens in 1999. She graduated with highest honours and first prize in orchestral conducting from the class of Michalis Economou at the Athens Conservatory in June 2025. In April 2026, she was accepted with a scholarship into the class of the renowned conductor Marin Alsop at the Peabody Conservatory in the United States. In January 2026, she was awarded the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship as a mentee for the following season.

She also graduated in choral conducting, piano, clarinet, and composition from the Katerina Maska Conservatory in Athens, as well as from the Municipal Conservatory of Kallithea. In 2022, she began her studies in orchestral conducting in the class of Professor Rafał Jacek Delekta at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, where she is currently in the second year of her Master’s degree. She is also a final-year student at the Department of Music Studies of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

She has conducted numerous orchestras in Greece and across Europe. In March 2023, she was awarded 2nd Prize and the Orchestra Prize at the 4th Conducting Competition in memory of Adam Kopyciński in Wrocław, Poland. In July 2023, she received 2nd Prize, the Orchestra Prize, and a Special Prize at the International Conducting Competition “Ionel Perlea” in Bucharest, Romania.  Maria has participated in numerous masterclasses with distinguished conductors, including Marin Alsop, Jorma Panula, Luis Gorelik, Johannes Schlaefli and Michalis Economou among others.

At the age of 19, she founded the symphony orchestra and choir “Filii Notas” in Athens, consisting of a group of young, talented artists primarily focused on the classical repertoire. She was also awarded a five-year scholarship in orchestral conducting “In memory of Thodoros Antoniou” at the Athens Conservatory.

Additionally, she was a scholarship recipient for the academic year 2024–2025, for the second consecutive year, at the Academy of Music in Kraków, in recognition of her outstanding academic performance and distinctions in conducting competitions.