Angeliki Gkini

My name is Angeliki and I come from the sunny and colourful Greece. I started learning the violin at the age of 9 years old and obtained my diploma with Distinction. During my violin studies I acquired my Bachelor´s Degree in Music, Science and Art at the University of Macedonia, Greece with 8.72/10. Being a member of ensembles, orchestras and choirs and having participated in numerous concerts throughout Greece aided me in developing my musical knowledge, experience, confidence and commitment in my goals. During my musical studies, I completed courses such as harmony, solfege, music theory, sight reading, chamber music, ethnomusicology, traditional music, morphology, Music Pedagogy, etc. The diversity of my musical studies enriched my musical knowledge and broadened my techniques and teaching methods. After completing my Bachelor´s degree, I started working as a violin teacher at a private school. During my work there, I planned and delivered violin and music theory lessons to primary school students and prepared a summer concert. During this post, I developed great organisation skills, patience and teaching methodologies which helped me in performing my role better as well as enthusiasm, positivity and commitment to achieving our goals. Moreover, I became a private violin tutor for kids and adults for a couple of years.

At the same time, I started working as a carer at an Institute for people with a wide range of disabilities such as autism, mental health illnesses, physical and learning disabilities. During my post there, apart from helping with day care,I organised music activities and arts for the people and kids.

My volunteering experience in Greece, includes from music activities for babies and parents in order to enhance the communication between them, to being a research project assistant examining the effects of music detoxification and social rehabilitation at the Psychiatric Hospital of Greece.

In 2015 I moved to Edinburgh in order to complete my MSc in Music Therapy at the Queen Margaret University. During my studies I attended and delivered music therapy sessions for individuals and groups in a wide range of settings such as care homes, schools and forensic institutes for people with a range of needs such as brain injuries, dementia, autism, physical disabilities, mental health illnesses and learning disabilities.

After completing my master with Distinction I started working as a support worker and music therapist at a secondary school in Glasgow. After the end of the funding at the school, I continued delivering private music therapy sessions in the area of Edinburgh and started working as a pupil support assistant at a primary school. Due to my passion in music and violin teaching I decided to focus more on my goals and ultimately I left my post as a pupil support assistant after 5 months  and started  working as violin, viola and piano teacher at Edinburgh School of Music, which is my current job. In this post I deliver violin, viola and piano lessons to kids and adults, prepare them for exams or shows during the year. I believe that my enthusiasm, positivity, willingness and teaching methodologies help me in delivering successful lessons and encourage and motivate people through fun music activities, improvisation, duets and wide range of repertoire to practice efficiently and participate in competitions and concerts.

Finally, I deliver music therapy sessions to a few care homes in Edinburgh, for individuals with advanced dementia. Moreover, I am working as a community music worker delivering music activities for groups fir adults, kids and adolescents.

Overall, I believe that my skills and experience as a teacher and music therapist , as well as my passion for music and my commitment in teaching and encouraging individuals in getting involved with music in a fun, enjoyable and creative way will make me a great teacher! I strongly believe that music constitutes an alternative medium for self expression and creative interaction beyond words as well as a great exercise for our brain and the development of our personality.