KASSANDRA

Kassandra Charalambi was born and raised in Athens, Greece. Music has been an integral part of her life since the age of four, when she began taking piano lessons with her father. Although she pursued a different academic path, her passion for music has never faded.

In 2012, she was accepted into the Jazz Department of Musikene, the Higher School of Music of the Basque Country, located in San Sebastián, Spain, where she graduated in 2017. During her studies at Musikene, she had the opportunity to meet and study with renowned artists and educators such as Judy Niemack, Deborah Carter, Bob Sands, and Guillermo McGill, who instilled in her a deep respect for the jazz tradition.

During her time in Spain, she gradually became very active in the local jazz scene, performing at the San Sebastián Jazz Festival (“Heineken Jazzaldia”) with various jazz ensembles, at renowned venues such as Bogui Jazz in Madrid and Jimmy Glass in Valencia, and at the “Mojo Workin’ Donostia Festival,” where she provided backing vocals for soul legends such as Kim Weston, Dee Dee Sharp, and Mitch Ryder.

In 2018, she decided to further expand her knowledge of jazz music and history after being accepted into the master's program at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York, completing her studies in 2020.

She has remained in New York ever since and has been invited to share the stage with acclaimed jazz musicians such as Johnny O’Neal, Emmet Cohen, Saul Rubin, and Michael Kanan, among others. She has also performed at notable venues including Minton’s Playhouse, Zinc Bar, Arthur’s Tavern, Mezzrow Jazz Club, and The Django.