Myrsini Bekakou is a Berlin-based violinist, composer, and bandleader from Crete with a dual foundation in classical music and jazz. After studies in Athens and Leipzig, she is completing a master’s in jazz violin and composition at the University of Music in Hamburg.
She leads the Myrsini Bekakou Quartet and is the co-founder of the Alou String Quartet, an improvising string ensemble. Her writing folds Greek rhythmic and melodic sensibilities into contemporary jazz—lyric lines, chamber-like interplay, flexible grooves, and an assured stage presence that keeps the music focused and alive. Myrsini is also a founding member of the improvising trio Transference.
Beyond her own groups, Bekakou performs in a range of ensembles—for example with Ideal Orchestra and the NuHussel Orchestra—shifting from melodic lead to textural and rhythmic roles as the music demands. She is currently developing a solo project, expanding the violin’s palette through live processing and improvisation. Alongside performing, she has taught violin and improvisation for years in private lessons and workshops. From 2019 to 2024 she co-led the all-female experimental pop band Shejust_Left (project concluded) with whom they recorded the album Loúpara.