Dimitra-Maria Kandia

Dimitra Kandia is a researcher, vocal performer, and artistic facilitator from Athens, Greece, based in Berlin. With a background in Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Music, she investigates how early musical experiences shape cognitive development. Her doctoral research within the Early Language Acquisition group at the Department of Audiology and Phoniatrics, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, explores the interplay between musical and linguistic abilities in preschool children, using neurophysiological and behavioral methods. As a vocalist and creative practitioner, she works at the intersection of contemporary poetics and experimental folk vocal performance — with a focus on oral traditions from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. Her artistic research centers the voice as a vessel of memory, cultural continuity, and communal connection. As an artistic facilitator, she cultivates inclusive spaces for communal polyphonic singing, blending trans-traditional themes and vocal practices. Through this transdisciplinary lens, she engages with questions of temporality, contingency, resilience, and collective resonance — both in scientific inquiry and embodied vocal experience.