Eva Kesselring

Eva Kesselring was born in Zurich of a Swiss Father and a Greek mother, but the family moved to Athens in 1974, after the military regime in Greece had collapsed. She took her first professional steps in 1977 when she began to co-host a weekly children's television programme about music on the National Hellenic Television Channel (ERT1).

She stayed with the show for 4 years. After a bad knee injury she was forced to give up her dream of a career as a dancer and so ended her professional studies in ballet, having acquired the Elementary Executant Diploma (1985), which allows her to teach.

In 1986 she graduated from the Lycee Franco-Hellenique d'Athenes and successfully passed her Baccalauréat Diploma Exam in Literature, Philosophy and Languages.

In 1987, having decided to eventually study acting and performance techniques, Eva started taking singing lessons in Athens with Ellie Paspalas. That same year Eva was hired as Production Manager and Stage Manager for the Lena Platonos Multimedia Concert, which was staged at the Lykabettus Theatre for the Athens Summer Festival. After auditioning in New York, Eva was accepted as a student at the Mountview Theatre School in London (!), where she began a three-year course in Acting and Musical Theatre in January 1988.

She completed her singing training under Debbie Lammin, having been awarded a full singing scholarship. During her tuition, she had the chance to try out her skills on such varied roles as that of Masha in Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters and that of Velma Kelly in the musical Chicago by Kander, Ebb and Fosse. It is with this particular production that Eva toured in Sweden during the spring of 1990.

While in London, Eva also had the privilege of working alongside some of the world's finest artists, such as director Paul Tomlinson (Tommy), actor Simon Callow and actress Vanessa Redgrave. Eva then returned to her home in Athens, where she began to work at various aspects of the Performing Arts as actress, singer, copywriter, production manager, translator and assistant director.

In 1994 she appeared at the Athens Megaron Concert Hall in Three Small Musicals by G. Kouroupos, N. Kypourgos and P. Koukos, staged by Thomas Moschopoulos, with the Bostonian Alea III Orchestra, conducted by Theodore Andoniou. During the theatrical winter seasons of 95-96 and 96-97 she played the role of Mary in the smash-hit production of Collin Higgins' Harold and Maude at the Alhambra Theatre, directed by Yannis Iordanidis. In the summer season of 1997, she created the role of Mrs. Crosby in the Hellenic Premiere of Neil Simon and Marvin Hamlisch's musical stage version of The Goodbye Girl at the Park Theatre, directed by George Kimoulis.

At the same time, and since 1994, she has appeared regularly on the Athenian Live Circuit, in various clubs (Public, Parafono Jazz&Blues Club, Half Note Jazz Club etc.) as lead vocalist of her own jazz group In Touch... (which varies between the basic jazz trio p-b-d to a sextet with the addition of sax, trumpet and trombone), forming a steady partnership with Gerassimos Anastassopoulos.

When her theatrical engagements have allowed it, she has appeared with In Touch... in other cities as well, both in Greece and abroad. Her presence on the local jazz scene was met with very favourable reviews from the National Press. In September 1999 she married photographer and artist Tassos Halikias. Since the late fall of 2004 Eva Kesselring has also become active in the field of casting as a member of the George Striftaris Team.