Pianistja Mirela Athanas

 Mirela Athanas is an Albanian-American professional with 25+ years of experience in finance. She was born in Tirana, Albania, April 25,1961, and currently resides in the USA, where she lives since 1994.  She is a graduate of the University of Tirana, Albania with a masters degree in Business & Economics.  She also received a BS degree in Business Administration from the Computer Learning Centers in Boston MA, in 1995.  Mirela pursued a career in finance and reached at the Senior Associate level in an investment management firm in Boston.

Besides her studies in economics, Mirela also studied professional piano playing in a Music School in Tirana from 1967-1977 with professor Lali Gabeci.  She plays piano professionally.  Coming from a family with an extensive music background, her father being a well known Albanian tenor, her mother a soloist classical ballet dancer, her grandfather from her father’s side,  a musician playing the saxophone, she was very passionate about playing piano, loved music and arts and always dreamed to follow on the footsteps of her family and become a musician.  Due to strict regulations and a totalitarian regime, during the time she lived in Albania, at the moment she was preparing to compete for continuing her studies in piano, she was not allowed to do so, due to restrictions put in place by the government for students whose families had members  targeted by the totalitarian government.  On her mother’s side, some members of the family, had been marginalized by the government due to differences in ideology with their politics.  Therefore, Mirela was not allowed to continue her studies in piano, but, instead, due to her excellent results in high school, was sent to study Economics, something she did not aspire to be, but did so against her will.

When she moved to America in 1994, while Albania was going through the transition time, she renewed her interest in piano, and started taking lessons with Russian teacher, Olga Chefrin, a Tchaikovsky Conservatory graduate.  Mirela plays piano in different Community events, especially with the Albanian Community in Boston, at celebrations and other events, she has played at anniversary celebrations and holiday events in every company she has worked in finance. etc.  She also teaches piano privately in her studio.

Mirela has a passion for writing.  She is a freelance writer, and writes poems in English and Albanian.  She has developed a passion for interpreting and making videos with her poems, mainly because she wants to inspire with her poems, and is in the process of publishing her first  poetry book,  in both English and Albanian.   She speaks Albanian and Italian fluently, besides English and also translates.  She has transltated a few poems from English to Albanian.

Burimi: http://mirelaathanas.wixsite.com/mirelaathanas/bio / Punoi për ALVA – V. D.