Researcher and ethnomusicologist Nicoletta Demetriou has been awarded at the European Cultural Heritage Awards and Europa Nostra Awards for her The Cypriot Fiddler project.

Demetriou’s work won in the research category on Thursday night, and has also been chosen as one of five recipients of the Grand Prix Award for 2026.

Demetriou was recognised for her extensive research into the musical traditions and oral history of Cyprus.

She has worked with various academic institutions and cultural organisations both in Cyprus and internationally.

Her project, The Cypriot Fiddler, is founded on over 15 years of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with traditional musicians from both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

The project seeks to record the lives, experiences, and musical traditions of older performers, while preserving linguistic expressions, musical terminology and shared cultural references between the island’s two communities.

This project includes a book, a documentary film, and an open-access website: www.thecypriotfiddler.com

The Europa Nostra jury praised the project for its systematic, grassroots approach to safeguarding Cyprus’ shared intangible cultural heritage and promoting understanding between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

Demetriou has recently participated in the documentary Echoes of Cyprus, focusing on the tsiattista tradition and its Unesco listing, which premiered in Brussels earlier this month.

At the same event, former European health commissioner Androulla Vassiliou and the AG Leventis Foundation received Europa Nostra Medals of Honour for their cultural heritage contributions.