Iren Topouria-Papanikolaou was born in ex USSR, present Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1981. She began her violin lessons at the age of seven with Mira Freedman and Victoria Voscanova.
In 1992 Iren immigrated with her family in Thessaloniki, Greece, where she continued her music education as a scholar at the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki with prof. Irina Dragneva with whom she received her violin Performance Diploma in 2003 marked by Gold Medal award.
At the same year, she was accepted to the music department of the Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands in the class of prof. Karen Turpie, a former student of Yehudi Menuhin, Max Rostal and Yuri Yankelevich, to receive her Bachelor of Music degree in 2007.
During her studies, she has participated in many orchestra projects, recitals and chamber music concerts. She has also specialised in music pedagogy applied to violin studies by taking pedagogy lessons with prof. Peter de Leeuw as well as Alexander Technique courses with prof. Criss Taylor.
Iren has participated in many music festivals and masterclasses with distinguished violin teachers such as Taras Gabora, Vallery Oistrakh, Gabritta Noel, Ara Malikian, Isabele Villa, Martin Koss, Elisabeth Perry, Alexander Kerr, Ilya Grubert, Giorgos Demertzis among others.
In 2006 she won an audition for a job in the first violin section of the Magogo Chamber Orchestra in the Netherlands.
Iren teaches violin at the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki since 2007.
She uses the Suzuki violin method for the very beginners to be followed by the traditional Russian violin method in combination with Alexander technique.
In 2008 Iren was appointed to the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra after audition.
She plays on an instrument made by Amédée Dieudonné in 1948 in Mirecour, France.
Iren is married and a mother of two children. She speaks Greek, Russian and English.