Maria Bililis-Fotiadis, a well-known vocalist, studied singing in Greece and has performed at numerous concerts and music festivals in Sydney. For five years after migrating to Australia she worked making folk handicrafts. In 1976, she became a committee member of the Greek Cultural Association of New South Wales. In 1980, she co-founded the Greek Cultural Music Group of Australia with the assistance of the Australia Council. In 1982 she founded the Youth Choir of the Greek Cultural Association of New South Wales. She has twice been awarded grants by the Australia Council: the first time in 1980 by the Community Arts Board to write poetry, and the second in 1983 by the Music Board to study voice production at the Conservatorium of Thessaloniki.
Bililis-Fotiadis' poetry was first published in 1975 in the newspaper To Ethniko Vema. Her writing was subsequently published in the periodicals Allayi, To Yofiri and SCOPP and the newspaper O Kosmos among others. Her work was read on Radio 3EA, Melbourne from 1979 to 1981, Radio 3CR in 1989, Radio 2EA, Sydney in 1981, 1982 and 1987 and on SBS TV in 1987. She has given many readings of her work in Australia, Greece, the USA and Yugoslavia.
