Marina Karagianni was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and grew up in Thessaloniki, Greece. She took her first music lessons at the age of 7 and initially studied the classical guitar for 10 years. After a few years of writing and performing her own songs and appearing as a guest singer in various gigs, her love of singing took over. She studied for a Singing Diploma, specializing in classical music, at the Ampelokipi Municipal Conservatoire in Thessaloniki and she graduated with grade excellent unanimously in 2004. Meanwhile she had also completed a BA Hons in Early Childhood Studies and a Degree in Harmony (advanced music theoretical studies), both with grade excellent. In Thessaloniki, Marina gained invaluable experience in various aspects of music production and education as an assistant director, stage manager and assistant choir director while working alongside her singing teacher, Grigorios Pyrialakos. She also did work in opera translation and adaptation.

In 2003, Marina moved to Cambridge, UK to study for an MA in Music in vocal performance at Anglia Ruskin University. While at Anglia Ruskin, Marina was awarded a postgraduate bursary to fund her research into the music of Percy Grainger. She completed her postgraduate studies with a lecture recital and dissertation on the subject of Percy Grainger’s British folk music settings and presented her paper at the Cambridge University Graduate Conference of Ethnomusicology in June 2006.

In the field of music education and as part of her Early Childhood Studies degree in 2001, Marina wrote a paper entitled ''The importance of music for preschool age children; methods of teaching''. Consecutively, she worked as a music specialist teacher in nursery schools in Cambridge and taught singing privately to students of various ages. She also initiated, organised and led ''Saturday Music Sessions'', an alternative music group for community children 2-7, in Cambridge.

As a performer, Marina has been the soloist in various concerts, recitals and opera performances. Between 2003 - 2008 she sang music by Pergolesi (''Stabat Mater''), Berio (''Folksongs'', ''A-Ronne'', ''3 Weill Songs''), Purcell (Dido in ''Dido and Aeneas''), Duruflé (''Requiem''), Händel (''Dixit Dominus'') and Mozart (''Vesperae solennes de confessore''). She also took part in Britten's opera ''Paul Bunyan'' at the Mumford Theatre, Cambridge in 2005. Marina has given recitals singing Percy Grainger's folk song arrangements and is particularly interested in performing folk-inspired art songs. She was also a competitor in London's 2008 Australian Music Competition, where she sang music by Grainger and Betty Beath.

At present, Marina is based in London where she divides her time between teaching singing and performing under the guidance of international tenor, Ryland Davies. She continues to collaborate with many talented musicians in England and Greece, and across a wide spectrum of music genres. Future performances include a recital of Spanish and Latin American songs at the Bolivar Hall in London in February 2010 and singing the role of Don Liscione in Scarlatti's opera ''La Dirindina'' in Greece in spring 2010.