Harikleia Papanikolaou was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. She has studied piano and theory of music in the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki and economics in the School of Economics. She has received her specialization in Music Education from the Musical Academy of Trossingen Germany. She has attended numerous seminars and courses on music pedagogy both in Greece and abroad.
From the year 1985 she has been collaborating with several schools and conservatories in various cities, implementing music-education programs for pre-school and school-aged children. Since 1987 she has been a lecturer at the Pedagogical School of the Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki. In parallel, she has been teaching at the “Musical College” Conservatory along the program of “Musical Education” for children and has been actively involved in the further training of educators and musicians.
She has written a series of manuals for the students of the Pedagogical Schools; and comprehensive “Musical Education” curriculums for infants and children. She has staged and presented several musical and theatrical performances with children. 

Harikleia Papanikolaou is the author of With music with movement (Topos Books 2009).