Calliope-interpreters is a network of experienced consultant interpreters based in many countries around the world.

Each member of the network can advise on your interpreting needs and recruit a team of professional interpreters to give you the very best value for money.

History of Calliope-Interpreters

Two events coincided in the creation of Calliope-Interpreters in the late 1990s. A number of consultant interpreters in different countries were convinced they could enhance the level of service to their clients by pooling their resources worldwide to offer professional excellence based on local knowledge. At the same time the group saw the mass take-up of the Internet as suggesting new ways for consultant interpreters to communicate with existing and potential clients.

Calliope-Interpreters was launched in 2000 with the aim of arranging teams of high-calibre interpreters worldwide so that clients could rely on the same dependable service anywhere in the world. This was achieved thanks to an accessible and comprehensive website informing clients about the provision of language services.

The core group of interpreters soon understood that Calliope-Interpreters needed more like-minded members in key interpreting markets, and this lead to Calliope-Interpreters’ first major expansion in 2002.

Client satisfaction was the driving force behind the Calliope ideal, but a useful spin-off has been the pooling of expertise and resources between members. Over the years the individual members have developed a comprehensive database of interpreters covering the less widely spoken languages and interpreters with particular specialisms. This list comprises people with whom we have worked and is not simply based on hearsay or unsubstantiated claims of language skills.

We are the first worldwide network of independent consultant interpreters; all of us are practitioners able to give you dependable and accurate advice based on our many years of collective experience. Our network of members can make the arrangements for interpreters anywhere in the world. A client contacting Calliope-Interpreters talks to an experienced practitioner, not an office manager who has never interpreted.

Calliope-Interpreters has admitted as new members only consultant interpreters who identify with our approach to the interpreting profession. We constantly strive to improve the service to our clients, never rest on our laurels and never succumb to complacency with our long-standing clients. We know that the best work is done by a harmonious team that shares a work ethic and that is judged anew by its performance at each meeting. Only interpreters who fit our work ethic are asked to join Calliope-Interpreters.

Calliope-Interpreters now has 21 members based in the world’s main economies. The great advantage for our clients is that wherever they hold their meeting they are not starting from scratch each time they recruit interpreters. Organisations that move from country to country and rely on their local affiliate to make the arrangements can simply pass them on to the local Calliope-Interpreters member. In this way Calliope-Interpreters achieves the basis of all good business – the client has confidence in the interpreters and the interpreters have confidence in each other. This is an all round relationship of trust.

People

It may sound trite, but every organisation is the sum of its people. Every member of Calliope-Interpreter brings different skills and specialities to the job of interpreting and organisation. Here are thumbnail sketches of Calliope interpreters.

	Bertold Schmitt Bertold is half French/German and took the brave step of moving with his entire family to Sydney – from where he now covers the length and breadth of Southeast Asia, organising meetings for his Australian and international clients. Bertold is a founding member of Calliope and applies his considerable energy and enthusiasm to his current job as treasurer.
	Patrick Delhaye Patrick was instrumental in establishing interpreting services in New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands. In 2004 he was headhunted by the South Pacific Commission, at which point he put his clients into the capable hands of Bertold Schmitt.
	Danielle Gree Danielle can rightly be labelled consultant interpreter extraordinaire, with such major events as the Olympic Games ( Barcelona 1992) and the Forum of Cultures under her belt. The Forum in the summer of 2004 comprised a series of 140 meetings over 5 months in Barcelona, accounting for 4,700 interpreter days. Another established client is the UIA (International Union of Architects). Danielle is an untiring advocate for the profession and currently represents the Spanish region on the AIIC council.
	Henri Samama Very much our elder statesman, Henri has a distinguished career in interpreting and translation in his adopted homeland, Germany. He took on the foundation and launch of Calliope as his last major project before retirement – his bequest to the rising generation of interpreters.
	Martine Bonadona Martine was a late-comer to interpreting. A graduate of the top French business school, she began her career as an account manager in advertising, subsequently moving into an academic career in the UK. She brings a trained and analytical mind to business issues. Martine is currently involved in PR activities for the French section of AIIC.
	Linda Hoffmeyer An interpreter based in Copenhagen who organises many local meetings and works extensively with the Danish ministries and government departments, has taken over from Linda Schenk -who had joined Calliope in 2002-and has recently become the Calliope member in Scandinavia.
	Phil Smith Trained by the European Union in the late 1970s, Philip has worked extensively in many markets and for many international organisations world wide. He is Calliope’s main copywriter and a person who revels in the creative process of language. He is a regular contributor to the AIIC webzine and has been very active in AIIC affairs over the years, including a stint as council member. He works regularly pro bono for Amnesty International.
	Hazel Cole Hazel has huge experience in the buoyant Canadian interpreting market with a fine eye for the detail required for any successful meeting. She is a major organiser of interpreters in the Toronto area and on the east coast of the United States. She has acquired considerable experience in interpreting for webcasts.
	Cristina del Castillo Cristina is a trained actress and has put on plays in her native Mexico City – part of that city’s rich cultural life. Cristina brings her dramatic skills into effective play when working as an interpreter. She works extensively for international clients and is the interpreter of choice of the Canadian government in this part of the world. Cristina is member for Mexico and Central America on the AIIC council.
	Maria Cecilia Navas Maria Cecilia works regularly for the Colombian government and is currently very busy with interpreting work that has come from the recovery of the local economy; she specialises in medical conferences. Maria Cecilia is a founder and member of the board of Fundación Fiambre, a charity that provides free breakfast and lunch to about 500 very poor children on the outskirts of Bogotá.
	Victor Imboua Victor is originally from the Ivory Coast, but has been forced to relocate with his family in Ghana because of the instability and conflict in his own country. Victor works regularly for the World Health Organisation and for the UN as well as for the main financial institutions when they meet in Africa (IMF & World Bank); his work takes him to meetings throughout West Africa.
	Martyn Swain Martyn has an adventurous past – travelling by motorbike around the world and climbing Kilimanjaro. He worked in a professional repertory theatre company for several seasons and brings his trained voice and deportment to his work; he spent several years as a staff interpreter with NATO. Currently based in Cape Town, Martyn is working hard to bring a professional approach to interpreting in the burgeoning South African conference market.
	Haris Ghinos Haris has a scientific background and worked as an environmental engineer in the USA. He underwent his interpreter training at the European Commission, where he worked as a staff interpreter for several years. Now back in Greece, he interprets extensively for the Greek government and ministries.
	Rosaura Bartumeu Rosaura lives in a small country – Andorra – with a surprisingly active meetings sector. Andorra is often selected for specialist meetings because of its mountain location and Rosaura is there on the spot. She frequently puts together interpreting teams for Andorran ministries and financial institutions and counts the Catalan UNESCO committee among her regular clients. Rosaura is a big recruiter in a small country.
	Alexandra Hambling Alexandra took over organising interpreting teams in Ireland from a well respected colleague in 2004, and was immediately plunged into the demands of the Irish Presidency, for which she organised meetings covering 700 interpreter/days. Her clients include local businesses and government departments, and international events coming to Ireland. Alec’s hard work has made her teams a byword for excellence throughout the island of Ireland. She is currently president of Calliope-Interpreters.
	Irina Pipis Christodolou Irina is half Greek and half Rumanian, and spent formative years in France and the UK. She has now returned to her native Cyprus where she organises and works for the international organisations that visit the island. She is currently learning Turkish.
	Heloise Martins-Costa Heloise trained at the renowned ESIT interpreting school in Paris. In Brazil she is now the interpreter of choice of the ministries and government departments whenever they require French. She organises many meetings in what can confidently be called a mature interpreting market. Heloise is the AIIC Council member for Brazil.
	Christoph Renfer Chris is a major organiser in German-speaking Switzerland, where his main clients are in the fields of finance, banking and insurance. He also works for major Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical companies. Christoph is also a translator of published literary works.
	Nathalie Pijollet Nathalie is half French and half German and completely bilingual and has recently joined Calliope-Interpreters to replace Henri Samama in the important German market. She works frequently for the German ministries and government departments.
	Pablo Chang-Castillo A native of Nicaragua who grew up bilingually between Central America and the United States, Pablo is energetic and inventive in his professional approach. Pablo trained at MIIS, the Monterey Institute of International Studies. He works for the American and Canadian governments, the UN family, and many clients in the medical and software world. Pablo is the AIIC West Coast Representative for the USA Region. Your Calliope contact in the US strategically located on the Pacific Rim.
	Laurence Corréard A dynamic and enterprising young woman, Laurence has lived in Portugal for twelve years and is our latest recruit. Constantly on the look out for new challenges she is fascinated by feng-shui and passionate abut dancing. She works as a translator and interpreter for private companies, national institutions and international organisations. She is a consultant-interpreter to Portuguese ministries and private companies – particularly in the pharmaceutical sector – and has been asked to organise the interpreting for some of the events to be held during the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union in 2007.