nicholas vasallo

NEWS

Award-winning composer, teacher, vocalist and guitarist, Nick Vasallo is "a composer on a mission and one possessed of a distinctive voice" - Michael Quinn, 2012 (The Classical Review). His music exhibits "strokes of genius that blend the density of heavy metal with the harmonics of gamelan, the polyrhythms of taiko, and atonality." - François Couture, 2012 (Monsieur Délire), and is "caught between past and present, East and West, it is music of urgent, often raw-edged immediacy eager to communicate, to connect, and to comment." His ongoing goal is to create a distinctive polystylistic voice in both heavy metal and modern art music.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nick Vasallo began performing music in high school where he picked up the electric guitar and eventually formed Antagony, an influential extreme metal band in the underground. At the age of 23, Vasallo decided to begin formal music training at Cal State East Bay where he studied composition and obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2007. As a Chancellor's Fellow at University of California Santa Cruz, Vasallo completed his Masters in 2009 and subsequently went on to finish his Doctorate in 2011 as a President's Fellow.

His music reveals an eclectic array of influences (metal, algorithmic, taiko, and spectral music) and his compositions have been internationally performed by world renowned groups such as the Selesian Philharmonic, Contemporary Music Ensemble Korea, Del Sol String Quartet, Music Now, San Francisco Choral Artists, Bridge Chamber Virtuosi, Atlanta Schola Cantorum, Borromeo String Quartet, and Watsonville Taiko.

In 2010, Vasallo was the recipient of the President's Dissertation-Year Fellowship Award - the first arts student to ever receive that honor. Other honors and awards include: San Francisco Classical Voice Music Educator Award 2013, International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition 2011, 2011 MACRO Composition award, 2009 San Francisco Choral Artists New Voices Award, The Seattle Pianist Collective 2008 selection, 2008 UCSC Student Orchestral Composition winner, 60x60 project - Pacific Rim Mix 2008-2009 selection, The 2008 David Cope Award for Music Composition Excellence, 2005 New Jersey International Film Festival Selection "Sinful" musical score, and 2007 CSUEB Student Composers Competition winner.

An Artistic Director for Composers, Inc., Vasallo teaches college-level courses in music theory, orchestration, music history, music literature, songwriting and electronic music in addition to his work as a composer and performing artist. He currently composes, does lead vocals and plays bass for the modern extreme metal band Oblivion.

March 25, 2013

It's that time of year, lots of world premiere performances are coming up:

April 9 Tuesday 8pm @ Old First, SF - Composers, Inc. presents the premiere of Only One Survives (2013). It will be performed by Jennifer Culp (Kronos Quartet 1998-2005) on cello, Marc Shapiro (SF Symphony) on piano, and Jack Van Geem (SF Symphony) on percussion. For more details go here.
May 23 Thursday 7:30pm @CSU East Bay, Hayward - the CSUEB Music Dept. presents the premiere of When the War Began (2013). It will be performed by the Redshift ensemble in honor of the Glenn Glasow Fellowship concert. For more details go here.
May 31 Friday 4:00pm @CSU East Bay, Hayward - the CSUEB Music Dept. presents the The Vertigo Series III. Confrontations (2007). It will be performed by the CSUEB Percussion Ensemble directed by Artie Storch. For more details go here.
May 31 Friday 7:30pm @CSU East Bay, Hayward - the CSUEB Music Dept. presents the premiere of Agarttha (2013). It will be performed by Orchestre dB New Music Ensemble directed by Jeff Miller. For more details go here.

On deck are pieces for The Living Earth Show, Friction Quartet, Washington State, Mosaic, and Indiana State. Be sure to check out my latest performances and videos on my YouTube channel!
--
Dr. Nicholas R. Vasallo

Adjunct Professor
Gavilan College
Lecturer
California State University, East Bay