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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 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: 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.

Download complete C.V. (pdf)

EDUCATION
University of California, Santa Cruz [2007-2011]
D.M.A. in Music Composition (emphasis in World Music, additional studies in Computer-Assisted Composition).
M.A. in Music Composition.
Studied with David Evan Jones, Hi-Kyung Kim, Paul Nauert, Ben Carson, and David Cope.
Additional studies with Ken Ueno (UC Berkeley) and Francois Rose (University of Pacific).
President’s Dissertation-Year Fellowship Winner
California State University East Bay, Hayward [2003-2007)
B.A. in Music (composition).
Studied privately with Frank LaRocca, Jeffrey Miller, Ellen Wassermann and Rafael Hernandez.
3.8 GPA Dean’s List Award for outstanding merit.
Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA [1997-2003]
A.A. in Liberal Arts.
C.A. in Music Industry Studies.
4.0 GPA Highest Academic Honors.


PROFESSIONAL AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
Indiana State University CMF Music Now 2011 Winner for Explosions in the Sky.
International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition 2011 honorable mention (expert level) for Black Swan Events.
Truman State University/MACRO Composition 2011 Award for Antares Rising.
All the Cool Parts Idol Competition 2010-2011 Winner for Expand the Hive.
Pacific Rim Music Festival 2010 Premiere Selection for Collapsing Obsidian Sun.
San Francisco Choral Artists New Voices 2009 Award for De civitatibus.
April in Santa Cruz Contemporary Music Festival 2009 Official Selection for Explosions in the Sky; 2008 Official Selection for Coalescence.
David Cope Award for Compositional Excellence 2008 Winner for The Battle Within.
UCSC Student Orchestral Competition 2008 Winner for Expand the Hive.
Seattle Pianist Collective Call for Scores 2008 Finalist for Transient Reflections.
60x60 Project (Pacific Rim mix) 2008 Official Selection for Evanescent Revolutions.
soundSCAPE Festival (Pavia, Italy) 2008 Finalist for Coalescence.
CSUEB Student Choral Competition 2007 Winner for Lumen et Tenebras.
New Jersey International Film Festival 2006 Film Score Selection for Sinful.
John Lennon Songwriting Bus 2005 Official Selection.
KSJS 90.5FM Best Metal Album 2001 Finalist for Antagony.


ACADEMIC AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
UCSC President’s Dissertation-Year Fellowship Competition 2010-2011 Winner.
Faculty Member of the Year 2010-2011 Nominee at Gavilan College.
Porter College Graduate Arts Research Grant 2009 and 2011 Award.
UCSC Doctoral Tuition and Fee Fellowship 2007-2010 Award.
UCSC Chancellors Doctoral Fellowship 2007-2009 Award.
UCSC Music Department Discretionary Funds 2009 and 2010 Award.

CSUEB Dean’s List 2004-2007 Award.
DVC Academic Honors 2003 Award.


EMPLOYMENT AND LEADERSHIP
Artisitic Director Composers, Inc. [2012-present]
Attend board meetings, judge composition competitions, arrange seasons, and compose new works with one of the premier composers collectives on the West Coast.
GCFA Fine Arts Representative Gavilan College [2011-present]
Elected to represent the Fine Arts Dept. in GCFA council meetings.
Lecturer CSU East Bay [2011-present]
Courses: Applied Composition, Music Theory, Instrumentation, Digital Audio Production.
Adjunct Professor Gavilan College [2010-present]
Courses: Music History and Literature, Songwriting.
*Faculty Member of the Year Nominee 2010-2011
GCFA Fine Arts Representative
Adjunct Professor Los Medanos College [2010]
Courses: Popular Musics in American Culture.
Lecturer UC Santa Cruz [2010]
Courses: Beginning Theory and Musicianship.
Graduate Student Representative UC Santa Cruz [2009-10]
Attend meetings of both the Music Graduate Committee and of full-time faculty (usually a total of 2-3 meetings per quarter) for the academic year, and to relay concerns, comments, requests or suggestions of graduate students regarding the curriculum and administration of the music program.
Graduate Arts Research Committee UC Santa Cruz [2009-10]
1-2 meetings of this committee which, in cooperation with the Porter Provost, allocates funds in response to student applications.
Graduate Teaching Associate UC Santa Cruz [2007-2010]
Courses: Beginning Theory and Musicianship I and II, Theory, Literature, and Musicianship I and II, Music of The Beatles, 16th and 18th century Counterpoint, 20th Century Music, Beginning to Advanced Musicianship and Keyboard.
Guitar Teacher various [2007-present]
Teaching the fundamentals of guitar to beginning students. One hour weekly lessons where students learn how to read tablature, notation, and basic theory. Specialized in Rock, Folk, Blues, Heavy Metal, and basic Classical guitar playing.
Graduate Student Researcher UC Santa Cruz [2007-2008]
Assistant to Director of April in Santa Cruz Contemporary Music Festival 2008, and Andrew Imbrie Festival.
President Society of Composers, Inc. [2005-2007]
Student chapter president in charge of organizing meetings, concerts, workshops, etc.
Director The Vertigo Series [2005-2007]
Directed chamber ensemble at CSUEB, in charge of providing music, scheduling rehearsals, concerts, recordings, etc.
Arranger/Engraver various [2005-present]
Clients include: Eda Balsam, CSUEB Trombone Ensemble, CSUEB Symphonic Band, eI Cinema, Storytime Pictures, myself.
Film Composer/Music Director various [2003-present]
Clients include: Storytime Pictures - composed and directed music for 3-D animated cartoon Iron Kid (now on WB), eI Cinema - composed music for feature length films Sinful and Phoenix, Turning Point Productions - Azira, and more.
Webdesigner/Webmaster various [2003-present]
Clients include: Ensemble Parallele, Nicole Paiement, Antagony, Scolding Romeo, myself.


COMMISSIONS AND PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCES
Bridge Chamber Virtuosi, Music Now, BluePrint, Atlanta Schola Cantorum, Watsonville Taiko, UC Santa Cruz Wind Ensemble, Contemporary Music Ensemble Korea, San Francisco Choral Artists, San Francisco Conservatory Chamber Ensemble, Cameron Mozee-Baum, UC Santa Cruz Orchestra, Ariose Chamber Singers, Seattle Pianist Collective, April in Santa Cruz Festival, CSU East Bay Percussion Ensemble, CSU East Bay Trombone Ensemble, CSU East Bay University Singers, Rodrigo Cortes (baritone).


AREAS OF SPECIALIZED STUDY
Electronic Music: production, history, computer-assisted composition (spectral music, algorithmic music), and sampling.
Computer Music Production: building a DAW, creating a network of DAW's, MIDI synthesis, software (Ableton, Pure Data, Pro Tools, Cakewalk Sonar, Logic Audio, Sound Forge, and more), hardware, recording engineering, and mixing.
Film Scoring: techniques, history, and applications.
Popular Music: Rock, Hip-Hop, and Heavy Metal history, sociology, performance practice and theory.
Songwriting: skills in melody, harmony, and arranging as well as creative approaches to musical composition, lyric writing, and an individual writing style.
György Ligeti: compositional techniques in regards to harmony, form, counterpoint, and rhythm.
North American Taiko: music history, sociology, performance practice and theory.
Traditional Korean music: and performance practice (see workshop below).
Music Industry Studies: music law, royalties, and contracts.


PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
Recording: "let the machines do it for us ," Kunaki, May 2011.
Lecture: "Fractals: The Meeting of Classical and Metal Music," Sound Arts seminar, UC Santa Cruz, May 26, 2010.
Lecture: "Compositional techniques and processes in the music of Nick Vasallo," 20th Century Music seminar, UC Santa Cruz, March 8, 2010.
Lecture: "Music of Nick Vasallo," Sound Arts seminar, UC Santa Cruz, May 13, 2009.
Lecture: "Dark Reflections: The Disregarded Parallels Between Classical and Metal Music," Methods of Research seminar, UC Santa Cruz, Dec. 10, 2007.
Recording: "The Burning," Ars Nova Classics, Nov. 2007.


WORKSHOPS AND MASTER CLASSES
Chou Wen-Chung, Olly Wilson, 5 week Korean Traditional Music Workshop: Soo-Neon Chung (Haegeum - fiddle), Sang-Hun Kim (Ajaeng - bowed zither), Jeong-Seung Kim (Daegeum, Seogeum, Danso - bamboo flutes), Ji-Young Yi (Gayageum - plucked zither), Ken Ueno, Leh Liang, Belinda Reynolds, Dan Becker, Anthony Joseph Lanman, Philippe Bodin, Stephen Scott, Kevin Puts.


CONFERENCES AND FESTIVALS
Indiana State University Contemporary Music Festival, Pacific Rim Music Festival, April in Santa Cruz Contemporary Music Festival, 60x60 Project Pacific Rim Mix, CSUEB Choral Invitational.

Photography by Denise Mahoney, Austin Fausto, Aldrin Bulayo and Kelly Orum.
©2010 Nick Vasallo. All rights reserved.

This page is maintained by Nick Vasallo, who is soley responsible for its content. The views represented here are not endorsed or regulated by California State University, East Bay (CSUEB).