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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.

Vasallo teaches college-level courses in music theory, 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.

February 2, 2012

"Monuments Emerge" is a GO!!! Thank you to all the generous patrons who pledged their support:

Adam Noel
Allen Shearer
Andres Luz
Arturo Rosette
Camille Chitwood
Casey Doerlich
Ching-Yen Wang
Dave Waugh
David Becht
David Sims
Denise L Vasallo
Derek Norpchen
Dimitra Mantalvanos
Doris Manalastas
Eric D Hernandez
Frank LaRocca
Ian Hahn
Ikuyo Conant
Indika Amarasekera
Irvin Smith
jesykah forkash
Jim Campbell
Judy Gamboa
Matt Stewart
Nick Martinson
Reinier Kop
Ricardo Vasallo
Rich Moyers
Richard Riddell
Robert Frahm
Ryan Rey
Scott Barnebey
Shelley Luke Powell
Taeko D'Andrea
Victor Dods
Wan-Chi Chen

Innova Recordings is planning to release "Monuments Emerge" in Spring 2012! More info to come soon! In the meantime please check out my latest musical project - OBLIVION.
--
Dr. Nicholas Roy Vasallo

Adjunct Professor
Gavilan College
Lecturer
California State University, East Bay

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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).