Kent Smith, a native of Parkersburg, WV, is known for a varied musical career. Smith has appeared in a wide variety of roles in opera, operetta, musical theatre, and on the concert stage with companies such as Opera Festival of New Jersey, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Cleveland Opera on Tour, Opera at Florham, American Music Theatre Festival, Natchez Opera Festival, The National Opera Company, New York City Opera, Stamford Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, North Carolina Symphony and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Other performances in recital and concert include the Caramoor Music Festival, Westchester Oratorio Society, Thomas Tallis Scholars, Coro de Camera, and Musica Antiqua of Santa Fe. He was part of the acclaimed national tour of the Tony Award Winning Play, Master Class, as well as performing the same play with TheatreWorks in the Bay Area, both of which he was Musical Director as well. Mr. Smith’s vocal master classes are presented throughout the country and the world, and he maintains his private vocal studio in New York City. Mr. Smith runs the voice department at the State University of New York at New Paltz, where is Associate Professor of Voice. In 2012 he presented and produced the first ever student opera, “The Medium” at SUNY New Paltz. Mr. Smith was on the faculty of University at Buffalo for 4 years, where he was also Director of the Opera Studio and has also taught in Italy at Centro Studi Italiani and at Centro Studi Lirica as well as in Pennsylvania at the Performing Arts Institute of Wyoming Seminary. In 2011 he began his own program in Italy called Lingua e Lirica Italiana, where he was the artistic director.2016 performances have included appearances with the Innisfree PianoTrio, Newburgh Chamber Music Festival, as well as the Husdson Valley BachFest. In 2017 Mr. Smith was also seen at the Gala Opening Night for Opera Niagara in Canada as Marcello in Puccini’s La Boheme as well as performing at the famous Casa Verdi in Milan, Italy. This November he will be portraying the role of composer Virgil Thomson in the opera "The Mother of Us All" at the historic Hudson Opera House. Mr Smith received his artists’ diploma in vocal performance from the Curtis Institute of Music after having received his BFA in French horn performance from Carnegie-Mellon University. He was awarded the Masters in Music from the Manhattan School of Music. Current students of Mr. Smith have been accepted to some of the most prestigious conservatories (Manhattan School of Music, Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Columbia University, New York University). Singers from Mr Smith’s studio have also competed and won at the state, regional and national levels for the Young Artist Competition of MTNA (Music Teachers National Association).

Lara Nie - Soprano

Mezzo-soprano Lara Nie is a versatile and accomplished singer, hailed as one of New Yorks most prominent German lied specialists by New York Magazine and as an intensely expressive artist by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. As an active orchestral soloist, chamber musician and recitalist, her performances are recognized for passionate interpretation and sophisticated musicality. Since her Carnegie Hall debut in 2006 at Weill Recital Hall, Ms. Nie has appeared at the Ravinia Festival, Cleveland Severance Hall, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, Munich's Gasteig Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series, Merkin Concert Hall, the Washington Holocaust Museum Chamber Series, the Windermere Music Festival in Canada, the Edgar M. Bronfman Chamber Music Series, the Society for Ethical Culture, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Carnegie Halls Zankel Hall, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and other nationally and internationally renowned recital, chamber and orchestral venues. Ms. Nie has collaborated with members of the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony and Washington National Orchestra, the Miami String Quartet, the Escher Quartet and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony Bronfman Quartet. She has performed alongside such top artists as Jon Nakamatsu (piano), Amit Paled (cello), Shai Wosner (piano), Brandt Fredriksen (piano), Lara Downes (piano), William VerMeulen (horn), and has worked with many prestigious conductors, including Christoph Eschenbach, David Gilbert, Alasdair Neale, Michael Morgan and Stefano Seghedoni. Ms. Nie is a founding member of Trio Respiro, who have garnered praise for original and creative programming, and for the beauty of their performances. Equally at home on the opera stage, she has appeared with the Altenburger Musik Festival in Germany, Israel Vocal Arts, and the Kentro Musikis in Thessaloniki Greece in varied works ranging from Mozarts Cosi fan tutte, to Brecht and Weills Street Scene, to the premiere of Toshiro Saruyas The Pompeii Exhibit at New Yorks avant-garde theatre, The Kitchen. Ms. Nie has recorded Mozart and Schubert lieder on the Silver Bay Label and has been heard live on Chicagos WFMT, Florida Public Radio, Radio Free Europe and New Yorks WQXR Artist Showcase with Robert Sherman. She also performed the West Coast premiere of Maria Schneider's Andrade Stories with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. Highlights of past seasons include concerts with Sola Musica at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony and World Chess Hall of Fame Composer Spotlight Series, Shepherd School of Music at Rice University Faculty Series, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, The Kosciuszko Foundation Recital Series, the Chagrin Concert Series, the Nicholas Roerich Museum Recital Series, and the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival.

Siranous Tsalikian

Soprano SIRANOUS TSALIKIAN has enjoyed a rich career in Greece and abroad. As a soloist of the Dessau Opera (Germany), she participated in international tours and appeared at the Vienna Volksoper. She has also collaborated repeatedly with the Greek National Opera, the Athens and Thessaloniki Concert Halls, and the Opera of Thessaloniki. A graduate of the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki (class of Varvara Tsambali), she completed her studies at the Vienna Music Academy Opera School, studying with Helene Karusso, Edith Mathis and Curt Malm. She has participated in masterclasses with Daphne Evangelatos, Kostas Paskalis, Nicola Zaccaria and Inge Borkh. She has performed as a soloist with the State and City Symphony Orchestras of Thessaloniki, and has appeared at the “DIMITRIA” Festival and the Patmos Religious Music Festival. Graduates from her class have been accepted on scholarships at major academies and universities abroad: Royal Academy of Music (London), Georgia State University (Atlanta), Berklee College of Music (Boston), Conservatori Superior de Musica del Liceu (Barcelona). She teaches Vocal Technique & Interpretation at the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki and the Kavala Municipal Conservatory.

Nevart-Veron Galileas

Greek-Armenian flutist Nevart-Veron Galileas is an artist enjoying an international career as soloist, chamber musician, recitalist and pedagogue. Having performed in countries such as Austria, Armenia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Rumania, Japan, and the USA reviews have emphasized on her «musicality, lyricism and tone quality».
Dr. Galileas has performed and given master classes at international music festivals and institutions such as : «Renaissance» International Festival (Gyumri-Armenia 2014), West Texas A & M University (Canyon-Texas 2013), International Chamber Music Festival of the T.C.H. Organisation (Greece, 2013), Odysseia Symposium (Atlanta-Georgia 2010, 2011, 2012), 13th International Festival of Kavala «Y.A. Papaioannou» (Greece 2012), Georgia State University (Atlanta 2010, 2011, 2012), Etchings Festival of Contemporary Music (France 2011), Rutgers University (New Jersey 2010), Kutztown University (Pennsylvania 2010), Dimitria Festival (Greece 1999, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2014), Nafplion Festival (Greece 2009), Rhodes Festival (Greece 2009) and the Summer Music Academy in Athitos (Greece 2007, 2008).She has appeared as soloist with the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Czech Republic), the Brasov Symphony Orchestra (Rumania), the Ploesti Philharmonic Orchestra (Rumania), the Orchestra Citta di Grosetto (Italy), the Symphony of the Americas (Florida, USA), the Amarillo Virtuosi Chamber Players (Amarillo, Texas), the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki and the City Orchestra of Thessaloniki (Greece). She has also appeared as guest artist with the Cadence Ensemble (Armenia), the neoPhonia New Music Ensemble (Atlanta, USA) and the ECCE (East Coast Contemporary Ensemble, USA). Throughout her career Nevart-Veron has collaborated with distinguished artists such as: Thomas Robertello, Michael Palmer, Christos Galileas, Timothy Hester, Ilarion Ionescu Galati, James Brooks-Bruzzese, Maria Asteriadou, Brandt Fredriksen, Byron Fidetzis and Yiannis Tsitselikis. She has recorded for EBU (European Broadcast Union), Euroradio and her performances have been broadcasted on BBC and PBS. She has also recorded with the neoPhonia New Music Ensemble on Albany Records a CD featuring the works of Theodore Antoniou, Nickitas Demos, George Tsontakis and Christos Samaras. In 2013 and 2014 Dr. Galileas served as a member of the woodwind jury committee of the «Renaissance» International Festival in Gyumri (Armenia) and in the 2014-2015 season she was a juror for the apexart art organization of New York. She is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory where she studied with the renowned flutist Michel Debost and Kathleen Chastain receiving the Bachelor of Music degree in 2001. She continued at Indiana University-Bloomington where she studied with Kathryn Lukas receiving the Master of Music degree in 2004 and was appointed the teaching assistant of flute position. In 2006 she received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she studied with Carol Wincenc. Nevart-Veron plays on a 14-carat gold flute built for her by David Straubinger.

Christos Galileas

 Hailed by many critics as a «genuine virtuoso», «an incredible mixture of dazzling virtuosity and immaculate musicianship», «an artist of rare originality and utmost integrity», Christos Galileas has enjoyed an international career as a concert violinist, chamber musician, and teacher. Christos Galileas was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. He took his first violin lessons at the age of four with his father Kosmas Galileas, the distinguished Greek violinist and conductor, and continued studying with Professor Stelios Kafantaris. He was awarded first prize and the gold metal for his outstanding musical abilities upon graduating from the Conservatory of Athens in 1994. While still a student he began an active career with international solo appearances and individual recitals. His first public appearance at age sixteen was with the Symphony Orchestra of Thessaloniki with an impressive performance of the Paganini violin concerto no 1. From 1994 to 1995, he studied with Zachar Bron in Lubeck Germany. He continued his studies with the renowned professors Roland and Almita Vamos at the Oberlin Conservatory where he received the «Dean’ s Talent Award» and got his B.M. degree. In 1995 he won the first prize at the «National Competition for Scholarships» of Greece, and two years later he was awarded the «Alexandra Triandi» scholarship of the «Megaron» of Athens. Since then he has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the Berlin Symphony, the Bohuslav Martinu Orchestra, the State Orchestra of Athens, the National Radio Orchestra of Greece, the Prague Symphony, the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Armenia, the Canadian Chamber Orchestra of Toronto, the Symphony of the Americas (Fort Lauderdale Florida), the Ploesti and Baccau Symphony Orchestras (Romania), the «Prague Virtuosi», the Orchestra Citta di Grosseto (Italy), the Symphony Orchestra of Sofia (Bulgaria), the Lisbon Chamber Orchestra (Portugal), the Latvian National Orchestra, the «Camerata Stuttgart» (Germany), and the Gustav Mahler Orchestra (Prague). He has made appearances at the International Festivals of «Nafplio» (1993, 2001), «Dimitria» (1994, 1998, 2003, 2004), the Music Festival of Armenia (1994), the Festival «Kypria» of Cyprus (1995), «The Festival of Patra» (1998), «Heraklion Summer Art Festival» (1999), the Festival of Classical Music of Larnaca», Cyprus (2001), the festival of Catania in Sicily (2001), and the «Festival Lago di Como», Italy. He has also appeared as soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Music Academy of Vienna, as well as the «Camerata» Orchestra of «Megaron» of Athens for the opening of the International Festival in Patra. In 1997, Christos Galileas won the first prize at the Greek National Competition for violin, held by the Cultural Association «TECHNI», in collaboration with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki and the Cultural Capital of Europe «Thessaloniki 1997». Of special significance was his collaboration with acclaimed pianist Dimitri Sgouros with whom he has played extensively since 2000. In May 2001 he received the Master’ s Degree at the Juilliard School where he studied with the distinguished Professors of violin Dorothy Delay and Naoko Tanaka. In March 2001 he had the honor of receiving the first prize in the «Kate Neal Kinley Memorial fellowship» competition of the University of Illinois.In 2002, he founded the «Hellenic Camerata», a chamber orchestra with 22 members, and had an extensive tour in North, Central and South America in many countries such as: USA, El-Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Uruguay and gave more than 35 concerts in 7 weeks. In December 2005 he received his Doctorate Degree in Violin Performance (Doctor of Musical Arts) from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Dr. Galileas has been invited to teach violin and chamber music extensively in renowned institutions such as:: The Juilliard School, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Illinois, Northwestern University, University of North Carolina, New York University, Penn State University, University of Houston, The State Conservatory of Thessaloniki, The Athens Conservatory among others. Dr. Galileas has held important administrative positions which include: Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Series at the «Dimitria» International Festival of Thessaloniki (2003-2010), Board of Directors of the State Conservatory of Greece and State Orchestra of Thessaloniki (2014-present). Highlighted appearances included the performance of the Brahms Double Concerto with Mischa Maisky, and the collaboration with the Borodin Quartet and the George Enescu Philharmonic of Bucharest (Romania). He has appeared as a soloist at some of the world’ s most prestigious concert venues such as the Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), Musikverein (Vienna), Gasteig (Munich), Smetana Hall (Prague), Athenaeum (Bucharest). In 2007 Christos Galileas joined the faculty at Georgia State University in Atlanta (USA). Dr. Galileas plays on a 1705 Joseph Guarneri violin.

Yannis Tsitselikis

Yannis Tsitselikis was born in Thessaloniki and graduated from the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki in 1990. His first important cello teacher was Manolis Kazabakas. He completed his studies (with scholarships from the British Council, the Onassis Foundation, and the Foundation of State Scholarships) at the Royal College of Music in London with William Pleeth, at the Eastman School of Music in the United States with Steven Doan, and at Indiana University with Janos Starker, where he earned his master of music degree in 1998. Tsitselikis gave signs of talent early in life. His career started at the age of 14, with solo recitals in Athens, Thessaloniki, and other Greek cities, as well as with recordings for the Third Program of the Greek Radio and Television. At the age of 16, he was honoured with first prize at the competition of the Graduate Association of Thessaloniki Conservatories and gave recitals organized by the Athens and Thessaloniki state orchestras. In 1989, he represented Greece in Venice in a concert organized and televised by Italian Radio Television.Tsitselikis has performed recitals in Athens, Belgrade, London, Oxford, and Houston, among other cities. He has appeared as a soloist with important orchestras in Greece as well as abroad, such as: Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Vladimir Spivakov; Haydn Philharmonic Orchestra of Vienna, under the direction of Philippe Entremont; Youth Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate, with which he toured many cities in Germany; and the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Hobart Earle.Tsitselikis is a member of the World Orchestra for Peace as one of its principal cellists and took part in the orchestra’s tours in Europe (2003), Russia (2005), and China (2007), under the direction of Valery Gergiev. In October 2004, he toured to Budapest, Singapore, and India as concertino cellist of the Maggio Musicale of Florence, under the direction of Zubin Mehta.Since November 2000, Tsitselikis has been solo cellist at the State Orchestra of Athens.In 2015 he was the assistant of Chris Rex at Georgia State University and was invited twice by J.T.Dodson to give solo performances with the Adrian symphony orchestra in Adrian and the BBSO in Detroit.He plays a 1900 Leon Bernadel cello and uses a Voirin bow bequeathed to him by the English cellist Amaryllis Fleming.

Alex Peh

Alex Peh is a pianist, improviser and scholar who explores the piano in global classical, contemporary, and improvised practices. A 2021 Fulbright Global Scholar and 2019 Asian Cultural Council fellow, Peh explores contemporary piano repertoire, finding new approaches to tuning, pedagogy, notation and musical transmission. He has commissioned composers Anna Clyne, Susie Ibarra, Hafez Modirzadeh, Phyllis Chen, Ne Myo Aung, Nikos Ordoulidis, and Kyaw Kyaw Naing funded by National Endowment for the Arts, New Music USA, New York State Council of the Arts, Harvard FROMM, Arts Mid-Hudson, Asian Cultural Council and Fulbright. Peh is a member of Talking Gong, an improvising trio with percussionist, Susie Ibarra and flutist, Claire Chase. They released their debut album in 2019 entitled Talking Gong on New Focus Recordings available on all major streaming platforms and have performed in New York City at Carnegie Hall, BRIC, Public Theater, and Roulette Intermedium. Peh earned his doctorate in piano performance from Indiana University where he mentored with Arnaldo Cohen, Menahem Pressler and Evelyne Brancart. He pursued undergraduate studies at Northwestern University where he worked with Sylvia Wang. He attended the Banff, Aspen and Tanglewood music festivals where he studied with Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, Claude Frank, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, and Peter Serkin. He is an associate professor of piano at SUNY New Paltz.

George Konstantinidis

The pianist Georgios Konstantinidis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. After graduating with honors from the Thessaloniki State Conservatory, he entered the National Conservatory in Paris in the class of Bernard Ringeissen and Jacques Rouvier (Prix d’ Excellence, Prix de Perfectionement). He also attended master classes with Paul Badura Skoda and Bruno Leonardo Gelber. In 1993 he won the first prize in the National Chamber music competition and in 1998 he won the second prize in the National Piano Competition. He has made many appearances as soloist as well as chamber music player in USA, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Romania and Egypt playing among others with the famous pianist Cyprien Katsaris and the Enesco Quartet, and with such orchestras as the Philharmonia of Greensboro, the Westchester Univerisity Orchestra, the Symphonia Bucharest Orchestra and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra. He has given master classes at the Univerisity of Catania in Italy. Konstantinidis appeared in several International Festivals where his performance was highly praised by the press. Recently he found great interest in the repertory for the left hand. In April 2006, April 2008 and April 2010, he organized in collaboration with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Institute of Music Physiology and Musicians’ Medicine in Hanover, the First and Second and third International Musicians’ Medicine Congresses in Greece. Up until 2010, he was director of the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki, the only one in Greece. He is currently President of the Thessaloniki Conservatories Board of Alumni, Vice President of the Friends of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra and Vice President of the Hellenic Association for the Medicine and Sciences of Dance and the Performing Arts. He holds a degree and a master’s diploma in law.

Lina Tonia

Lina Tonia, is a young award winning composer born in Greece, in 1985. Her work list include more than 100 compositions for orchestra, ensembles, operas and music for theatre that performed in Paris, Vienna, London, New York, Boston, Moscow, Weimar, Berlin, Edinburgh, Zagreb, Sofia, Plovdiv, Tirana, Athens and Thessaloniki. She has been awarded prizes in several national and international composition competitions for her works. Among others, she received the first prize at Jungerson International Composition Competition in Moscow (2007), the Baerenreiter Award at the 12th International Via Nova Composition Competition in Weimar (2010), the title of “New Young Artist of the Year” from the Union of Greek Critics for Music and Theatre in Athens (2010). She awarded from the Greek National Opera in Athens, for her chamber opera “The Expelled” (2012) and also at the same year from the Vienna University and Institute Kunsthaus of Muerz, for her work “Kivos” for 12 violoncellos (2012). Her solo work “Neuma” for viola awarded with the Sempre Piu Edition’s Prize in Paris (2014). Her chamber opera “Fear &(s) the Love” performed and awarded in Music Biennale of Zagreb (2015). Her 5th string quartet “ENNEA” took a premiered by the Arditti Quartet at the Konzerthaus in Mozart Saal in Wien Modern (2015) in Vienna. She has been invited as guest composer and jury member at Piano Campus International Competition and commissioned to write her piano concerto “Les Mondes Flottants” to be performed as a compulsory piece at the final round of piano competition in Cergy Pontoise (2016). Her orchestral piece “Squall” performed in Music Biennale of Zagreb by the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dian Tchobanov, and performed by pianist: Srebrenka Poljak (2017). Her orchestral piece “Butterfly Effect” recorded by the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Pierre Andre Valade in Paris (2017). She studied composition at the Department of Music in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2003 – 2008), with Professor Christos Samaras. She completed a PhD in Composition in Edinburgh University with distinction (2008 – 2012) under the supervision of the professor Nigel Osborne and Michael Edwards, where she was studying with a Greek National Scholarship from Union of Greek Composers (2008 – 2009) and IKY Foundation (2009 – 2011). She studied composition with Michael Jarrell at the Vienna University (2012 – 2013). She worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Music Theory & Composition with a fellowship of the Research Committee of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2013 - 2014). She participated in many international composition workshops in USA, UK, Germany, France. She selected to participate at Manifeste Academy for young composers at IRCAM with Toshio Hosokawa, in Paris (2017). She has been invited as guest composer and lecturer to Takefu International Music Festival in Japan (2018). She commissioned by the Appleton Boychoir to compose her piece “Morning Sea” for the 40th anniversary of the Appleton Boychoir which took place in Appleton (Wisconsin) under of direction of Kevin Meidl. Some of her works are published by Sconfinarte Editions, Sempre Piu, Aelfior Editions and Donemus Publishing House. She is founding member and artistic director of Meet the Art, artistic series of concerts and performances around Modern Art in Thessaloniki (2015 - 2016). She is teaching Composition at the University of Macedonia, Department of Music Art and Science, in Thessaloniki from September of 2016. She gives lectures and seminars around composition and contemporary music. She is a jury member at ENKOR International Music Competition from 2014.

Yiorgos Vassilandonakis

Yiorgos Vassilandonakis’ portfolio spans across a wide range of influences and styles, venturing into chamber, vocal, orchestral, opera, film, electronic & multimedia genres. Transcending stylistic boundaries, his works are emotionally engaging and cerebral, driven by a strong dramatic and formal sense, revealing a mastery of timbre, sonority and temporal space, and a deep interest in sound itself as a physical entity. Hailed by reviewers as “…a fascinating collection of sounds, inventive performance techniques, some of which first-time events…” (San Francisco Chronicle), “…an intimate, soft poetry that consumed the audience…” (Repeat Performances), “…lingering sonorities and delicacies…” (San Francisco Classical Voice), his music is frequently presented on both sides of the Atlantic, and has been commissioned and performed among others by Southern Exposure, the New York New Music Ensemble, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the Juilliard Percussion Ensemble, ALEA III, the Del Sol String Quartet, Ensemble Cairn, Meridian Arts Ensemble, Ensemble In Extensio, Empyrean Ensemble, the Athens Camerata, and the Hellenic Contemporary Ensemble, and featured in the Aspen, Ernest Bloch, Domaine Forget, Wellesley and Patras International Festivals. Awards include the 2011 Aaron Copland Prize, 1st Prize at the Mediterranean Music Center 3rd International Composition Competition, the George Ladd Prix de Paris, the Henry Mancini Award, the Eisner Prize in Music, and the Nicola di Lorenzo Prize, as well as grants and additional support from Meet-the-Composer, the American Music Center and the Ministry of Culture of France. His one-act opera Chorevoume (Dance with Me), was commissioned and staged by the Experimental Stage of the National Opera of Greece in 2008. A progressive work combining non-linear narrative and film montage techniques with virtuosic vocal writing and intricate instrumental textures, Chorevoume was enthusiastically received by both audience and critics.Yiorgos holds advanced degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, where his principal composition teachers were Edmund Campion, Richard Felciano, John Thow, Jorge Liderman and Cindy Cox. As the recipient of the George Ladd Prix de Paris, he spent two years in Paris, studying advanced composition, orchestration and electronic music with Philippe Leroux, at the École Nationale de Musique et de Danse, Erik Satie. He also studied composition with Paul Reale and Ian Krouse, as well as Film Music with the legendary Jerry Goldsmith, Paul Chihara & Don Ray. His conducting teachers were David Milnes and Jeffrey Schindler. A dedicated educator, Dr. Vassilandonakis has taught Composition and Music Theory at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Virginia, as well as electronic music at the Centre de Création Musicale, Iannis Xenakis, in Paris, before joining the faculty at the College of Charleston in 2010, where he is now Associate Professor of Composition & Music Theory and Director of contemporary music activities, named Outstanding Faculty of the Year in 2013. He has penned essays and interviews published in the Computer Music Journal (MIT Press), and the College Reference Dictionary Musicians and Composers of the 20th Century (Salem Press), and has held composing residencies at Yaddo and at Cité Internationale Des Arts. He is featured in the prestigious New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Oxford University Press), and was named among the 50 most progressive people in Charleston in 2011. Also active as a conductor and proponent of contemporary music, Yiorgos is currently the curator and co-music director for the contemporary music series Magnetic South with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and Composer-In-Residence with the Worn Chamber Ensemble in San Francisco.