Nicholas Vasallo

Last updated

Nicholas Vasallo
Born (1979-10-28) October 28, 1979 (age 44)
Origin Oakland, California, U.S.
Genres 21st-century classical music, experimental, deathcore
Occupation(s)Composer, professor, sound designer, bassist, vocalist, martial artist
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, bass guitar
Years active1998–present
Website nickvasallo.com

Nicholas Roy Vasallo (born October 28, 1979) is an American composer. In 1997, Vasallo graduated from Monte Vista High School in Danville, California, where he began his musical career as a guitarist and vocalist in a hardcore band called Y.F.H., later Antagony. He has been credited as being the father of extreme metal genre deathcore. [1] [2] Vasallo has since evolved from a metal musician into an award-winning composer and professor of music. He is best known for his compositions combining heavy metal sounds and aesthetics with experimental classical techniques. He has released four albums containing his compositions with different independent labels. His music is published by Santa Barbara Music Publishers and released by Neuma Records and Innova Recordings. Vasallo is of Filipino and Taiwanese descent. [3]

Contents

Biography

Vasallo graduated from Diablo Valley College with an AA in music industry studies in 2003, and California State University, East Bay with a BA in music composition in 2007. As a Chancellor's Fellow at University of California, Santa Cruz, Vasallo completed his MA in 2009 and subsequently went on to finish his DMA in 2011 as a President's Fellow. His teachers included David Evan Jones, Paul Nauert, David Cope, Hi-Kyung Kim, Frank La Rocca, Jeffrey Miller, Rafael Hernandez, Ken Ueno, and Francois Rose.

He was an assistant professor at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; [4] lecturer at California State University, East Bay, [5] Gavilan College, University of California, Santa Cruz, and Los Medanos College. Vasallo is the director of music industry studies at Diablo Valley College. [6] Vasallo is also a passionate martial artist, he practices Jiu Jitsu and teaches Muay Thai Kickboxing at Danville Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling, and Kickboxing. He is also the creator and head instructor of the Muay Thai program at Global Martial Arts University. [7] [8]

Career

As a composer, Vasallo's work has encompassed a variety of genres and projects. Most notably with his extreme metal band Oblivion, deathcore band Antagony, film music career, [9] and concert music works. [10] Polystylism or Eclecticism has been linked to his compositions [11] which range from electronic, electroacoustic, orchestral, chamber music, solo, choral, and various instrumentations utilizing the overdriven sound of electric guitar. [12] His compositional approach involves mixing disparate elements from Extreme Metal to Taiko, Experimental, Spectral Music, Electronic Music, Algorithmic Music, and various 21st-century compositional techniques. Vasallo is a recipient of the 2010/2011 President's $21k Dissertation-Year Fellowship, the first Arts student to ever receive the honor. [13]

His music has been performed internationally by groups such as Contemporary Music Ensemble Korea, [14] Del Sol String Quartet, San Francisco Choral Artists, Atlanta Schola Cantorum, [15] and Watsonville Taiko. [16] Vasallo models his musical structures on extra-musical phenomenon, including pre-constructed narrative events either created on his own or appropriated. He describes musical ideas and instruments as "complex and surprising characters that exist in reality or imagination." [17] Vasallo's ongoing goal is to hybridize extreme metal with modern classical music. He often designs sound worlds using acoustic instruments with electronic/digital manipulations. [18]

As a performer, Vasallo is active as a bassist and extreme metal vocalist. He is currently the lead vocalist and songwriter for the extreme metal band Oblivion. [19] [ non-primary source needed ]

Awards

Discography

Studio albums
YearAlbum details
2007The Burning
  • Released: 2007
  • Label: Ars Nova Classics (ARSNOVA 0105) [35]
2011let the machines do it for us
  • Released: 2011
  • Label: Kunaki(PX00ISYXUX) [36]
2012Monuments Emerge
  • Released: 2012
  • Label: Innova Recordings(innova 821) [37]
2022Apophany
  • Released: 2022
  • Label: Neuma Records(Neuma 150) [38]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State University, East Bay</span> Public university in Hayward, California

California State University, East Bay is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post-baccalaureate areas of study. Founded in 1957, California State University, East Bay has a student body of almost 14,000. As of Fall 2021, it had 863 faculty, of whom 358 (41%) were on the tenure track. The university's largest and oldest college campus is located in Hayward, with additional centers in the nearby cities of Oakland and Concord.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deathcore</span> Fusion of death metal and metalcore genres

Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with metalcore/hardcore elements seen in the 1990s, deathcore itself emerged in the early 2000s and gained prominence beginning in the mid-2000s within the southwestern United States, especially Arizona and inland southern California, which are home to many notable bands and various festivals.

Dave Eshelman is a jazz trombonist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator in the San Francisco Bay Area. From 1984 to 2007, he served as Director of Jazz Studies at California State University, East Bay, formerly Cal State Hayward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Ticheli</span> American composer (born 1958)

Frank Ticheli is an American composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and concert band works. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is a Professor Emeritus of Composition at the University of Southern California. He was the Pacific Symphony's composer-in-residence from 1991 to 1998, composing numerous works for that orchestra. A number of his works have become standards in concert band repertoire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pascal Le Boeuf</span> American pianist and composer (born 1986)

Pascal Le Boeuf is a pianist, composer and producer whose works both solo and with others ranges from modern improvised music to cross-breeding classical with production-based technology.

Kenneth Robert Corday is an American television soap opera producer and music composer. He is the son of Ted Corday and Betty Corday, the co-creators of Days of Our Lives. His production company, Corday Productions, owns 1% of The Young and the Restless while Sony Pictures Television owns the majority of the serial.

David Evan Jones is an American pianist and composer of chamber music, opera, and computer music.

Antagony is an American deathcore/metalcore band from the Bay Area of California, United States, formed in 1998, disbanded in 2009, and reformed in 2019. The group are noted for combining their metalcore style with a remarkable amount of death metal influence, which has led to the group to being considered one of the pioneers of the deathcore genre. Antagony has released three albums, each on a different record label. Members of Antagony have gone on to form bands such as Oblivion and All Shall Perish.

Monica Lynn is an American composer who lives and works in the San Francisco Bay area. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied with Stefan Kostka, David Neumeyer and Forrest Pierce. She continued her education at the University of Missouri in Kansas City where she studied with James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, and at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree, studying with Ben Leeds Carson, David Cope, Karlton Hester, David Evan Jones, Hi Kyung Kim, Paul Nauert and Peter Elsea.

Fredric Lieberman was an American ethnomusicologist, composer, music professor, and author. As a faculty member at the University of California at Santa Cruz, he was affiliated with the Music Department. UCSC is where he became known for teaching and studying the Grateful Dead.

Oblivion is an American technical death metal band from the Bay Area formed in 2007. They have released three albums, one demo and several music videos. Members of Oblivion have previously performed in several notable metal bands such as Antagony, All Shall Perish, Hacksaw to the Throat, Alchemicon, Feast and Fractals. Another notable aspect of Oblivion is the fact that one member has a doctorate degree in music and is a university professor, while another has a doctorate in mathematics. Currently, the band is signed to Unique Leader and will release multiple albums through the label. A reissue of their debut album, Called to Rise, was released on October 15, 2013.

Jake Runestad is an American composer and conductor of classical music based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has composed music for a wide variety of musical genres and ensembles, but has achieved greatest acclaim for his work in the genres of opera, orchestral music, choral music, and wind ensemble. One of his principal collaborators for musical texts has been Todd Boss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Heussenstamm</span> American composer and academic (born 1926)

George Heussenstamm is an American composer. His most well-known works include jazz-classical chamber styles, such as Etudes (7) for oboe, clarinet & bassoon, Op. 77 (1964), Alchemy for solo oboe and tape, Op. 60 (1976), and Ensembles, for brass quintet (1976). Recordings of his compositions include Woodwind Treasures by the West Wind Quintet and Alchemy: American Works for Oboe and English Horn CD by Mark Hill, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Lampl</span> American composer and lecturer (born 1964)

Kenneth Lampl is an American composer and lecturer known for his film, television and choral music. He is the former head of the Australian National University School of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karlton Hester</span> American musician

Karlton Hester is an American, performer, composer, scholar, and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Zachos</span>

James Zachos is an American paleoclimatologist, oceanographer, and marine scientist. He is currently a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary sciences at University of California, Santa Cruz where he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2017. His research focuses on the biological, chemical, and climatic evolution of late Cretaceous and Cenozoic oceans, and how past climatic conditions help improve forecasts of the consequences of anthropogenic carbon emissions on future climate change.

Lansing McLoskey is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His Zealot Canticles: An Oratorio for Tolerance was a winner of the 61st Annual Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance by the ensemble The Crossing. McLoskey serves as a Professor of Music at the Frost School of Music in Miami, Florida. Among McLoskey's numerous commissions are those from Guerilla Opera, Copland House, The Fromm Foundation, The Barlow Endowment, N.E.A., The Crossing, ensemberlino vocale, New Spectrum Foundation, Ensemble Berlin PianoPercussion, Passepartout Duo, the Boston Choral Ensemble, and Kammerkoret NOVA.

Jonathon Grasse is an American composer, ethnomusicologist, and improvising electric guitarist. He is a professor of music at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

References

  1. ↑ No Clean Singing – ANTAGONY – Why you need to know this band…
  2. ↑ RiffShop (March 1, 2017), Meet The Father of DEATHCORE! | Riffcast – The Songwriting Podcast #1 , retrieved March 3, 2017
  3. ↑ "Filipino, Taiwanese" Hapa Voice: A Celebration of Multiracial Identity
  4. ↑ "Meet the Maistro: Nick Vasallo"
  5. ↑ CSU East Bay faculty page Archived July 9, 2012, at archive.today
  6. ↑ "New Music Industries Director brings wealth of musical experience "
  7. ↑ "Combat and Counterpoint – dual disciplines of professor Nick Vasallo"
  8. ↑ "GMAU Muay Thai - Instructor Nick Vasallo"
  9. ↑ Nick Vasallo IMDb
  10. ↑ "Music alum, lecturer 'guest composer' at Feb. 24 Symphony concert" by Diane Daniels, Inside CSUEB News Blog
  11. ↑ "Nick Vasallo: The Burning" by Steve Hicken Sequenza 21
  12. ↑ "The Vertigo Series Part I (LIVE @ CSUEB)"
  13. ↑ "Music student gets $21,000 fellowship" Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine by Bonnie Horgos – Santa Cruz Sentinel (May 28, 2010)
  14. ↑ "Biography: Contemporary Music Ensemble Korea" Pacific Rim Festival
  15. ↑ "California composer Nick Vasallo will center the program." CLASSICAL: Atlanta Schola Cantorum, Piccolo Spoleto
  16. ↑ "Nicholas Vasallo’s 'Antares Rising'" University of California, Santa Cruz News and Events
  17. ↑ YouTube – REDSHIFT – When the War Began (2013). Composed by Nick Vasallo
  18. ↑ nickvasallo.com – ABOUT | NICK VASALLO
  19. ↑ Oblivion Info
  20. ↑ "Nicholas Vasallo, D.M.A. Music ’11, Receives Distinguished Graduate Student Alumni Award"
  21. ↑ "Introducing Cal State East Bay's 40 Under 40 Awards"
  22. ↑ "The American Prize COMPOSER WINNERS: chamber music, 2015"
  23. ↑ "Inverted Space: Washington Composers Forum concert"
  24. ↑ "The 36th Annual TELLY Awards | Winners"
  25. ↑ "C.V. | NICK VASALLO"
  26. ↑ "Nick Vasallo, CSUEB alumnus/teacher, earns 'Music Educator of Year' recognition"
  27. ↑ "Results of the 1st H.M. Gorecki International Composers Competition – Cracow 2012" Archived May 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine "H.M. Gorecki International Composers Competition
  28. ↑ "45th Annual Contemporary Music Festival" Indiana State University 45th Annual Contemporary Music Festival
  29. ↑ "2011 Composers Competition Results" Macro Music Composers Competition Winners
  30. ↑ "2010 ACP Idol results"
  31. ↑ "$21,000 President's Dissertation Year Fellowship" by Public Information Office, University of California, Santa Cruz News, June 28, 2010
  32. ↑ "Past Winners" Archived December 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine San Francisco Choral Artists New Voices Competition
  33. ↑ "42) Evanescent Revolutions II Nick Vasallo" Vox Novus 60x60 Project
  34. ↑ "CSUEB Choral Composition Competition Winner Nick Vasallo" by Buddy James, California State University, East Bay, Sounds of the Music Department
  35. ↑ "Nick Vasallo: The Burning" Ars Nova Classics
  36. ↑ "Nicholas Vasallo: let the machines do it for us" Kunaki
  37. ↑ "Nick Vasallo: Monuments Emerge" Innova Recordings
  38. ↑ "Nick Vasallo: Apophany" Neuma Records
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.