Nicholas Vasallo
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Vasallo is an Asian-American composer. In 1997, Vasallo graduated from Monte Vista High School
in Danville, California
, where he began his musical career as an electric guitarist and vocalist in a punk band called Y.F.H.
He graduated from California State University, East Bay
with a B.A.
in Music
. As a Chancellor's Fellow at University of California, Santa Cruz
, Vasallo completed his M.A.
in 2009 and subsequently went on to finish his D.M.A.
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 taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Los Medanos College
. He teaches at California State University, East Bay and Gavilan College
.
As a composer, Vasallo's work has encompassed a variety of genres and projects. Most notably with his post-metal
group Antagony
, film music career, pop punk
band Scolding Romeo and concert music
works. Polystylism
or Eclecticism
has been linked to his compositions which range from electronic
, orchestral, wind band, trombone
ensemble, solo piano
, choral, and instrumentations utilizing the overdriven sound of electric guitar
. His compositional approach involves mixing disparate elements from Extreme Metal
to Taiko
, Spectral Music
, Algorithmic Music
, and various 20th-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.
His music has been performed internationally by groups such as Contemporary Music Ensemble Korea, Del Sol String Quartet, San Francisco Choral Artists, Atlanta Schola Cantorum, and Watsonville Taiko. Currently, Vasallo is working with San Francsico Conservatory of Music
's BluePrint ensemble as well as collaborating with top-selling deathcore
group - All Shall Perish
.
As a performer, Vasallo is active as an electric guitarist and extreme metal vocalist.
Monte Vista High School (Danville, California)
Monte Vista High School is a comprehensive, National Blue Ribbon of the Blue Ribbon Schools Program, as well as a California Distinguished School and fully WASC-accredited 9-12 public school of more than 2000 students. The school is located in the Town of Danville, CA in the San Ramon Valley,...
in Danville, California
Danville, California
The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that uses "town" in its name instead of "city". The population was 42,039 in 2010. Danville is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Oakland and San...
, where he began his musical career as an electric guitarist and vocalist in a punk band called Y.F.H.
He graduated from California State University, East Bay
California State University, East Bay
California State University, East Bay is a public university located in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The university, as part of the 23-campus California State University system, offers over 100 areas of study...
with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. As a Chancellor's Fellow at University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
, Vasallo completed his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in 2009 and subsequently went on to finish his D.M.A.
Doctor of Musical Arts
The Doctor of Musical Arts degree is a doctoral academic degree in music. The D.M.A. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy. The D.M.A...
in 2011 as a President's Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
. His teachers included David Evan Jones
David Evan Jones
David Evan Jones is a composer of chamber music, opera, and computer music, and professor of music at UCSC. His notable compositions include Scritto, which features digitally manipulated vowel sounds. He has also written one chamber opera, Bardos, which premiered in Seoul, South Korea in 2004.-...
, Paul Nauert, David Cope
David Cope
David Cope is an American author, composer, scientist, and professor emeritus of music at the University of California, Santa Cruz...
, Hi-Kyung Kim, Frank La Rocca
Frank La Rocca
Frank La Rocca American Composer.-Life:Frank La Rocca was born in 1951 in New Jersey. He studied at Yale and at the University of California at Berkeley. His early musical experiences ranged from classical piano to playing electronic keyboards in various rock and blues bands. He began composing...
, Jeffrey Miller, Rafael Hernandez, Ken Ueno
Ken Ueno
Ken Ueno is an American composer.He studied at the United States Military Academy. He graduated from Berklee College of Music with a B.M...
, and Francois Rose.
He taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Los Medanos College
Los Medanos College
Los Medanos College is a two-year community college in Pittsburg in Contra Costa County, California. LMC has an extension in Brentwood....
. He teaches at California State University, East Bay and Gavilan College
Gavilan College
Gavilan College is a community college located in Gilroy, California.The college was established in 1919 as the San Benito County Junior College. It operated as such until 1963, when a new community college district was drawn that included both San Benito County and southern Santa Clara County...
.
As a composer, Vasallo's work has encompassed a variety of genres and projects. Most notably with his post-metal
Post-metal
Post-metal is a music genre, a mixture between the genres of post-rock and heavy metal.Hydra Head Records owner and Isis frontman Aaron Turner originally termed the genre "thinking man's metal", demonstrating that his band was trying to move away from common metal conventions...
group Antagony
Antagony
Antagony is an American post-metal and blackened death metal band from Oakland, California formed in 1999. They have released three albums, each on a different record label. Members of Antagony have went on to form bands such as All Shall Perish, Suffokate, Oblige, and Hacksaw to the...
, film music career, pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
band Scolding Romeo and concert music
Concert music
Concert music may refer to*Brass band, music performed by brass ensembles.*Classical music, the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times.*Concert band, music performed by...
works. Polystylism
Polystylism
Polystylism is the use of multiple styles or techniques in literature, art, film, or, especially, music, and is a postmodern characteristic.Some prominent contemporary polystylist composers include Peter Maxwell Davies, Michael Colgrass, Lera Auerbach, Sofia Gubaidulina, George Rochberg, Alfred...
or Eclecticism
Eclecticism in music
Eclecticism is used to describe a composer's conscious use of styles alien to his nature, or from one or more historical styles. The term is also used pejoratively to describe music whose composer, thought to be lacking originality, appears to have freely drawn on other models .-Sources:* Kennedy,...
has been linked to his compositions which range from electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, orchestral, wind band, trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
ensemble, solo piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, choral, and instrumentations utilizing the overdriven sound of electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. His compositional approach involves mixing disparate elements from Extreme Metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
to Taiko
Taiko
means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...
, Spectral Music
Spectral music
Spectral music is a musical composition practice where compositional decisions are often informed by the analysis of sound spectra. Computer-based sound spectrum analysis using tools like DFT, FFT, and spectrograms...
, Algorithmic Music
Algorithmic composition
Algorithmic composition is the technique of using algorithms to create music.Algorithms have been used to compose music for centuries; the procedures used to plot voice-leading in Western counterpoint, for example, can often be reduced to algorithmic determinacy...
, and various 20th-century compositional
20th century classical music
20th century classical music was without a dominant style and highly diverse.-Introduction:At the turn of the century, music was characteristically late Romantic in style. Composers such as Gustav Mahler and Jean Sibelius were pushing the bounds of Post-Romantic Symphonic writing...
techniques. Vasallo is a recipient of the 2010/2011 President's $21k Dissertation-Year Fellowship
Fellowship
Fellowship may refer to:* An academic position: see fellow* A merit-based scholarship, or form of academic financial aid* Fellowship , a period of medical training after a residency...
, the first Arts student to ever receive the honor.
His music has been performed internationally by groups such as Contemporary Music Ensemble Korea, Del Sol String Quartet, San Francisco Choral Artists, Atlanta Schola Cantorum, and Watsonville Taiko. Currently, Vasallo is working with San Francsico Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, formerly the California Conservatory of Music, founded in 1917, is a music school, with an enrollment of about 400 students. It was launched by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgehead in the remodeled home of Lillian's parents on Sacramento Street. It was called the...
's BluePrint ensemble as well as collaborating with top-selling deathcore
Deathcore
Deathcore is an extreme metal music genre that combines elements of death metal with elements of metalcore or hardcore punk, or both. It is defined by an "excessive" use of death metal riffs, blast beats and use of hardcore punk breakdowns...
group - All Shall Perish
All Shall Perish
All Shall Perish is an American deathcore band from Oakland, California, formed in 2002. Currently, the band is signed to Nuclear Blast and have released four full-length albums through the label. Their latest record, This Is Where It Ends was released on July 26, 2011...
.
As a performer, Vasallo is active as an electric guitarist and extreme metal vocalist.
Awards
- 2011 Indiana State UniversityIndiana State UniversityIndiana State University is a public university located in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States.The Princeton Review has named Indiana State as one of the "Best in the Midwest" seven years running, and the College of Education's Graduate Program was recently named as a 'Top 100' by U.S...
Contemporary Music Festival Music Now Composition Award - 2011 Truman State UniversityTruman State UniversityTruman State University is a public liberal arts and sciences university in Missouri, United States and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. About 6,000 students attend Truman, pursuing degrees in 43 undergraduate and 9 Graduate programs. It is located in Kirksville in...
/MACROMacro analysisIn music theory, macro analysis is a method of transcribing, or writing down chords that may be used along with or instead of conventional musical analysis...
Composition Award - 2011 All the Cool Parts Idol Winner
- 2010/2011 President's Dissertation-Year Fellowship Winner
- 2009/2010 UCSC Music Department Discretionary Funds Award
- 2009 San Francisco Choral Artists New Voices Award
- 2009 Porter CollegePorter CollegeBenjamin F. Porter College, a residential college at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is located on the lower west side of the university, south of Kresge College and north of College Eight. The college was founded in 1969 as College Five and formally dedicated on November 21, 1981...
Graduate Arts Research Grant Award - 2008 David CopeDavid CopeDavid Cope is an American author, composer, scientist, and professor emeritus of music at the University of California, Santa Cruz...
Award for Compositional Excellence - 2008 Seattle Pianist Collective Award
- 2008 UCSC Student Orchestral Competition Winner
- 2008 60x60 Project60x6060x60 is a collection of 60 electroacoustic or acousmatic works from 60 different composers/artists, each work 60 seconds or less in duration. 60x60 project showcases sixty new works, each sixty seconds or less, by sixty composers in a continuous sixty minute concert, for a one-hour cross-section...
(Pacific Rim mix) Official Selection - 2007/2008/2009 UCSC ChancellorsChancellor (education)A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
Doctoral Fellowship - 2007 CSUEB Student Choral Competition Winner
Discography
Studio albums| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2007 | The Burning
|
| 2009 | Days of Night
|
| 2011 | let the machines do it for us
|
External links
- Official website
- Gavilan College faculty spotlight
- "Music student gets $21,000 fellowship" by Bonnie Horgos - Santa Cruz Sentinel (May 2010)
- "Classical Mayhem" by Jo Ann L.B. Duggins - Anti-Mag (March 2008)
- "Nick Vasallo" - Choral Wiki
- "Nick Vasallo" - Society of Composers, Inc.
