EARLY INFLUENCES
Is music sound or is sound music? To Vassilis Rizos, the answer is both! Music and sound have always been a major part of Vassilis’ life. His first memories of music are at the age of 5 when he attended the Greek National Opera to watch his father perform in the orchestra. He would go backstage during the intermission to visit his dad and was quite curious about all the various instruments – in particular, the violin. He was quite intrigued with the shape of it, the sound it made and wanted to learn all he could about it. At age 6, he began lessons and at age 20 he performed at the Greek National Opera with his father for the first of several performances. Vassilis’ grandfather was also a musician and was the maestro (conductor) of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Corfu.
EDUCATION
Upon entering college, Vassilis had no problem choosing his path of study. It was music, of course! He had also become very computer savvy and was fascinated with both technology and music and the way the two can be combined. He attended the Music Technology & Acoustics of the Technological Educational Institute in Crete, Greece. There he studied music technology, wave physics, music theory and listening, electronics, music creation through computers, sound synthesis, audio engineering, music psychology, recording, and multimedia applications.
He chose to continue his studies at I.V.T. Akmi in Athens where he received a Music Technology degree. He also received a violin diploma, and degrees in harmony, counterpoint, and fugue.
COMPOSITION
Composing music is more than just writing a score for various instruments. It is a feeling, an emotion, a thought, an expression of the soul or used to elicit a response – very dimensional and with depth. Vassilis’ orchestrations are all beautifully interwoven which allows him to connect with others on many levels. Vassilis’ introspective nature allows him to compose music that is heartfelt, dynamic and very beautiful.
SOUND
During college, Vassilis performed remixes for several bands and singers. In 2004, he had the pleasure and opportunity to work as a sound engineer for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece. He has since acquired a large sound library and has recently finished doing the sound design & mixing for a short film, The Tell-Tale Heart for Freak Daddy Productions in the U.S.
FILM SCORING
In the near future Vassilis plans to combine his love and passion for music with his expertise in sound design to pursue a career in film scoring. He has his own home studio for composing, orchestrating, mixing, production, and post production. His favorite film scores include those from John Williams, Danny Elfman, Ennio Morricone, James Horner, Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, Javier Navarrete, and others.
Get your own map at hit2map.com