Ioannis Anastassakis
Born in the Greek island of Crete, Ioannis Anastassakis studied at the
Greek National Conservatory and the Nakas Conservatory
in Athens. He completed his Bachelor degree at the American College of
Greece, and subsequently studied at the distinguished Musicians
Institute (GIT), where he tutored, after graduating at the top 1% of
his class. He continued his graduate studies in Music, at the
California State University, completing an MA in Guitar Performance,
graduating Magna cum Laude.
Ioannis list of Electric guitar teachers is extremely
impressive: the list read like as “Who is Who” of contemporary electric
guitar legends! Steve Vai (Whitesnake), Vinnie
Moore (UFO), Marty Friedman (Megadeth),
John Petrucci (Dream Theater), Frank Gambale
(Chick Corea), Paul Gilbert (Mr.Big), Richie
Kotzen, Brett Garsed, Joey Tafolla,
Scott Henderson, Mike Stern,
Jean Marc Belkadi, Darren Householder,
Tommy Tedesco, Ted Greene, Ron Eschete,
Sid Jacobs & Joe Diorio.
Ioannis also studied Solo Flamenco Guitar for several
years with flamenco maestro Juan Serrano. In addition, he
has studied with Flamenco guitar legends Manolo Sanlucar, Juan
Martin, Paco Serrano, Jose Antonio Rodriguez and Manolo
Franco.
Ioannis has also performed and/or recorded in various
settings with band members of Whitesnake, Dio, Deep Purple, Ozzy
Osbourne, Elton John, Santana, Celine Dion, Sara Vaughan, Tito Puente,
Julio Iglesias, Tower of Power, Chick Corea Electric Band, Jeff Beck,
Steve Vai Band, Badlands, Santana, Tribal Tech, Natalie Cole, Joe Cocker,
Cher, Blood Sweat & Tears and more.
Ioannis has presented over 400 solo recitals
in Europe and the United States and has been a guest lecturer
at several American colleges and Universities (University of Southern
California, California State University Northridge, California State
University Fresno, California State University Fullerton, Musicians
Institute, Fresno City College, American College of Greece). In
addition, he has won and placed as a finalist in several Classical and
Flamenco guitar competitions and has been featured 15 times
on European and American TV. In 2000, he was the 1st guitarist ever to
present a solo guitar recital at the prestigious Greek National
Opera House. Ioannis’ 1st instrumental Rock/Fusion Electric
guitar CD, “Suspension of Disbelief”, was released by
Wild Rose Angel Productions in 2007 – within 3 weeks its
worldwide sales soared at the top 5 in the highly
regarded Guitar9.com website!! Ioannis’ highly
anticipated second instrumental Rock/Fusion Electric guitar CD, “Orbital
Attempt”, was released by Wild Rose Angel Productions
in April 2009 and within weeks reached to the #1 spot of Guitar9.
Ioannis’ first solo Flamenco guitar CD, Flamenco
Live at Ioannina, was released by MP3.com on 2000, immediately
entered the company's flamenco Top 10, eventually reaching the #1
place worldwide on October 2002. The CD was re-mastered and
re-released by Wild Rose Angel Productions in 2004.
Ioannis’ second solo Flamenco guitar CD, Traditional Flamenco Guitar
Selections is scheduled to be released by Wild Rose Angel Productions
in 2010.
Ioannis’ instructional materials are published and
distributed worldwide by Mel Bay Publications. He has
authored 5 Books/CDs/DVDs - “The Art of Rasgueado”,
“Flamenco Journal”, “The Art
of Tremolo” , “60 Tapping Licks for Contemporary
Rock & Metal Guitar” and “60 Sweeping Licks for
Contemporary Electric Guitar”. Most of them achieved
best-seller status within months of their initial publication date.
Ioannis is also a regular columnist in Mel Bay’s
Guitar Sessions magazine, specializing on articles in
Flamenco Guitar Technique and Advanced Contemporary Electric Guitar
Technique and writes a monthly column on Rock Guitar at the Rock
Hard Greece magazine.
Ioannis is currently (2010) sponsored by Ibanez
Electric Guitars (6-string), Schecter
7-string Electric Guitars, Roland Guitar Effects,
EMG Active Pickups, ELIXIR
Electric Guitar Strings and instrument cables, LaBella
Flamenco Guitar Strings, T-Rex Effect pedals,
Visual Sound effects, Hercules stands, Graphtech
custom guitar parts, Snapjack jacks, DR
Guitar Straps and George-L studio cables.
Ioannis is also the founder, group leader and manager
of the highly successful Greek Guitar Power Team – an all-instrumental
group comprised of his Ioannis and his most advanced Electric guitar
students, most of them already highly respected professionals in the field
of Rock guitar.
Ioannis is the artistic director of the annual
Athens International Electric Guitar Festival and has also served as
principal instructor at the most prominent International Guitar
Festivals in Greece (International guitar
festival of Hermoupolis, International Winter guitar festival of Volos,
International guitar festival of Patras, International guitar festival of
Paros, International guitar festival of Porto Heli). Ioannis is also
an officially registered guitar instructor with the London College
of Music and Thames Valley University, as well
as a registered LA’s Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT).
Ioannis Anastassakis teaches several classes in Music
Business, Music History and Music Performance and Improvisation at the
American College of Greece and maintains a busy private teaching
schedule. Furthermore, he divides his time between recording, writing
instructional materials for guitar, conducting clinics and seminars and
presenting guitar recitals around the world. He is currently preparing an
extensive series of instructional materials for Mel Bay Publications, on
both Flamenco and Electric guitar related subjects. |
