It is surprising at first when one realizes that a large number of engineers also play, or have played in the past, musical instruments. Although for most people music remains a hobby, some make a more significant time commitment and perform on a semi-professional basis. There is a great number of faculty that are active music players, in a variety of genres.
Background
I studied classical violin and music theory and harmony as a youngster at
the Athens Conservatory of Music in Greece. I was also playing piano (self-taught)
since the age of about 10. I quickly gravitated to rock and picked up the
electric bass as a teenager. At the end of my high school years I got into
jazz, and even learned to play tenor saxophone and a little bit of trumpet.
During my undergraduate and graduate studies, there was very little playing,
although there was a great deal of listening as well as reading about orchestration,
composition, etc. During that time, I slowly gravitated towards traditional
Greek music. In 2000 I started playing "baglama" (a small three-stringed instrument), and soon gravitated to bouzouki (the bigger sibling of the baglama, with a central role in Greek music). I have studied with N. Manioudakis, C. Papadopoulos, N. Tatasopoulos (son of the late great master), and M. Michalakis (performs with famed Greek singer Viky Moscholiou). I have appeared in a number of performances in New York City, typically at the Thiasos music restaurant, although my academic obligations have made this is a rather rare occurence. I
am currently taking, however, counterpoint and composition classes.
Photos
Future Media Concepts, November 2003. With John Travis, at the Pro Tools room.
Hellas FM, Astoria, October 2003, after a live radio performance at G. Maninakis'
show. From left: Grigoris Maninakis (host, singer), Taria Glinou (my wife),
Vicky Palma (singer), Alexandros Eleftheriadis (baglama), and Kostas Psarros
(bouzouki).
Thiasos, New York, April 2002. From left: Nikos Manioudakis, Tasos Papaioannou,
Lena Golemati, Alexandros Eleftheriadis, and Gabriel Kontos.