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CHICAGO, IL
A modern-day “renaissance man,” the new Audio Arts and Acoustics chair joins Columbia College Chicago as an accomplished academic and an award-winning composer, audio professional, and educator. With an undergraduate degree and professional credentials in music composition and production, a Ph.D. in Music Cognition Acoustics and Aesthetics, and post-doctoral work in Auditory Science, Vassilakis stands firmly and comfortably at the intersection of Art and Science. His seven-page resume of scholarly, professional, teaching, and administrative experience is paired with an enthusiasm for his field that is contagious. “My passion for sound is longstanding. It has literally shaped my life as an artist, a scientist, and a professional and will continue to do so, especially now as a member of this diverse and impressive team” said Pantelis.
In addition to presentations and publications that range from “Auditory roughness as means of musical expression” and “Culture-dependent emotional reactions to sound” to “Distortion product to acoustic emissions provide clues to hearing mechanisms in the frog ear” [with Meenderink and Narins], Vassilakis has extensive experience in digital sound restoration and mastering and signal processing, has composed for the London Chinese Orchestra and the English National Ballet, and has been a sound designer for BBC Radio 3.
“ I am very happy to have Pantelis on board as chair of the department; everyone is excited to work with him,” said Doreen Bartoni, dean of the School of Media Arts.
Vassilakis is equally excited about his new colleagues and intellectual home: “In many respects, the Audio Arts and Acoustics department is a macrocosm of my own intellectual interests, expertise, and accomplishments. Its faculty and graduates are uniquely positioned to creatively explore the most versatile and visceral of senses (hearing) and the most ubiquitous and evocative of sensations (sound). As audio specialists, we systematically influence sound, facilitate communication, enhance audio and multimedia art-works, evoke emotions, and, as a prominent colleague put it, we fill your soul.”
From live and recorded sound design and engineering for music, theater, broadcast, and multimedia, to vibration and noise measurement and control, architectural acoustics, hearing studies, and design and management of audiovisual installations, the department has already brought together most ingredients necessary for attaining nation-wide reputation in its field, nurturing a multidisciplinary learning environment where students have grown into Grammy winners, audio industry leaders, and promising future academics. For dean Bartoni, “Vassilakis’s leadership, experience, expertise, energy, and enthusiasm offer the additional ingredients that will help take Audio Arts and Acoustics to the next level.”
Pantelis Vassilakis received his graduate education from UCLA. His full bio and portfolio can be viewed at www.acousticslab.org
Columbia College Chicago, an urban institution committed to opportunity and excellence in higher education, provides innovative degree programs in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to nearly 12,500 students in over 120 undergraduate and graduate programs, including film & video, art & design, arts management, television, radio, early childhood education, music, dance, interactive multimedia – all within a rigorous liberal arts context. Founded in 1890 as a communications school, Columbia College Chicago was revisioned in 1963 as a liberal arts college with a “hands-on minds-on” approach to arts and media education and a progressive social agenda. Under the leadership of President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D., Columbia is aggressively pursuing this mission. Columbia is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The college is accredited as a teacher training institution by the Illinois State Board of Education.
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