Greek composer, guitarist and musicologist Vassilis Ketentzoglou was born in 1979 in Athens and grew up in Rhodes island. He is formally a classical-trained classical guitarist and composer and holds a BMus from Royal Holloway, University of London, a MMus in Composition for Screen from the Royal College of Music (London) and several other degrees of music from the Hellenic Conservatory, Athens. In parallel to his classical studies, Vassilis has always been interested in other types of music; mainly, traditional music from the Middle East and the Balkans, jazz, flamenco and Latin American.
Vassilis’ main instrument is the classical guitar (which he plays in his own “ethnic” way, incorporating sounds and techniques from the flamenco guitar and the ud) and a currently not-so-well-known “new” instrument, the fretless guitar. He plays various other Greek and Middle-Eastern string instruments as well and enjoys improvising very much.
His compositions encompass many different styles – from orchestral music to Greek and Spanish songs, and from microtonal Middle-Eastern melodies on various “exotic” odd-time signatures to ethnic jazz fusion pieces. His music has been awarded in various composition competitions in Greece. Apart from composing his own music, Vassilis enjoys re-arranging and re-harmonizing various traditional and folk Greek songs.
Currently, he works as a guitarist accompanying various well-known Greek singers in concerts.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
