Thanassis Rikakis

Thanassis Rikakis is the Assistant Director of the Columbia University Computer Music Center, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Columbia University Music Department and the Manager of the Program of Psychoacoustics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He received his DMA in music composition from Columbia University in 1994. He has studied composition with Chou Wen Chung, Roger Reynolds, Mario Davidovsky, Bernard Rands, Karel Husa and Theodore Antoniou. He has attended composition seminars with Ianis Xenakis, Olivier Messiaen and Piere Boulez. He has studied computer music with Bradford Garton and music theory with Jonathan Kramer, Jacques Monod, George Edwards and Susan Blaustein. He was the director of the 1997 International Computer Music Conference (ICMC97).

Selected works:

  • The song of the tree (1998), for computer generated tape
  • A symphony of characters (1998), film score; for computer generated tape
  • A Third Perspective (1996), for computer generated tape
  • Orgia (1995), incidental music for the play Orgia; for computer generated tape
  • Krisis (1994) for flute, bassoon, cello and trombone
  • Hard Silver (1993) for computer generated tape
  • Digital duo for trombone and cello (1992), experimental stimulus; for computer
  • Komvos (1991) for chamber orchestra

    Selected research projects/papers:

  • A system for microtonal composition; related pitch perception and brain function issues (dissertation).
  • Pitch perception and computerized encephalography (with G.Petrides, G. Soldatos).
  • Use of auditory display for the training and therapy of patients with loss of propriocetion (with L. Dubois, C. Ghez, P. Cook, F. Lerdahl)
  • Music Perception in Alzheimer's patients (with S.Balogiannis, S. Euklidou, et al.).
  • Physical modeling of ancient Greek avlos (with K.Tsaxalinas, P. Cook, K. Tzedaki, K. Psaroudakis).

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