Sami Amiri
Sami - Vasileios Amiris (or Sami, as everybody calls him), was born and raised in Thessaloniki. His first encounter with music was in a young age, with Mr. Panagiotis Moralis. Later, he attended "Anatolia College" high school in Thessaloniki, where he held a full scholarship during all years of study. Concurrently, he continued to study music with Mrs Matthaiou.
He studied mathematics in the University of Crete, and is currently attending graduate school in Athens. His interests include the foundations of mathematics, algorithms, complexity and algorithmic graph theory. Concurrently, he studied piano with Prof. Dimitri Toufexis, an internationally acclaimed pianist and conductor, and Julliard Alumnus and former instructor. He has taken part in a number of concerts and seminars, either as an active member or as audience. He has taken lessons in composition with Prof. Theodore Antoniou, Dr. Athanasios Zervas, and in jazz piano with the internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Mal Waldron.
He was the main pianist of the City of Athens Big Band, Small Combo and Contemporary Music Ensemble, all conducted by Dr. Zervas. He has also taken part in the "Improelectronics" orchestra, which specialized in contemporary experimental electronic music, as well as the Athens Jazz Orchestra, both also conducted by Dr Zervas. He has appeared in very important music halls, like the Athens Concert Hall, Thessaloniki Concert Hall, "Phillipos Nakas" Concert Hall, "Athena" Concert hall in the Art Conservatory of Athens, etc.
He has appeared on stage with most of the important jazz artists of the Athens scene, as well as important artists of the international music scene, like Rex Richardson and Dom Famularo. During the 1st Greek Drum Camp, in which he took part, he shared the stage with Dom Famularo, Thomas Lang and Jeff Bowden.
He has appeared in quite a few groups of all sizes and musical directions, either as a sideman, as in the Antonis Ladopoulos Quartet, the Yiotis Kiourtsoglou Quartet, etc., but also as a co-leader, as in Energy, a duet with drummer-extraordinaire Zach Pinakoulakis, Cover Charge Trio with Zach Pinakoulakis and Odysseas Konstantinopoulos on bass, etc. He has appeared in a seminar-concert with Yiotis Kiourtsoglou and Zach Pinakoulakis, focusing on the contemporary jazz and fusion scene. He has also taken part in Y. Kiourtsoglou's debut personal recording, "Hapopsis".
Today, he continues his 10-year-long association with Zach Pinakoulakis. He is also a founding member of "Nucleus", along with Giannis Stavropoulos on drums and Periklis Trivolis on bass. Apart from these, he also collaborates with some of the most important musicians in the Athens scene.
In the area of teaching, he has quite a few success stories. People that have studied with him are currently studying or have graduated, either as undergraduate or graduate students, from some of the leading universities both inside and outside Greece (U.S., U.K., the Netherlands, etc.), either in the field of jazz or contemporary music composition.
He believes in the active incorporation of the mathematical thought process in the organisation of the materials of music, be it rhythm or tone material. He has worked extensively on the organisation of the tone material in general, atonal music in particular, as well as rhythm organisation of music, polyrhythms and rhythmic groupings.
Currently, he lives and works in Athens. He teaches in the "Muse" music school. He is married and is blessed with two girls.
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