Ioannis Anastassakis

Born in the Greek island of Crete, Ioannis Anastassakis. He completed his Bachelor degree at the AmericanCollege of Greece, and subsequently studied at the distinguished Musicians Institute (GIT), where he was hiredas an instructor, after graduating at the top 1% of his class. He continued his graduate studies in Music, at theCalifornia State University, completing an MA in Guitar Performance, graduating Magna cum Laude.Ioannis list of Electric guitar teachers is extremely impressive: the list read like as “Who is Who” of contemporaryelectric guitar legends! Steve Vai (Whitesnake), Vinnie Moore (UFO), Marty Friedman(Megadeth), John Petrucci (Dream Theater), Frank Gambale (Chick Corea), Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big), RichieKotzen, Brett Garsed, Joey Tafolla, Scott Henderson, Mike Stern, Jean Marc Belkadi, DarrenHouseholder, Tommy Tedesco, Ted Greene, Ron Eschete, Sid Jacobs and Joe Diorio.Ioannis also studied Solo Flamenco Guitar for several years with flamenco maestro Juan Serrano. In addition,he has studied with Flamenco guitar legends Manolo Sanlucar, Juan Martin, Paco Serrano, JoseAntonio Rodriguez and Manolo Franco.Ioannis has also performed and/or recorded in various settings with band members of Whitesnake, Dio, DeepPurple, Ozzy Osbourne, Elton John, Santana, Celine Dion, Sara Vaughan, Tito Puente, Julio Iglesias, Tower ofPower, Chick Corea Electric Band, Jeff Beck, Steve Vai Band, Badlands, Tribal Tech, Natalie Cole, Joe Cocker,Cher, Blood Sweat & Tears and more.Ioannis has presented over 400 solo recitals in Europe and the United States and has been a guest lecturerat several American colleges and Universities (University of Southern California, California StateUniversity Northridge, California State University Fresno, California State University Fullerton, MusiciansInstitute, Fresno City College, American College of Greece). In addition, he has won and placed as a finalist inseveral Classical and Flamenco guitar competitions and has been featured 15 times on European and AmericanTV. In 2000, he was the 1st guitarist ever to present a solo guitar recital at the prestigious Greek NationalOpera House.Ioannis’ 1st instrumental Rock/Fusion Electric guitar CD, “Suspension of Disbelief”, was released byWild Rose Angel Productions in 2007 – within 3 weeks its worldwide sales soared at the top 5 in the highlyregarded Guitar9.com website!! Ioannis’ highly anticipated second instrumental Rock/Fusion Electric guitar CD,“Orbital Attempt”, was released by Wild Rose Angel Productions in April 2009 and within weeks reached tothe #1 spot of Guitar9.Ioannis’ first solo Flamenco guitar CD, “Flamenco Live at Ioannina”, was released by MP3.com in2000, immediately entered the company’s flamenco Top 10, eventually reaching the #1 place worldwide inOctober 2002. The CD was re-mastered and re-released by Wild Rose Angel Productions in 2004 and alsoreached the #1 spot in 3 different categories in 2009! Ioannis’ next solo Flamenco guitar CD, “TraditionalFlamenco Guitar Selections” is scheduled to be released by Wild Rose Angel Productions in 2010.Ioannis’ instructional materials are published and distributed worldwide by Mel Bay Publications. Hehas authored 5 Books/CDs/DVDs - “The Art of Rasgueado”, “Flamenco Journal”, “The Art of Tremolo”, “60Tapping Licks for Contemporary Rock & Metal Guitar” and “60 Sweeping Licks for Contemporary ElectricGuitar”. Most of them achieved best-seller status within months of their initial publication date.Ioannis is also a regular columnist in Mel Bay’s Guitar Sessions magazine, specializing on articles inFlamenco Guitar Technique and Advanced Contemporary Electric Guitar Technique and writes a monthly columnon Rock Guitar at the Rock Hard Greece magazine.Ioannis is currently (2010) sponsored by Ibanez Electric Guitars (6-string), Schecter 7-string ElectricGuitars, Roland Guitar Effects, EMG Active Pickups, ELIXIR Electric Guitar Strings and instrument cables,LaBella Flamenco Guitar Strings, T-Rex Effect pedals, Visual Sound effects, Hercules stands, Graphtech customguitar parts, Snapjack jacks, DR Guitar Straps and George-L studio cables.Ioannis is also the founder, group leader and manager of the highly successful Greek Guitar PowerTeam – an all-instrumental group comprised of his Ioannis and his most advanced Electric guitar students, mostof them already highly respected professionals in the field of Rock guitar.Ioannis is the artistic director of the annual Athens International Electric Guitar Festival and has alsoserved as principal instructor at the most prominent International Guitar Festivals in Greece (Internationalguitar festival of Hermoupolis, International Winter guitar festival of Volos, International guitar festival ofPatras, International guitar festival of Paros, International guitar festival of Porto Heli). Ioannis is also an officiallyregistered guitar instructor with the London College of Music and Thames Valley University, as well asa registered LA’s Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT).Ioannis Anastassakis teaches several classes in Music Business, Music History and Music Performanceand Improvisation at the American College of Greece and maintains a busy private teaching schedule.Furthermore, he divides his time between recording, writing instructional materials for guitar, conducting clinicsand seminars and presenting guitar recitals around the world. He is currently preparing an extensive seriesof instructional materials for Mel Bay Publications, on both Flamenco and Electric guitar related subjects.