GUEST COLUMNIST:

THEODORE ZIRAS

Tapping Arpeggios




the following bio material provided by Theodore Ziras

Theodore Ziras born 1975 in Poros, Greece. His music training started at the age of 13 with Music Theory and Piano lessons. His main influences include F Liszt, J.S Bach, N Paganini, J Becker, Allan Holdsworth, Y. Malmsteen, J. Becker, S Vai, G Bellas, V Kuprij, J Petrucci, G Howe and generally anything from Classical Music, Rock & Progressive Metal and Jazz/Fusion.

Two years later he also started studying guitar, which became his main instrument. From the beginning of his music carrier Theodore was fascinated by musicians with high level of Technical ability regardless of style etc. At the age of 18 he moved to Athens and he continued his studies in Music Theory, Jazz Harmony, Rhythm, Counterpoint. The next two years found Theodore practising very hard.

His first appearance with a band was in 1994 when he joined the progressive power metal Greek band Ice Divine as the lead Guitar player. With Ice Divine he released 2 demos and he appeared in 2 compilation CD's. Ice Divine appeared in many gigs in Athens with more important the shows as a support band with Iced Earth (Rodon Club November '97) and U.D.O. (Rodon Club February '98). Ice Divine voted in 1997 Metal Hammer's magazine Best Newcoming and Best Live band. In October 97 they signed their first contract with "Noise International" but finally this cancelled 2 months later under strange circumstances. This incident had as a result the split up of Ice Divine…

So, in early '98 Theodore joined the Greek progressive metal band Guardian Angel. Theodore as a member of Guardian Angel didn't release any demo or CD but he played a lot of gigs all over Greece. After all, his cooperation with Guardian Angel was a very important experience and established Theodore as a great soloist and solid performer.

In late '98 Theodore decided to leave Greece and he registered at the Guitar Institute of London for further studies in Music performance and composition. He developed further his Technical and composition skills, also he deal with different styles as Jazz and Fusion. He started working on his first solo instrumental release. He graduated 3 years later getting his degree, Bachelor (Honours) in Music Performance & Composition. In early 2001 he returned to Greece and he signed a record deal with Steel Gallery Records.

His first instrumental solo Cd called "Trained To Play" released in April 2001. It's a mix of Orchestral Neoclassical & Power Metal with complex harmony/orchestration and mind-blowing lead guitar parts.

Theodore keeps extremely busy dividing his time between studying, composing, recording, teaching guitar and trying to develop his style and grow as an performer and composer.

Contact: tziras@hotmail.com

Website: www.thodoris.cjb.net