PROFESSION: Keyboardist, Pianist, Organist, Composer, Arranger, Teacher. Roland, CME and Yamaha demonstrator.
EDUCATION: I begin music studies at seven, thanks to my father's passion and the tuition of the family’s friend and composer/accordionist M° Marco Aurelio Pisegna. I studied Accordion, Piano, Keyboards, Harmony, Theory and Solfeggio. Afterwards, I graduated, with full marks in "Organ and Organ Composition" at Music Conservatory "A. Casella" (L’Aquila - Italy) under the guidance of teacher Annamaria Polcaro and M° Paolo Cerasoli
EXTRA: I also studied "Solfeggio” with teacher Laura Bianchini, "Electronic Composition", "Computer Music" and "Experimental Composition" with M° Alessandro Sbordoni and Michelangelo Lupone, "History of Music" with M° Pietro Acquafredda, "Counterpoint and Fugue" with M° Paolo Cerasoli, "Gregorian Chant" with M° Giandomenico Piermarini.
INSTRUMENTS: Piano, Keyboards, Keytar, Organ, Harpsichord, Accordion.
SPECIALIZATION: Demonstrator, Synthesizer programming, Computer-Music
EXPERIENCES: almost everything (Classical, Rock, Pop, Metal, Progressive, New-Age, Theatre, …) but… never performed a jazz concert and, maybe, it will never happen!
At the age of six years, I started studying music, thanks to the passion of my father who had studied Accordion, when he was a child, with Maestro Marco Aurelio Pisegna, famous accordionist, composer and performer, who became a close friend of the family since the time of my grandparents. He has been my first teacher who introduced me into the world of classical music. With teacher Marco, I began studying at age of seven, Music Theory, Solfeggio and Accordion, and I started also to play at numerous competitions for accordion obtaining first and second places and numerous honorable mentions. The results encouraged me to study more and better.
At the age of thirteen I decided (dazzled in one night) to continue my musical studies at the Music Conservatory, and finally become a professional musician.
FollowinMusic Conservatory in L'Aquila (Italy)g an entrance examination, I enrolled in the class of "Organ and Organ Composition" of teacher Mrs. Annamaria Polcaro which, already in her sixties, passed her long teaching experience and formed the whole basis of my piano technique, first , and then organ. With her, I studied also Harmony, Counterpoint and Fugue up to five years. At the same time, I studied "Solfeggio" with teacher Mrs. Laura Bianchini, "History of Music” with M° Pietro Acquafredda and "Gregorian Chant" with M° Giandomenico Piermarini.
After the exam for the fifth year, I continued to study with M° Paolo Cerasoli until the final diploma which I achieved in 1995 with full marks, honors and special mention.
In the Conservatory, during my studies in Piano and Organ, I followed the classes of "Electronic Music” with M° Michelangelo Lupone and "Experimental Composition” with M° Alessandro Sbordoni. These classes have completed my music knowledge with a broad vision of harmony, electronics and computer science applied to music, studying music technology and digital media, computer music and MIDI.
During the years of study at the Conservatory I also started my concert career, both as pianist and organist as well as a composer by supporting essays solo and chamber orchestras. I developed the composition especially in the theater, thanks to a long collaboration of more than fifteen years with the actor, now dear friend, Sergio Megrossi for which I composed the soundtrack of many shows.
Mirage | Frammenti
The 1990 sees the formation of my first official band "Mirage" for which I proposed and wrote my first songs typically progressive, in the style of Genesis, Yes, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso and others progressive bands of that years. These bands, which I heard long buying the whole discography, have greatly influenced my musical taste and compositional style. The first recording contract, both for me and the Mirage, arrived in 1994 with the album "Frammenti" published by the Italian label Mellow Records.
Mistheria | ImperatorIn 1996 I create my own musical show which made my idea of a global art blending music, poetry, dance and image. A cast of fifteen people is part of this show titled "Metamorphosis", subsequently "Imperator". Mistheria on stage
The work as session man starts at the age of eighteen with some local bands and then having real tours throughout Italy with singers of the Italian Pop music scene and stage actors for over fiftheen years (M. Cherubini, R. Cavalli, O.R.O., A. Tatangelo, G. Sabani, S. Meogrossi, F. Bussotti and others), participating in radio and television events as well. As a solo keyboardist, the turning point was when my good friend Alvaro De Amicis showed me a vinyl record called "Trilogy” recorded by a guitarist named Yngwie Malmsteen ... I felt it was the other side of my musical world: Metal music.
Mistheria & AX1I started to write the first instrumental pieces for solo keyboard (such as My Dear Chopin, Hands of Fire) and I also started my sound research to develop a personal sound that allows me a total expressive control as precisely as heard on the song "Trilogy" by Y. Malmsteen. I also intuit that a traditional instrument like the keyboard would not have allowed that kind of control that I wanted ... I discover the Roland AX1, so-called keytar, and it paves the way for me. Now technically I found the solution, even though the sound had not yet been reached.
The evolution of computer music and music software (such as sound libraries and plugins) has helped me to forge a solo sound I wanted ... After years of experimentation, research and attempts, one night in 2005, the marriage between the keytar and the sound became great! The sound was reacting exactly as I wanted for a long time. Meanwhile, participation as a special guest in many concerts I developed many ideas and I started to create a personal setup. The musical and personal friendship with the American guitarist Neil Zaza, started in 2001, also gave me the opportunity to experience many solutions at concerts around the world (Europe, USA and Asia) and developing better sound, control and performance.
Viracocha | The BeginningIn 2000 I created my project called Viracocha, a band with whom I made my first metal songs written specifically for this band, with the collaboration of singer Cedric Vandeschrik, author of the lyrics as well.
"The Beginning" is the album we recorded signing a contract with the neo-label SonickAttack (division of Noise Records). The band, for several reasons including the fact that the singer was living in Johannesburg (South Africa) does not produce other records, but some tracks listed on the album became part of my solo repertoire, including "My Dear Chopin", "Hands of Fire" and "Devils' Steps "
In 2001 I moved to Orlando (Florida, USA) and then to Los Angeles (USA, California) for a personal experience and this has greatly influenced the lifestyle and way of working in the music knowing many musicians and bands with whom I had some performances and recordings, including guitarist Rick Renstrom and vocalist Rob Rock. After an experience of about three months, I returned to Italy to resume my activities and begin a series of concerts, participating in various musical events.
My desire for cooperation and knowledge of music has always been important, and this was the springboard of my personal discography. "Messenger of the Gods" is my first official album in which I wanted to collect, in fact, some of the best musicians to create a unique and impressive musical message. In 2004, "Messenger of the Gods" published by Lion Music has become known as the record of 30
star-gMistheria | Messenger of the Godsuests (such as Rob Rock, George Bellas, Matt Bissonette, Barry Sparks, John Macaluso, Anders Johansson, Jeff Kollman, Neil Zaza, to name a few) ... beyond the long list of musicians involved, the work finally launched my name as an artist and keyboardist.
Mistheria | Solo PianoA very important moment in my career has been working with the American guitarist and producer Roy Z. I worked with Roy Z on the first two albums of singer Rob Rock, and then he asked me to work on the album "Tyranny of Souls" by Bruce Dickinson. This obviously became an important and fundamental step in my musical career. Before and after working with Roy Z, I realized many records as special guest. In 2007, I recorded my piano album "Solo Piano", a mix of Classic and New-Age, published by Italian record Videoradio and co-produced by RAI Trade. The path between the Classical and Metal music has always been very short for me and allows me to express fully my approach to music, composition and deeply convey my musical world .
As a composer and arranger, I have done many different jobs for theater, radio and television. The creation of background music, video clips, commercials and music scene is another aspect of my compositive activity that gratifies me very much. The soundtrack gives considerable space to the timbre research that stimulates the compositive process and makes it truly unique and universal.
Yamaha DemoKnowledge of music technology and digital tools learned during the years of Conservatory and continuously developed by me, even gave me the opportunity to work with renowned manufacturers of musical instruments. As a demonstrator, I worked for Roland, Yamaha and CME, taking hundreds of demonstrations in music stores, festivals, fairs and musical events.
In 2008 I moved to Zagreb (Croatia) where with Ivana Greguric (songwriter and keyboardist) we start our company "Hit Produkcija" dedicated to the music production (composition, arranging, mixing and mastering, jingles, spots, publishing and other).
In 2010 my Metal album "Dragon Fire", also released by Finnish label Lion Music, is my first official album as sound engineer and producer.
My daily work includes practicing on piano and keyboards, concerts, teaching, composition, arranging, demonstrations, work in the recording studio as sound engineer and producer.
Aim of my life is persistently to listen, understand, live and love Music.

 

****

Review

Keyboard virtuoso Mistheria returns with an all star cast for the neo-classical progressive metal tour de force "Dragon Fire”. Home to 13 tracks of full on metal pomposity, this is music crafted around stirring vocal melodies and impassioned first class musicianship. The virtuoso meter of the personnel involved sets a new standard and fans of artists such as Symphony X, Malmsteen and Artension will find this a sheer musical delight.
The grandiose music on offer has its home within the classical music masters but the metal charge brings "Dragon Fire” firmly into the present day. Yet this is more than musical virtuosity. Mistheria has taken great care to produce songs first and foremost with catchy vocal melodies and big choruses and just one listen will prove that he has succeeded in his aim producing captivating compositions. After demos for the album had been made the personnel was then hand selected by Mistheria to bring out the best in each track with the highest calibre musicians within the genre chosen to do justice to his songs.
The vocalists comprise of John West (Artension/Royal Hunt), Rob Rock (Impellitteri/Solo), Mark Boals (ex Malmsteen/Ring Of Fire/Royal Hunt), Lance King (Balance Of Power) and Titta Tani (ex Astra / Ashent). Each vocalist’s unique style has been selected for the appropriate track to deliver Mistheria’s vision. The same process was used for the guitarists with George Bellas (solo/Ring Of Fire), Neil Zaza (solo), Roger Staffelbach (Artension/Angel Of Eden) and Emir Hot (solo) plying their virtuoso guitar work which blend beautifully with Mistheria keyboards to recreate the classic guitar/keyboard pairing in all its glory. The bass was ably handled by Alberto Rigoni (Twinspirits) and drums come courtesy of John Macaluso (Ark, TNT, ex Malmsteen) whose performance is full of high-power heavy grooves and tons of energy making this one of his best performances to date.
Yet despite the number of musicians involved there is an impressive sense of cohesion to the material all thanks to the quality of Mistheria’s initial vision shining through in all aspects. Even the sound of the album has produced and mixed to his own personal taste. Mistheria comments, "Since I only wrote vocal melodies and lyrics for "Dragon Fire” and vocal melodies for "Eye of the storm” songs (although I gave ideas for the others), all singers involved influenced the songs prominently with really great lyrics and melodies. John Macaluso’s job on drums has been nothing short of astonishing starting from my programmed drums guideline. The guitarists moved on my own demo ideas as well as Alberto Rigoni on bass and their job has been simply perfect. Ivana Greguric wrote a song exclusively for the album (The Beast) and her work is really remarkable”.
http://www.lionmusic.com/ShopSelect.htm
Keyboard guru Mistheria, known for his extensive contributions to the works of others as well as his own, returns with a new solo project Dragon Fire. If keyboard driven melodic heavy metal is not your thing, you don't have to stop reading. Unless, of course, the idea of the 'keytar', of which Mistheria is a proponent, is repulsive, then you might want to turn away. While the expectation of his excellent keyboard virtuosity remains, Mistheria's song composition is much more well-rounded and comprehensive, thanks to the inclusion of some very talent supporting players.
Dragon Fire includes the vocal talent of John West (Artension/Royal Hunt), Rob Rock (Impellitteri/Solo), Mark Boals (ex Malmsteen/Ring Of Fire/Royal Hunt), Lance King (Balance Of Power) and Titta Tani (ex Astra / Ashent). Excepting Dragon Fire and Eye of the Storm, each vocalist supplied their own lyrics and melodies. On guitar Mistheria recruited George Bellas (solo/Ring Of Fire), Neil Zaza (solo), Roger Staffelbach (Artension/Angel Of Eden) and Emir Hot (solo). Essentially, with these elements, Dragon Fire is quite the cooperative effort, and the album is better for it. Frankly, I might even suggest that the vocalist overshadow Mistheria's contributions. Each vocalist was matched perfectly for the songs, John West on the whole, but particularly Lance King on Two of Us. And the fret work shimmers with equal clarity to Mistheria's keys (but I could sometimes pass on Bellas' widdling wizardry).
Nevertheless, Mistheria is hardly absent. He coaxes and cajoles his typical magic from his synths and keyboards, offering styles from fusion to prog to classical. He effortlessly adds ambience across all songs and then hunkers down for deliberate and inspiring solo performance; the best come on Dragon Fire, Lies & Deception, The Power of One, and The Beast. However, I was more intrigued by his classical explorations on Prelude 18 in F Minor and Chopin Fantasy.
Without doubt, Mistheria's Dragon Fire is an immense, grand, and generally gratifying work, thanks mostly to his collaboration with a brilliant supporting cast. Recommended.
Review written by Craig Hartranft for http://www.dangerdog.com/2010-music-reviews/misther...-fire-review.php