How every chord change carries an emotional direction, and why that changes everything about how you write music. What the Wheel Is Few would dispute that the purpose of music is the emotion it gives to performer and audience. Fewer still would dispute that in tonal music, emotion is carried primarily by harmony. It follows, then, that harmony ought to be understood in felt terms; that a system of chords should also be a system of emotion. Traditional Western music theory has

A Meditation on Music and Meaning. In my studies of music, I have often heard and contemplated the question of “where does the meaning of...

Inspired by epic film scores, “Breakthrough” represents a new era of my composing style, fusing traditional and modern instruments and...

Even though the majority of my pieces are in the classical style, I also enjoy composing and performing jazz. I recently completed Winter...

Sometimes memories of people and places of the past suddenly come to mind; the Portuguese call this feeling "Saudade". I was...

"You, a classical composer, wrote a song for Electric Guitar, Bass, and Drums? You have betrayed us!" <—A common response to my newest...

https://www.stavrosfirstcomposer.com/byzantine-chant One of the biggest inspirations for my music is the Byzantine Chant tradition. It is...

My latest EP, "Alpha", features an array of recently-completed pieces, mostly for piano and violin. "Για Πάντα" means "forever" in Greek....

Last December, I held a composition survey and asked my listeners what they would like composed. Many responses were recorded, and the...

My newest album, The Piano Book (Deluxe), features all of my most popular piano compositions from 2020, plus a few surprises. You can...

Every few months, I hold a survey and ask my listeners what kind of music they would like composed. I will compose a piece based on the...

The word reverie refers to being in a daydream-like state; to not focus on the present, but rather muse about the possibilities of the...

The first part of my "Four Seasons" project, Autumn, has just been released to Spotify and Apple Music! So far, it has been one of my...

I recently recorded and released a piece for piano, cello, violin and flute based off a Greek folk song. The piano opens the piece, and...

My latest piece for piano, Ecce Novum, has been released! It is a waltz for piano that features slow, melodic notes at the exposition and...

Theme and Variation (piano, 4 hands) is based upon the old Russian folk song, Kalinka (Калинка). It starts off with a slow, rhythmic...

Nuit means Night in French. This soothing piano piece evokes the feeling of looking up at an endless view of stars. Download the sheet...

I founded the Parthen Sound™ company in August of 2020. It aims to produce the highest-quality audio for musical releases. Look for the...

In the spring of 2020, I was commissioned by the RSC Conservatory to write a string quartet to be performed by the Meadowlark Trio...