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musicians

Andy Milas

Guitar

Before Esthema came to be, I had toyed around with the idea of starting a project like this for years. The idea of bringing the various musical styles that had shaped me into the musician that I was, was something that intrigued me immensely.

I had been performing in a traditional and contemporary Greek music ensemble for over 20 years when I finally started writing the compositions that would make-up Esthema's 2007 release, Apart From The Rest. Through ads, friends and my network of musicians, Esthema was formed in 2006. Since then, we have found creative ways to fuse progressive rock and metal with jazz and the music from Greece and Turkey (and other countries in the region). All the while, on acoustic instruments with strong melodies, dynamic arrangements, and individuals that come from backgrounds as varied as the music we are creating.

In 2019, some of the musicians and bands that I draw inspiration from are Jim Matheos (Fates Warning, OSI, Tuesaday The Sky), Riverside, Soen, Opeth, Al DiMeola World Sinfonia, Avishai Cohen, and Dhafer Youssef.

For Esthema, I mainly use a Taylor 814 CE and Godin A6 Ultra through a Hughes & Kettner ERA 2 Acoustic Amp and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

andy@esthema.com

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Onur Dilisen

Violin

Onur was born on March 26, 1981 in Izmir, Turkey. His education on the violin began in September 1994 in Izmir. In January 2002, he moved to his mother’s and stepfather’s home in Boston, Massachusetts to pursue his violin studies at the Valeria Kuchment's studio at the Longy School of Music.

Onur earned his undergraduate degree in May 2005 and after completing his GPD and Master's degree at the Irina Muresanu and Lynn Chang's studios, Onur graduated from the Boston Conservatory in May 2009. Now, he is a free-lance violinist, teaching and playing in various local orchestras and recording sessions. In the summer of 2009, he became a member of Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to classical music, Onur enjoys and performs many other styles of music: Blues, Latin, Jazz, Rock, Metal, Greek, and Turkish/Middle Eastern. Violin being his main instrument, Onur also plays viola, piano, drums, bass guitar, and guitar.

Onur enjoys playing in Esthema and views it as a great opportunity for him to develop his artistry.

onur@esthema.com

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Mac Ritchey

Oud & Bouzouki

Once referred to as a "musical Swiss Army knife", multi-instrumentalist Mac Ritchey brings a diverse palette of sounds and skills to both performance stage and recording studio. He has studied Turkish and Armenian music traditions extensively and was a student of the late Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian, as well as studying with Brahim Fribgane (Hassan Hakmoun, Club d'Elf) and Mal Barsamian.

Ritchey is a prolific composer and a member of the music groups 35th Parallel, Esthema, Dunham Shoe Factory, and The Response. He has toured the US over the past two decades, and has performed and taught makam music theory in Freiburg Germany at the Tamburi Mundi International Frame Drum Festival.

Mac's musical interests go behind the scenes as well as the proprietor of Possum Hall Studios in Carlisle MA, a small rural town just outside of Boston. As a music producer and audio engineer, his work has been met with great acclaim. Most notably, the full-length album release "Alluvia" (Evren Ozan) was the winner of The 2008 Native American Music Awards: Best Instrumental Album Of The Year and was on the Grammy entry list in two categories.

Other studio production work has reached audiences in many ways, such as MTV "The Real World", New Hampshire Public Radio, The National Holocaust Museum and their podcast "Voices On Anti-Semitism" (35th Parallel), a number of independent film soundtracks, and even the daytime soap opera "All My Children."

Mac currently lives in Carlisle MA and works tirelessly at keeping the deer from eating his vegetable garden.

For more information about Mac, please visit possumhall.com

mac@esthema.com

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Tom Martin

Bass

Solid, feel, pocket, and ears. These are the words Tom recalls hearing most from other musicians about his playing. Over the last 15 years his solid pocket, strong ears, and strong work ethic has earned his reputation as a premier bassist and first call sideman.

Tom has a theory that people are like musical notes. Each has their own frequency and there are limited frequencies. Putting those frequencies together creates a chord and each person affects the overall "tone" of the group. Though a rhythm person at heart, Tom thrives on harmony and the possibilities different people can create. Pursuing the possibilities is what Tom enjoys about making music.

For complete bio and history visit www.onthebass.com

tom@esthema.com

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George Lernis

Drums & Percussion

George Lernis was born on July 15th 1980 in Cyprus. At the age of 13 he started attending drum private lessons. In addition from a very young age George became interested in hand percussion. He currently plays a number of percussion instruments, such as; Riq, Hadjira, Kanjira, Frame drums, Darbuka, Pandeiro, Conga, Timpani and Marimba.

By the age of 15 George was playing music with several bands in the styles of jazz, rock and world music. In 1998 George joined the Cypriot Army Force where he eventually became a member of the military band playing drums and snare drum.

In 2001 he came to the United States to study music at Berklee College of Music. Throughout his studies George attended private lessons with musicians like John Hazilla, John Ramsay, Kenwood Dennard, Dave DiCenso, Mark Walker, Dave Samuels and Gary Chaffee. He graduated on April 2005 with a Bachelor degree in Jazz Performance.

In Boston, George has performed in venues such as Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, LilyPad, MIT Kresge Little Theater, Zero Arrow Theater, Tsai performance center and many more.

George recently graduated from Longy School of Music with his masters’ degree in Modern American Music. Throughout his studies at Longy George attended private lessons with drummer Bob Gullotti. Currently George is working on a new project with the George Lernis Quartet, which includes original compositions in the style of Avant Garde.

For more information about George, please visit www.georgelernis.com

george@esthema.com

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