Ivan Chopik is a guitarist, composer, producer, and journalist currently studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He received a scholarship to attend the college and is double-majoring in Guitar Performance and Music Business & Management. Ivan also runs Guitar Messenger, his online music magazine.
Born on May 25th, 1987 in Moscow, Russia, Ivan came from a highly musical background. His mother is a classically trained pianist and music instructor, while his father grew up playing in various bands and introduced him to rock music. Ivan's first formal music studies began in 6th grade when he joined the ensemble at his school (North Broward Preparatory) in South Florida. He received the Most Improved award for his work that year.
The following school year, at age 12, he began to play the guitar after receiving first Fender Stratocaster as a Christmas present. Soon thereafter he joined the school's Jazz Band, which went on to win 1st place at a national competition in Austin, Texas. In addition to being part of the school's music program, he played extensively outside of school, studying on his own, as well as playing in a number of bands. He was greatly inspired by the music of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, attempting to learn how to play various songs by these and other artists. In 9th grade, when he was 14, Ivan received the Highest Achievement award in the school's guitar program.
At the age of 16 Ivan attended the Berklee College of Music 5-Week Summer Performance Program, where he was exposed to more different styles of music and virtuoso guitar playing. Being introduced to classically-inspired metal music marked a new period in Ivan's musical development. This included 10 hour/day practice sessions and intense musical studies. Ivan received a scholarship to return to the same program the following summer, where he was awarded another scholarship, this time to attend Berklee full time starting in Fall 2005.
In Spring 2005, during his final semester of high school, Ivan took part in Guitar Center's Guitarmageddon competition and placed 2nd in the Southeast District.
Ivan graduated from North Broward Preparatory School with high honors and also successfully completed an advanced Computer Science program at IMACS (Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science). During high school he also scored in the 97th percentile of the highest-level version of the National German Exam. Ivan was accepted with scholarships to a number of prestigious universities across the country, and decided to follow a career path in music by continuing his musical studies at Berklee.
Since arriving at Berklee in Fall 2005, Ivan has been involved in numerous session projects and bands of different styles and genres. In Spring 2006, Ivan competed in Guitar Center's King of the Blues Competition winning the first three rounds and becoming a finalist for the Northeast district. During his freshman and sophomore years he formed his metal band - Forte. The group had a distinct sound marked by heavy riffs, progressive odd meters, and always a strong sense of melody. Forte went on to record a 3-song EP in Fall 2006/Spring 2007.
In Spring 2007 Ivan recorded the Calling Out Silence' EP, a collaborative writing effort with two other musicians from Berklee. This project allowed him to display his writing, producing, and playing skills in a more mainstream rock context.
Every year, Berklee selects a handful of its finest guitarists to perform in the Guitar Night Student Showcase, which occurs twice a year first for Jazz/Blues music, and later for Rock/Pop music. During the 2007/2008 academic year, Ivan was one of the few in Berklee history to have been selected to perform in both showcases, and possibly the first to do so in the same year.
Being based in South Florida, Ivan likes to spend his summers playing around local blues venues. He's sat in with artists like Michael Bianco, Albert Castiglia, The Joe Friday Band, JP Soars, and International Blues Challenge winner Joey Gilmore.
In late 2007, Ivan established his company Guitar Messenger, LLC. Guitar Messenger is an online magazine dedicated to music fans of all styles and genres and provides them with in-depth interviews, artist features, interactive lessons, reviews, and information about the music business and its current events. Recent interviews have featured musicians such as Zakk Wylde, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, Al Di Meola, Robert Cray, and Derek Trucks to name a few.
Additional Interests:
In addition to music, Ivan is also an avid ice hockey fan. He's been playing on a competitive level since he was 6 years old. In 2004, he led his high school team as top scorer and Captain. Since arriving at Berklee, Ivan helped organize the college's first athletic program with the creation of the Berklee Ice Cats. Since then the program has grown immensely and team has won the Boylston Cup for two years and now competes in Division III college hockey.
Source : http://www.ivanchopik.com
