Production /
Composition

Biography

Panagiotis Peter Valsamis studied composition at Mills College under Pauline Oliveros, and electroacoustic composition with Kevin Austin at Concordia University in Montréal. His compositional language draws on West African polyrhythm, Balinese interlocking patterns, and electronic processing, tools developed through performance rather than transcription.

He scored silent films for Kino Lorber, including Wonder Dogs, Vitagraph Comedies, Sign of the Claw, The Bellhop, and The Haunted Rocker. Earlier concert works include original scores for choreographers Molissa Fenley (Wind Trails, Theater Artaud, San Francisco, 1999) and June Watanabe (Still Moving, Theater Artaud, 1999-2000). Trance Mission, with Beth Custer (clarinets) and Stephen Kent (didgeridoo), occupied the intersection of world music, free jazz, and ambient composition, releasing records on City of Tribes and Zoë/Rounder. He joined the ensemble in 1997.

He served as Lead Audio Designer IV at International Game Technology (IGT) from 2005 to 2024, building the sonic identity for major franchises under strict commercial deadlines: Transformers, Star Trek, Battleship, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, The Price Is Right. Before IGT: WagerWorks (Lead Audio Designer, 2001-2005) and Silicon Gaming (Audio Designer, 1999-2001). Freelance clients have included World Golf Tour, American Gaming Technology, Hasbro, Sega, Macromedia, and Diamond Game.

As re-recording mixer and music producer, he produced, edited, and mixed the score for The Wonder and the Worry (Oregon State University, 2024) alongside composer Dana Reason. Additional mixing credits include Jarboe: Live in NYC. His sound design for Channels of Recognition (dir. Chen-Wei Liu) won Best Sound Design at the UCLA Festival of New Creative Work, 2010. Since leaving IGT in February 2024, he has focused on composition, live performance, and independent production work.