Ken Pasciak

Ken Pasciak is a guitarist, music theorist and composer and arranger.

Ken’s diverse musical interests have led to roles with ensembles of various styles, ranging from classical to standard jazz and fusion to progressive rock. He is currently a member of the Vermont based tango quintet, Tango Rebellion, specializing in the works of Astor Piazzolla, and member of an eclectic guitar-accordion duo, The Leading Tones Project, which performs a refined blend of various musical styles.

Ken is a graduate of the University of Buffalo and holds degrees in engineering and music. He earned a Master’s degree in music theory from the University of Massachusetts. His thesis, “A Transformational Approach to Japanese Traditional Music of the Edo Period,” develops a novel voice-leading space that yields insights into musical intervallic structure, trichordal transposition and hexachordal voice leading.

In 2019, Ken founded Ken Pasciak Music Publishing, which specializes in original compositions and arrangements for solo guitar and small ensembles with guitar. KPMP features sheet music from a variety of genres, including classical, rock, jazz and tango, and maintains a growing catalog of over 500 items.

As a guitar teacher, Ken believes that students, given the proper musical tools, will not only excel to achieve their performance goals, but can flourish as musicians. Lessons focus on the acquisition and development of playing techniques, music theory as it applies to the guitar, and the application of these to students’ interests, for example, improvisation, fretboard navigation, crafting solos or riffs, and accompanying vocalists and other instrumentalists.