Born in Piraeus, Greece, Sotiris Melissis studied education, music theory, intervalics and music composition in Greece and in the US with Nikos Kypourgos, Demetrios Minakakis at Atheneum Conservatory , Demetrios Lekkas, Justin Dello Joio, at NYU and David Del Tredici at City College of New York. He completed his doctorate with Ladislav Kubik at FSU. He was also engaged in teaching music at Conservatories, public schools, and Universities. He has composed chamber music, and music for orchestra, theater, and short movies.