I’m a producer, engineer, and technologist who has spent a lifetime in service of music—and the people who make it.
My foundation is in classical music. Raised in a musical family, I trained at the renowned Tchaikovsky School of Music and earned an MD in Music Theory and Conducting, with advanced study in contemporary classical composition. During college, lectures and performances by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Alfred Schnittke opened the door to contemporary music, while my father introduced me to audio engineering and electronic instruments. Those parallel interests shaped the hybrid musical and technical path I’ve followed ever since.
In my early teens, despite being classically trained, I began my professional career as a touring musician, performing opening sets for new-wave and post-punk bands (The Sugarcubes, Big Country, Everything but the Girl and more). Those years deepened my connection to music production, recording, and studio craft.
After moving to the United States in the early 1990s, I settled on the West Coast and joined the Pro Tools team at Avid (then Digidesign). I contributed to several of the company’s most successful hardware and software products, work that helped earn the team both a Technical Grammy Award and an Oscar. During that period, I also became deeply involved in experimental and alternative music communities, collaborating with artists including Psychic TV, Anna Homler, Wobbly, Thomas Dimuzio, and Xambuca. My work included production, remixes, and releases for labels such as Sleevin Records (UK), MalLabel (US), and The Diamond Lane Records (US/India).
I left Avid in late 2016 after helping bring Dolby Atmos integration to Pro Tools. Beginning in 2018, I spent five years at Antares Audio Technologies, contributing to vocal-processing and music-production tools, including the ongoing evolution of Auto-Tune and other plug-ins that expand what artists can do with the voice.
Today, I am the CEO of FSK Audio, where I build expressive, artist-centered audio tools for modern music makers.
Why This Site Exists
kostacross.com is a home base — a place to see the full picture of my work rather than just one slice of it. Music fans will find the productions and releases. Industry collaborators will find the credits and the track record. And anyone curious about where art and engineering meet will find a case study in doing both, seriously, at the same time.
Thanks for stopping by!
- k