hi, i'm zach.

I am a composer and musician from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania currently living outside Phoenix, Arizona. I play piano, guitar, and drums, and I enjoy writing songs and instrumental music.

When writing, I try to create an emotional musical experience similar to my own experiences of classical, film, rock, and emo music.  I started out transcribing and writing rock songs in high school, and I have since explored writing acoustic and electronic concert music, incidental music for theatre, short film scores, and even music for virtual reality film projects.  As a composition fellow, I have made meaningful connections at the nief-norf Summer Festival, Cortona Sessions for New Music in Tuscany, and Atlantic Music Festival.

I have also presented at regional, national, and international conferences since college and have premiered my piano music in Sweden, Italy, and across the United States.  My degrees are from Lafayette College, where I was a Marquis Scholar, EXCEL Scholar, and Phi Beta Kappa inductee, and Arizona State University, where I was a teaching assistant for music theory and treasurer for Arizona State’s chapter of the Society of Composers, Inc.  My composition teachers have included Rodney Rogers, Kirk O’Riordan, Jody Rockmaker, and Robert Paterson.

At the moment, I get to share my love of music by working at a school of music and teaching piano, which was the instrument that started it all for me. I hope to spark the same fire for art, creativity, and expression in my students that led me to where I am, and who I am, today.