Zach

I’m a highly experience freelance professional composer-performer, curator, and teacher. I hold degrees from Leeds College of Music (BA Hons in Classical Music) studying as a trumpet player and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (Masters in Composition) studying as a composer and reader in music. I am a current PhD candidate studying at University of Birmingham with cross-institutional support from De Montfort University, Leicester funded by AHRC’s Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership. I am also Co-founder, Curator, and Project Manager Post-Paradise Series, a new music concert series supporting composers and producing projects funded by Arts Council England, RVW Trust and Hinrichsen Foundation.

I have previously received commissions from established music organisations throughout the UK and Europe such as Ensemble Klang, Orkest de Ereprijs, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Post-Paradise Series (through organisations such as NMC Recordings), Roderick Williams and the Coull Quartet, Ensemble Decibel, and The Schubert Ensemble. My music has been broadcast on radio in Prague and I have performed my own work in venues and at festivals such as The Orgelpark (Amsterdam), Royal Birmingham Frontiers Festival, Ideas of Noise Festival, Supersonic Festival, Centrala Art Gallery, Stryx Art Gallery, and Eastside Projects. I also run a new music organisation called Post-Paradise Series where I manage projects of live music events funded by Arts Council England, RVW Trust and Hinrichsen Foundation. I have extensive experience working for various arts organisation in Birmingham (Eastside Projects, Birmingham Big Art Project, Arts Council England) and as a project manager and producer. I perform my work in an electronic music duo (7Balcony) and play trumpet in a variety of musical settings including; experimental theatre and opera, orchestras, and chamber groups.

Availability: I freelance as a musician, producer and curator so my schedule is fairly flexible. However, I generally keep my teaching to Thursdays and Fridays currently.

Willing to travel: 3 miles

Experience: Composition, Music & Music Technology, Music Theory:

I am equally able to teach and work with students interested in writing notated and instrumental music as well as those exploring electroacoustic or music using electronic means and techniques. I have extensive experience using software such as Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Reaper, Cubase, and Sibelius, having previously taught composition students on such programmes privately and in one of Birmingham’s leading primary schools. I am also well-equipped in teaching music theory to beginner and intermediate students. I have an in-depth knowledge of western classical music, with particular interests in renaissance and baroque periods, through years of working and performing as a trumpet player, composer and reader of music. I am equally well-read in current compositional practices and techniques in the 21st CenturyI can transfer the knowledge I’ve gained from years of research to teaching students experimenting with a variety of approaches and have the ability to clearly articulate aesthetic and technical aspects of a wide range of music.

Trumpet: I have extensive experience teaching trumpet to students of various ages and abilities, having previously taught trumpet in schools and to private students across Birmingham. I believe it is crucial to engage with students from the very first lesson, showing true enthusiasm and personality. I am hugely passionate about my work and feel this energy and drive comes across in my teaching. I can easily adapt my teaching style depending on ability and musical experience and I am always quick to understand exactly what a student wants to get out of the learning experience. I apply a simple and straight forward approach to teaching trumpet. I focus on fundamental principles that are intrinsic to an early development of technique, ensuring students are able to maximise their concentration and really understand their actions in order for them to grasp exactly how they’re able to produce sound.

When teaching a student with no musical experience I avoid using confusing musical jargon. I have found simple language and analogies to be a useful tool when trying to explain a complex technical term like structure and I am able to break down theoretical aspects of composing in a very clear and simple way.

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