ZACHERY S. MEIER
As a composer-performer, I enjoy collaborating on projects that allow me to do both. This year I was invited to the National Flute Associations yearly convention in Phoenix, AZ to premiere a new work for flute trio, Hireath and perform with the LGBTQ+ Flute choir where they will play Broken Pieces. In 2018, I was recognized by the Daily Iowan for my solo double bass piece, sul, as "beautiful, yet haunting collection of notes and harmonies, produc[ing] a collective shiver within the audience." In 2015, I was recognized for my flute choir piece, Broken Pieces, by Minnesota's Classical Public Radio.
EXPERIENCE
Zachery S. Meier's music has been commissioned and performed by musicians and ensembles from around the United States, Canada, Italy, and Vietnam. His collaborations have come from a variety of solo musicians to full-ensemble works, multi-media projects, scoring for movement, and incidental music for theatre productions. His most most recent commissions include Ex/Body: strike, vibrate, shatter for Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak Dance Company, Music for The Pests by Denison's Theatre Department, and Meraki for Washington State University's Symphonic Wind Ensemble directed by Danh Pham. Other recent commissions include Through & Between for Heather Neuenschwander and Tatianna Cassetta, Hush for Sophia Tegart and Sarah S. Miller, and with this, we begin anew for Jeremy Crawford and David Tayloe, Transfuse for French Horn and Electronics for Anna Marshall, and Azure Roads for Tuba and Piano for Chris Dickey.
Many thanks also go to the ensembles that have given him the opportunity to work with and perform his music: The Ho Chi Minh Ballet Orchestra, Washington Idaho Symphony, Washington State University Wind Ensemble, University of Iowa's Symphony Band, University of Iowa's Center for New Music Ensemble, ETHEL, JACK Quartet, George Mason University Wind Symphony, Cincinnati Conservatory Wind Orchestra, among others.
Meier has received regional and national recognition for his compositions. In 2017, Meier was selected to participate in the National Band Association's Young Composers & Conductors Mentor Project, inviting him to participate in the rehearsal and performance of his wind ensemble work, Reigniere, with the United States Air Force Band. He was also named the 2015 Washington Idaho Symphony Composition/Concerto Competition winner and provided a spotlight artists segment on Minnesota Public Radio's Spotlight Regional Artists Series in 2015.
EDUCATION
Meier holds a BM in Music Theory and Composition from the University of Minnesota Duluth, an MA from Washington State University, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Iowa. Meier currently serves as Visiting Instructor at Denison University in Granville, OH teaching courses in composition, theory, computer music, and queer studies. Zachery credits his wonderful mentors, David Gompper, Josh Levine, Sivan Cohen Elias, Jean-François Charles, Gregory Yasinitsky, Danh Pham, Scott Blasco, Ryan Hare, and Justin Rubin for his achievements in both his music and academic work. He has also had the pleasure of learning and engaging with many respected composers such as Marcos Balter, Amy Williams, Erin Rogers, Pamela Z, Felipe Lara, Natashia Diels, Mark Camphouse, Nathan Daughtrey, Timothy Mahr, Kevin Walczyk, among others.
HONORS AND AFFILIATIONS
In 2021, Zachery was awarded a Denison University research grant to pursue additional adaptations to bowed piano in collaboration with movement artist, Molly Shanahan and her company Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak to be premiered in Chicago in 2023. He is a member of ASCAP, SCI, NFA, and NACUSA. In 2016, Zachery was recognized as a distinguished graduate student for his achievements as a composer, performer, and academic scholarship. Meier was also inducted into the Honorary Tau Beta Sigma National Band Sorority in 2016.
