Judith Lang Zaimont

Composer Judith Lang Zaimont (b. 1945) is internationally recognized for her distinctive style, characterized by its expressive strength and dynamism. Many of her 100 works are prize-winning compositions; these include three symphonies, chamber opera, oratorios and cantatas, music for wind ensemble, vocal-chamber pieces with varying accompanying ensembles, a wide variety of chamber works, and solo music for string and wind instruments, piano, organ, and voice.

Zaimont's music is frequently played in the United States (Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center) and abroad; it is published ( MMB Music, Inc., Galaxy/ ECS, Vivace, Jeanné, C. F. Peters, Lyra, Walton) and recorded (Naxos, Albany, Arabesque, Koch, Leonarda, 4-Tay) and commissioned by ensembles and solo performers world-wide.

Zaimont is a distinguished teacher, formerly a member of the faculties of Queens College and Baltimore's Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she was named "Teacher of the Year" in 1985. She held the post of Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at Adelphi University from 1989-91, and from 1992 to 2005 she served as Professor of Composition at the University of Minnesota School of Music, as well as division chair and Scholar of the College of Liberal Arts. Since retiring from full-time college teaching in fall 2005, she continues to be active as clinician, frequent adjudicator and masterclass presenter across the US and abroad.
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Jon Zehnal (b. 1962) attended Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois for two years where he majored in music and studied clarinet and saxophone privately. He continued college level music studies at Barrington College in Barrington, Rhode Island. Mr. Zehnal studied piano privately with Mr. William Han and participated in the college band and choir. He proceeded to Westminster Choir College (now a part of Rider University) in Princeton, New Jersey. Mr. Zehnal majored in Church Music both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

In addition to private vocal studies with Mr. Elem Eley, he studied composition privately with Dr. Stefan Young and Dr. Joel Phillips. Mr. Zehnal was a member of The Westminster Symphonic Choir, The Westminster Singers and The Westminster Choir. He studied choral conducting with Mr. Allen Crowell and Dr. Frauke Hassemann.

One of Mr. Zehnal’s original compositions was chosen for the Westminster Choir College 1994 Commencement as the anthem of the graduating class. This marked the first time a student composition had been used in that ceremony in the institution’s history.

More recently, Mr. Zehnal has served as choir director at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Riverside, Rhode Island and Gethsemane Church (Episcopal) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has also served as section leader and cantor in parishes in northern New Jersey, central Ohio and the Twin Cities area, most notably at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Zehnal was a member of The Gregorian Singers in Minneapolis and The Lancaster Chorale of Lancaster, Ohio. All of these ensembles presented his original compositions in both worship and concert venues.

Mr. Zehnal continues to be active as a singer and composer in the Twin Cities area.

Mark Zuckerman

Mark Zuckerman (b. 1948) had his first public performance at age 11. His formal music studies began at the Juilliard Preparatory Division and continued at the University of Michigan, Bard College, and Princeton University, where he earned a PhD in composition. His teachers included David Epstein, George B. Wilson (U. of M.), Elie Yarden (Bard), and Milton Babbitt, and J. K. Randall (Princeton). Zuckerman has served on the music faculties at Princeton and Columbia Universities, teaching a wide variety of subjects ranging from a popular jazz survey course to graduate courses on esoteric twentieth-century music theory to computer music.

Zuckerman’s music includes works for virtuoso soloists, chamber ensembles, vocalists, strings, orchestra, wind ensemble, and a cappella chorus. His work is recorded on Centaur Records, Phoenix USA, Living Artists, CRI, DGK Records, and YIVO.

Zuckerman’s choral music has been performed and recorded by, among others, the Gregg Smith Singers, Chicago a cappella, and the Goldene Keyt Singers. His collection of Yiddish choral arrangements has been performed internationally by choruses in Toronto, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Istanbul as well as the United States.
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