Zachary Detrick
Zachary Detrick, composer, had his first premiere at Merkin Concert Hall at age 4. He began his composition studies with Daniel Ott at the Juilliard School. As a 5th grader he was mentored by Brad Balliett while writing Divertimento on “A Mad Tea Party” for the Metropolis Ensemble, directed by Andrew Cyr. His pieces have been premiered by ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), Ensemble Dal Niente, ACJW Ensemble, DZ4, Yarn/Wire, Face the Music, PubliQuartet, loadbang, Contemporaneous, PhiloSonia, American Modern Ensemble, and Four Corners Ensemble. Performance venues have included the National Opera Center, South Oxford Space, Tenri Cultural Institute, Le Poisson Rouge, Symphony Space, Queens Museum, WTC Memorial Plaza and the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center. In 2014, a portion of his Beyond Outer was heard on NPR’s All Things Considered as part of an interview highlighting pieces to be performed during the very first NY Phil Biennial. Notably, Detrick was contacted by the New York Philharmonic to write Puck’s Fantasy, which they performed in March 2015 under the direction of Courtney Lewis.
As a performer, Detrick was featured as a percussionist in Nina C. Young’s Traced Upon Cinders at Merkin Concert Hall, in Clunker Concerto with Face the Music in 2018, with Contemporaneous and Bang On A Can on the album of Jeffrey Brooks' The Passion, and with the Purchase Symphony Orchestra. As piano soloist, he has premiered works by composers Arturo Salinas, Hillary Kruh, and Max Eidinoff. In April of 2019, he performed George Crumb's A Little Suite for Christmas in a piano masterclass with new-music legend Ursula Oppens. In February 2023, he accompanied soloist Rahzé Cheatham in a performance at the Walters Art Museum. Detrick has also sang with the Peabody Hopkins Conservatory Choir.
While at Juilliard, Detrick collaborated with Philip Sheegog on Three Riddles for Solo Cello (2018), with soprano Lydia Grace Goldie on Alice Songs (2019), with tubist Deandre Desir on Sonata for Tuba and Piano (2021), and with violist James Chanha Kang on A Dragonfly's Dream for dulcimer and viola (2021). His A Short Symphony was read by the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of Jeffrey Milarsky (2019). In the 2019 season of Choreographers and Composers, he worked with choreographer Todd Baker on organic prototypes. In 2021, Detrick's opera Juvenilia, a collaboration with playwright Margot Connolly, had its first scene workshopped and performed at OperaLab. At Peabody, Detrick wrote Loon Lake for a composer's collaboration with the Brad Balliett bassoon studio (2023). Detrick's Scorpion Ballet was performed by the American Modern Ensemble at Mostly Modern Festival 2022. Detrick orchestrated his opera Juvenilia for the Four Corners Ensemble for a performance at Sacramento State University as part of Operation Opera 2023.
In 2020, Detrick formed a virtual band to record his own compositions called The Filibuster Saloon. With the addition of brothers Ben and Quinn Coniguliaro, the band has caused quite a buzz on the progressive rock scene. The band can be heard regularly on The Other Rock Show, a London-based weekly show hosted by Marina Organ. The band's first release, Going Off Topic, garnered rave reviews worldwide. Detrick is currently finishing his Master's in Composition at Peabody.