Zachery S. Meier
The “beautiful, yet haunting” (The Daily Iowan) music of Ohio-based composer and flutist Zachery S. Meier (b.1992) submerses listeners into textural worlds that explore sonic color, movement, and light. His recent works engage with various experiences of his queer identity and the (de)construction of societal expectations and communal thought. Collaboration and interdisciplinary exchanges are at the core of his compositional practice. His work draws inspiration from diverse sources, from architecture and paintings to political speeches and queer poetry. His recent works have engaged with the poetry of Walt Whitman, the speeches of Harvey Milk, the stained-glass windows of the Sagrada Familia, and the watercolor paintings of Gina Parr.
Meier’s works have been heard in various spaces, from international performances in Canada, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, and Vietnam to domestic performances at the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) National Conference, National Flute Association Conference, Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention, North American Saxophone Alliance’s National and Regional Conferences, International Trombone Festival, International Tuba Euphonium Conference, and the College Music Society’s National and Regional Conferences. His music has been performed by the JACK Quartet, ETHEL (String Quartet), Third Coast Percussion, ARDITTI Quartet, WILD UP, Fifth House Ensemble, LIGAMENT, MadShak Dance Studio (Chicago), the United States Airforce Band, Washington Idaho Symphony, and the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet Symphony.
Meier’s works are published through Cimmaron Music Press, Trevco Music, C. Alan Publications, Lavender Music Publishing, and can be heard on various albums: Crossroads (Centaur Records), ORDO (Neuma Records), Wail (Washington State University Recordings), Unseen/Unheard (Strange Moon Records), and Pages from My Diary (PARMA Recordings). He has also been featured on the Classical Queer podcast with Jacob Caines and Samantha Jane Smith.
Meier currently serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. In addition to music courses, he serves as an affiliate faculty member in the Queer Studies Department. Meier also serves as the Assistant Director of the biennial TUTTI New Arts Festival ¬– an international, interdisciplinary festival that has featured guest composers Daniel Bernard Roumain, Julia Wolfe, and Raven Chacon.
Originally from southern Minnesota, Meier completed his undergraduate studies in flute performance and composition at the University of Minnesota Duluth, his master’s in composition at Washington State University, and his Ph.D. in composition at the University of Iowa, studying with Justin Rubin, Scott Blasco, Ryan Hare, Gregory Yasinitsky, Josh Levine, Sivan Cohen Elias, Jean-François Charles, and David Gompper, respectively. To know more about Meier’s work and his current projects, please visit www.zacherymeiermusic.com.
Research
My music tries to blur the lines between sculpture, abstract painting, and organized sound. Where these three mediums mix, intersect, create dialog, and influence each other is where my current compositional exploration has brought me.
Music and the environment has also been an interest to my work within the last 3 years. I have mediated my exchange with music and the environment through composition on works for large ensemble (wind ensemble) to smaller chamber work (string quartet). The integration of environment as a physical identity had originally inspired superficial elements of structural organization and sonic material, but within my recent work, it has evolved and developed into interacting and creating music based on personal cognition and memory of the environments I visit. This growth has also guided my developed in the sonic material I work with; engaging more with the extended contemporary techniques of instruments as the primary voice in which I explore.
Works
- Hope Will Never Be Silent for flute, alto flute, and piano; Published by ALRY Publications, 2025.
- No Place Like Home for solo piccolo; Published by Theodore Pressor Publishing, 2025.
- Perhaps Not A Work for tenor voice, tuba, and piano; Published by Cimarron Music Press, 2025.
- Old American Songs, vol. 1 arranged for mezzo-soprano and string quartet; Published by Boosey & Hawkes Publishing, 2025.
- Carbon White for solo marimba; Published by C. Alan Publications.
- Azure Roads for tuba and piano; Published by Cimarron Music Press, 2019.
- In A dream for solo basson; Published by TrevCo Music Publishing, 2014.
- Classical Queer Podcast; Identity and Composition, 2024.
- Professional & Community Service / Professional Memberships
- ASCAP, American Composers Forum, College Music Society, National Association of Composers/US, Nation Flute Association, Society of Composers, Inc., Society of Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS).
- Pages From My Diary, PARMA Records; Hope Will Never Be Silent for flute, alto flute, and piano.
- Unseen//Unheard, Strange Moon Records; Through and Between for alto flute and bass flute.
- Wail, Washington State University Recordings; Hush for flute and trombone.
- ORDO, Neuma Records; Sonata Homophobia for flute and electronics.
- Crossroads, Centaur Records; Azure Roads for tuba and piano.
Other
- Commissioned Composer of the Year; Ohio Music Teachers Association, 2025.
- Creative Research Grant Commission; University of Alabama, 2021.