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Bio
Roger Zare was born in Sarasota, Florida, in 1985. He began playing piano at age 5 and violin at age 11; he started composing at age 14. A graduate of Sarasota’s Pine View School for the Gifted, Roger received his Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the University of Southern California and his Master of Music degree in Composition from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Michigan.
An award-winning composer, Roger has written works for a variety of ensembles, including solo, chamber, choral, and full orchestra works. In early 2005, the New York Youth Symphony commissioned Roger to write an orchestral piece for them as part of their First Music competition. The 65th composer to win this commission, Roger wrote an orchestral composition entitled “The Other Rainbow,” which was premiered in Carnegie Hall in February 2006. In 2007, Roger won a BMI student composer award for his orchestral work, “Green Flash,” and has subsequently been awarded the 2009 ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize and the 2008 American Composers Orchestra Underwood Commission for the same work. Another of Zare's orchestral works, "Aerodynamics," received a 2009 BMI student composer award and was premiered by the Minnesota Orchestra as part of the 2009 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute. Following the premiere of "Time Lapse," Roger's Underwood Commission from the ACO, the New York Times said that Roger possesses "an enviable grasp of orchestration."
During his years at USC’s Thornton School of Music, Roger has studied with Donald Crockett, Tamar Diesendruck, Frederick Lesemann, and Morten Lauridsen. At Peabody, Roger studied with Christopher Theofanidis, David Smooke, and Derek Bermel, and at the University of Michigan, Roger studied with Michael Daugherty and Paul Schoenfield. He is a member of ASCAP, Alpha Delta Lambda honor society, and Pi Kappa Lambda music honor society. Roger is self published.
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Copyright © 2008 by Roger Zare Music, ASCAP