Zachary A. Peterson

Zachary A. Peterson enjoys a varied career as a collaborative pianist, higher education administrator, and educator.  He has performed with instrumentalists and singers throughout the United States, most recently with bassoonist Blaire K.S. Koerner, soprano Paulina Swierczek, and trumpeter Jared Wallis.  In 2018 and 2019, Peterson was the collaborative pianist for the Nebraska Music Educators Association All-State Chorus with conductors Z. Randall Stroope and Brady Allred, respectively.  As a collaborative partner, he has participated in the master classes of artists such as Renée Fleming, Matthew Haimovetz, Jake Heggie, Gene Scheer, and Jeffrey Thomas.

As Director of Graduate Advising and Services for the Eastman School of Music, Peterson acts as the primary resource for students regarding issues of graduate programs of study.  In this role, he serves as the program advisor to approximately 300 MM and DMA students, administers all processes regarding change of enrollment status for graduate students, assists the Senior Associate Dean of Graduate Studies with the preparation of graduate awards, coordinates the CARE Network for the Eastman School, oversees the DMA Lecture Recital prize, and liaises with the Valley Manor for the Artist-in-Residence program and the Eastman on East recital series.  Peterson represents the Eastman Graduate Studies Office on several committees across the School and University, including the Eastman Student Support Team (SST), the University Council on Graduate Student Life, the University Council on the Graduate CARE Network, and the University Graduate Student Wellness committee.

An avid Musical Theatre specialist, Peterson co-teaches the Musical Theatre Workshop for the Arthur Satz Department of Music of the University of Rochester and is a pianist for the Lotte Lenya Competition.  He has collaborated with composers, lyricists, and singers on two installments of the Kurt Weill Foundation’s Lotte Lenya Competition Songbook Project, creating recordings of new musical theatre songs that could be used for the Lotte Lenya Competition.  Previous musical theatre engagements include the 2018 NATS National Musical Theatre competition, the Broadway Dreams Foundation’s Circle of Dreams intensive, and numerous musical theatre productions as a keyboardist and music director.

Zachary A. Peterson completed his Master of Music degree in piano accompanying and chamber music under the guidance of Jean Barr at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester.  He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in collaborative piano and voice performance from Hastings College, where he studied with Ruth Moore (collaborative and solo piano) and Hillary Watter (voice).