The music of composer and pianist Zackery Wilson (b. 1986) includes a wide range of works of both classical (i.e. orchestral, chamber, solo, and electronic) and of popular (i.e. film, television, and video game) musical traditions.
Raised in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, Wilson began his composition studies at West Virginia University (B.M., 2008) and later received his Master’s degree (M.M., 2010) and his doctorate (D.M.A., 2015) at the University of Texas at Austin. Wilson has studied piano with the late Christine Kefferstan and composition with Dan Welcher, Russell Pinkston, Yevgeniy Sharlat, David Taddie, and John Beall.
Wilson’s works have been presented by many ensembles including the Miró Quartet, the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet and Henry Kelder, the Zenith Quintet, the Sarasvati Trio, the UT New Music Ensemble, the WVU Symphony Orchestra, and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra; and festivals including Electric LaTex (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012), Electronic Music Midwest (2010), GAMMA-UT (2009, 2011, 2013), ICMC/SMC (2011, 2014, 2017), the SEAMUS National Conference (2011, 2014, 2016), and the Boston International Contempo Festival (2014). Additionally, Wilson has composed music for various exhibitions and installations, including the Intel Keynote at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) [2016] (Las Vegas, NV), the 2016 Intel 360° Keynote (Anaheim, CA), NBC’s America’s Got Talent [Season 12] (Los Angeles, CA), and Nokia Bell Labs Future Earths [2018-2019] (New York City, NY).
Major awards in composition include the 2009 Templeton Symposium Competition award, ASCAP/SEAMUS Student Commission Competition Finalist (2011), ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award Finalist (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016), 1st Place in the College/University division of the 2013 DSO/VOC Texas Young Composers Project, 2014 International Composers’ Competition “Festival Award” (Boston International Contempo Festival), and “Second Prize” in the 2nd International Alkema Composition Contest (IACC). Additionally, Wilson’s string quartet A Soul Still Yearns (2009) was selected for publication in the 2013 PARMA Recordings Anthology of Music.
In addition to his role within academia, Wilson is an active member of the video game music community, having released music (e.g. original video game soundtracks, remixes, etc.) on various digital fusion and video game inspired music net labels including Ubiktune, STAFFcirc, and Chiptunes=WIN.
