Zaq is an artist of many mediums, originally from Philadelphia, who is making waves in the New York City music and theater scenes. Zaq’s music has been read and performed in the United States, Australia, and Europe by notable artists such as JACK Quartet, the Arditti Quartet, the Atlantic Music Festival Resident Artists and celebrated pianist, Andrey Telkov. Zaq’s music has been described as “engaging, formally coherent, and exciting at the same time”—they are perhaps best known for their theatrical/linguistic collaborations, most notably with poet/lyricist Caroline Fresh (Green) and Ramya Ramana, author and 2014 New York City Youth Poet Laureate (bodies).

In addition to their work as composer, Zaq has thirteen years of experience in different aspects of theater and performance having written a musical with a friend at age 12. Most recently, they appeared as an understudy in the Walnut Street Theater's production of Holiday Inn and premiered a scene from their electronic-opera, blakCat, in May of 2018. They are currently the Music Production Specialist and Theater Arts Director at the Harlem Children's Zone, Cornerstone Programs and they are the founder of validBodies arts project, a performance-production company specializing in the mobilization of underrepresented voices.

They hold a Bachelor of Music degree from Ithaca College in Composition and Voice and a Master of Arts degree from Colorado State University.

*Zaq uses both they/them/their and he/him/his pronouns.