MICHAEL ZAPRUDER

 

Short Bio

 

Michael Zapruder writes songs at every scale: for his own voice in small rooms, for records under his own name and with his bands, and for opera singers and chamber musicians on the concert stage. He has made more than a dozen albums, including Pink Thunder, twenty-two songs made from poems by living American poets. He holds a DMA in composition from the University of Texas at Austin and co-directs Tetractys New Music. His new solo album, Ten Forevers, is forthcoming on Howells Transmitter.

 

For presenters and commissioners: composer bio

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Long Bio

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Michael Zapruder writes songs at every scale: for his own voice in small rooms, or records under his own name and with his bands, and for opera singers and chamber musicians on the concert stage.

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Over more than a dozen albums, critics at Pitchfork, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the Village Voice have praised his ambition and songcraft; Pitchfork heard in his folk-pop ballads the voice of Rufus Wainwright and the wordplay of Andrew Bird. His 2009 album Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope won an Independent Music Award. For Pink Thunder (2012) he made twenty-two songs from poems by living American poets, a project the Boston Globe named its Best Poetry Project of the year. Early on, for 52 Songs, he wrote, recorded, and posted a new song every week for a year.

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He has performed across the US, Canada, and Europe, including South by Southwest, Pop Montreal, and the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. His recent work includes the band rrunnerrss, whose 2026 LP KUTX called a heartbreaking exploration of safety and belonging, and Close Calls, a synth-pop project with Jon Bernson. His new solo album, Ten Forevers, is forthcoming on Howells Transmitter, the label he co-founded.

 

A longtime student of how songs work, he spent nearly a decade as Head of Curation at Pandora and has given craft talks on songwriting at NYU’s MFA programs in New York and Paris, the New School, and universities across the country. He also holds a DMA in composition and writes opera; his current opera, Book of Lives, is in development. He lives and works in Austin, Texas, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Press quotes:

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"...“Latecomers” is a singer-songwriter album at its core, but a remarkably creative and sophisticated one, both musically and lyrically." Austin American-Statesman

"Zapruder is a protean composer of sparkling chamber music, innovative operas, and folk-rock songs with a literary attention to detail." Anearful

“…a work of extraordinary merit and historical significance….” Huffington Post

“… reminiscent of everything from Kurt Weill to Elliott Smith…. ” Los Angeles Times

“If Beck’s “The New Pollution” and Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man in Paris” conceived a child, it might sound something like this…” Pitchfork

“…a remarkable effort from a very talented songwriter.” Popmatters

“Masterful.” –AMPLIFIER Magazine

“…there’s just no way to overstate how good this record is… crushingly lovely ….Go get it.” – Performing Songwriter Magazine

“… quiet and haunting…”-Washington Post

“…moody and lovely…” – The Onion

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SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

 

2026 rrunnerrss - rrunnerrss (Howells Transmitter)

2025 Close Calls - Both Side Convenience (Howells Transmitter)

2022 Serious Light (Howells Transmitter)

2020 Latecomers (Howells Transmitter)

2012 Pink Thunder (Black Ocean Books / Kora Records / Howells Transmitter)

2009 Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope (SideCho Records)

2007 Isn’t it Romantic (compilation - Verse Press) 

2006 New Ways of Letting Go (Howells Transmitter) 

2002 This is a Beautiful Town (Ex/Or Records)

1999 52Songs (52Songs)

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EDUCATION

 

2019 DMA in Composition - The University of Texas at Austin 

2014 MA in Composition - California State University East Bay

1996 Undergraduate Music Courses - Laney College

1991 BA Religious Studies (magna cum laude) - Hamilton College

1990 College Year in Nepal - University of Wisconsin Madison

 

COMPOSITION TEACHERS

 

Frank La Rocca

Rafael Hernandez

Yevgeniy Sharlat

Donald Grantham

Russell Pinkston

Nina C. Young

 

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF SELECTED CONCERT WORKS

 

HALFBIRD (2024) - 2 vlns, live electronics

In Light (2019) - Opera for soprano, flute, guitar, percussion and live electronics

In Extremis (2018) - Piano Trio

Free Enterprise for Orchestra (2017) 

Hooptie (2017) - fl., cl., electric guitar, d.b., pno.

Polysong (2017)- fl., cl., bsn., 3 altos, baritone, steel-string guitar, pitch pipes

Golden (2017) Duration: 45 mins.Opera for Pierrot Ensemble + Percussion + Electronics

Element of Blank (2016) 4-channel fixed media

Understory (2016) Guitar trio with electronics

Circle of Light SATB chorus, pitch pipes

Right Brain / Left Brain (2015) Interactive Max/MSP patch, Wiimote, TouchOSC

Ten Preludes for Solo Piano

Tritone Arch for String Quartet (2014) 

How You Found It (2014) tpt., hn., tbn., pno.

Fits (2014) - picc., fl., cl., b. cl., vln., vla., vlc., pno.

Cupcake Music (2013) Pure Data patch + Reactivision. Four toy cupcakes and computer.

Peaceful Tricks (2013) cl., vln., vlc., pno.

 

COMMISSIONS

 

2019 Cohen New Works Festival

2017 Tetractys - Polysong

2017 Cohen New Works Festival - Golden

2016 Texas Performing Arts - Understory

2016 Texas Performing Arts - Element of Blank

2014 Composing in the Wilderness / Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival - How You Found It

2014 Seattle Composers’ Alliance - Tritone Arch

2013 Glenn Glasow Fellowship Commission - Fits

2012 Redshift Ensemble / CSUEB - Peaceful Tricks

 

THEATRICAL PROJECTS

 

2018 Merchant of Venice - Composition and Sound Design

2017 Burden of Joy - Maureen Whiting Dance Company

 

AWARDS AND HONORS

 

2017 Robert Jeffry Womack Endowed Presidential Scholarship, University of Texas at Austin

2016 Robert Jeffry Womack Endowed Presidential Scholarship, University of Texas at Austin

2015 Kent Kennan Graduate Fellowship in Music Composition, University of Texas at Austin

2014 Winner, Seattle Composers’ Alliance International Call for Scores

2013 Glenn Glasow Graduate Fellowship in Composition

2013 Small Press Distribution 100 Best Poetry Projects of the 2010s (for musical project Pink Thunder)

2012 Boston Globe Best Poetry Project of 2012 (for musical project Pink Thunder) 

2009 Independent Music Award, Best Songwriter Album (for Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope)

 

FESTIVALS AND CONFERENCES

 

2014 Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival

2014 San Francisco Writers’ Conference (Musical performance)

2013 TEDx Beacon Street (Musical performance)

2013 Litquake, San Francisco (Musical performance)

2012 Mission Creek Festival (Musical performance)

2012 AWP Festival. Boston (Musical performance)

2012 Sacramento Poetry Center Spring Conference (Musical performance)

2008 Pop Montreal (Musical performance)

2007 South by Southwest (Musical performance)

 

TEACHING

 

2023-present Bradley School of Music, Lafayette, CA - private instructor, guitar, piano, bass, voice, songwriting, composition

2017 University of Texas at Austin - Graduate Teaching Assistant

2014 California State University East Bay - Aural Skills Graduate Teaching Assistant, Sight Singing I, II, III

 

PROFESSIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXPERIENCE

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2023-present Here Be Monsters - founder and co-director

2022-2024 Nue.Life Health - Musicologist

2022-2023 American Compassion Podcast - Composer/Co-producer

2020-2021 See You Now Podcast - Composer

2021-present Tetractys New Music - Co-Director

2017-2019 CLUTCH (UT Composers’ Concert Series) - Coordinator

2004-2013 Pandora Media - Head of Curation

2005-present Howells Transmitter Label - Co-founder and partner

2003 Pandora Media - Music Analyst

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INVITED LECTURES, CRAFT TALKS, AND PANELS

 

2015 UC Santa Barbara – Composition Forum visiting composer 

2014 San Francisco Writers’ Conference (Craft talk, Panel)

2014 San Jose State University Poetry and Song Workshop

2013 New York University MFA in Creative Writing Summer Program in Paris (Craft talk, Performance)

2013 New York University MFA in Creative Writing Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, NYC (Craft talk, Performance)

2013 New York University Gallatin School of Interdisciplinary Studies – Celestial Twins (Panel)

2012 Sacramento Poetry Center Spring Conference (Craft talk)

2012 University of Wyoming, Laramie (Craft talk, Performance)

2010 University of California Riverside (Craft talk)

2008 University of Louisville (Craft talk, Performance)

 

SELECTED PRESS

 

2020 Austin American-Statesman Review of Latecomers

2014 Origins Magazine - Profile and group interview with siblings Matthew and Alexandra Zapruder (authors)

2013 Los Angeles Times - Review, David L. Ulin, A Busload of Poets: Michael Zapruder’s Pink Thunder Interview

2013 Boston Review - Dan Chelotti, Thrilled with the Gifts of Humans

2012 Boston Globe - Michael Andor Brodeur, Best Poetry Projects of 2012

2012 Huffington Post - Seth Abramson, December 2012 Contemporary Poetry Reviews 

2012 San Francisco Bay Guardian - Cover Story – Hi-fidelity Weather

2012 Zyzzyva - Interview

2011 Poetry Society of America - Scott Pinkmountain, Poems Could be Pop

2009 Pitchfork - Review, Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope

2009 Popmatters - Review, Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope

2009 Nightline - Interview

2008 Rolling Stone Magazine - Quoted

2006 SF Weekly - Review, New Ways of Letting Go

2006 Spin.com - Review, New Ways of Letting Go

2006 The Onion - Review, New Ways of Letting Go

2006 Amplifier Magazine - Review, New Ways of Letting Go

2006 Magnet Magazine - Review, New Ways of Letting Go

2006 Los Angeles Times - Review, New Ways of Letting Go

2003 Oregonian - Review, This is a Beautiful Town

2003 Washington Post - Review, This is a Beautiful Town 

2003 Village Voice - Blurb

 

SELECTED PERFORMANCES

 

2017 June 25 – Peaceful Tricks, Density512 Festival

2017 April 11,13 – World Premier, Golden (Opera for Pierrot Ensemble + Percussion + Electronics) Cohen New Works Festival

2016 May 8,9 –World Premiere, Element of Blank, (4-channel media with live dance) Texas Performing Arts Ears Eyes and Feet Concert

2016 April 7 – World Premiere, Understory, Texas Performing Arts Sound in Sculpture Concert

2015 November 4 – Bates Recital Hall, How You Found It

2014 October 21 – World Premiere, Tritone Arch for String Quartet, Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, WA

2014 July 22 – World Premiere, How You Found It, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, Davis Concert Hall, Fairbanks, AK

2013 November 13 - TEDx Beacon Street (Pink Thunder)

2013 July 14 – Barge, The Seine, Paris, France (Pink Thunder)

2013 May 22 - World Premiere, Fits, Glenn Glasow Fellowship Concert, California State University East Bay, Hayward, CA

2013 March 8 – Church of Boston (Pink Thunder)

2012 December 9 – World Premiere, Cupcake Music, California State University Multimedia Lab, Hayward, CA

2012 World Premiere, Peaceful Tricks, Glenn Glasow Fellowship Concert, California State University East Bay, Hayward, CA

2010 Verdi Club, San Francisco, CA

2009 Swedish American Hall, San Francisco, CA

2008 Sunset Tavern, Seattle, WA

2008 Ballatou, Pop Montreal Festival, Montreal, CA

2008 Tishman Auditorium, The New School, New York, NY

2007 Mohawk, South by Southwest Showcase, Austin, TX

2007 Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

2006 Mercury Lounge, New York, NY

2003 Living Room, New York, NY

2000 The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA

1998 The Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA