“Zaki’s Fantasie Deconcertante turned out to be one of the most affecting pieces on the bill, neatly sidestepping the various traps of 12-tone modernism while remaining true to its skewed vision. Obviously written to Zaki’s strengths as a violinist, his sure and supple playing enabled him to both subvert and reinforce the concept of bravura performance.”
~Peter Spencer – NJ Star Ledger
Mark Zaki is a composer and violinist whose work enjoys crossing boundaries. One moment it’s a historically-informed string quartet, the next it’s an electroacoustic performance with live video and interactive electronics. Whether writing for conventional forces, scoring films, or building immersive media environments, his music blurs lines and raises good questions - sometimes with a raised eyebrow.
He’s especially drawn to the intersection of sound, image, and technology, often creating performance spaces that explore identity, perception, and the digital age’s impact on how we see - and hear - ourselves and each other. His aesthetic draws on minimalism, abstraction, visual music, and electroacoustic traditions, though he’s not above incorporating dramatic narrative elements when the moment calls for it.
Mark’s work has been recognized by the International Society of Contemporary Music, Musica Nova (Prague), supported by a Mellon Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and as a Fulbright Scholar to the UK, where he taught and performed at the University of Sheffield.
His music has been featured at venues and festivals around the world, including the NY Philharmonic Biennial, National Sawdust, New Adventures in Sound Art (Toronto), the Visual Music Marathon (NYC/Boston), SEAMUS, the Seoul International Computer Music Festival, Primavera en La Habana (Cuba), Nuit Bleue (France), and the New Music Miami ISCM Festival. Recordings appear on Composers Concordance Records, New Focus Recordings, SEAMUS Records, CEC Records, KSpace, and his own ZAKI Intermedia label.
As a composer and sound designer, Zaki has contributed to over 50 film, television, and theater projects. Notable highlights include the score for Missing Kenley (Terra Incognita Films), The Eyes of Van Gogh - featured by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in honor of the artist's 125th death anniversary - and the Peabody Award-nominated PBS documentary The Political Dr. Seuss.
Mark is Professor of Music at Rutgers University - Camden, where he’s taught since 2008. His scholarly and creative work has been recognized with the Rutgers University Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Research Fellowship, but he’s still trying to figure out how to explain what he does at dinner parties.
He divides his time between Princeton, NJ, and New York City.
He’s especially drawn to the intersection of sound, image, and technology, often creating performance spaces that explore identity, perception, and the digital age’s impact on how we see - and hear - ourselves and each other. His aesthetic draws on minimalism, abstraction, visual music, and electroacoustic traditions, though he’s not above incorporating dramatic narrative elements when the moment calls for it.
Mark’s work has been recognized by the International Society of Contemporary Music, Musica Nova (Prague), supported by a Mellon Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and as a Fulbright Scholar to the UK, where he taught and performed at the University of Sheffield.
His music has been featured at venues and festivals around the world, including the NY Philharmonic Biennial, National Sawdust, New Adventures in Sound Art (Toronto), the Visual Music Marathon (NYC/Boston), SEAMUS, the Seoul International Computer Music Festival, Primavera en La Habana (Cuba), Nuit Bleue (France), and the New Music Miami ISCM Festival. Recordings appear on Composers Concordance Records, New Focus Recordings, SEAMUS Records, CEC Records, KSpace, and his own ZAKI Intermedia label.
As a composer and sound designer, Zaki has contributed to over 50 film, television, and theater projects. Notable highlights include the score for Missing Kenley (Terra Incognita Films), The Eyes of Van Gogh - featured by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in honor of the artist's 125th death anniversary - and the Peabody Award-nominated PBS documentary The Political Dr. Seuss.
Mark is Professor of Music at Rutgers University - Camden, where he’s taught since 2008. His scholarly and creative work has been recognized with the Rutgers University Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Research Fellowship, but he’s still trying to figure out how to explain what he does at dinner parties.
He divides his time between Princeton, NJ, and New York City.
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