Zachary Good

Visiting Assistant Professor of Clarinet Woodwind Area Coordinator

Zachary Good is a multifaceted clarinetist, chamber musician, composer and educator based in Chicago. He is the clarinetist of the sextet Eighth Blackbird, a member of Ensemble Dal Niente, and a founding co-artistic director and member of the eccentric performance collective Mocrep. He is a frequent guest with Music of the Baroque Chicago, Present Music Milwaukee, International Contemporary Ensemble and the puppet company Manual Cinema. As an improviser, he performs and records with the trio ZRL and the quintet Honestly Same, as well as regularly appearing on improvised music series throughout Chicago. His discography includes releases on Cedille Records, Moon Glyph Records, American Dreams Records, Carrier Records, No Index, Homeroom, Parlour Tapes+, ears&eyes and his own record label Add Dye Editions. 

As a composer, Zachary explores contrapuntal possibilities on the soprano clarinet with small–interval multiphonics (“close dyads” or double stops), creating the illusion of multiple clarinetists playing simultaneously. His music is quietly virtuosic, inspired by the intricacies of the clarinet and a love for Baroque nuance and form. As an arranger, Zachary’s Style Brisé project (2017–present) is an ongoing series of French Baroque harpsichord preludes arranged for bass clarinet, including preludes by Élisabeth de La Guerre, Louis and François Couperin, and Gaspard Le Roux. As a collaborator, Zachary enjoys working closely with composers to bring new work to life, having premiered over 150 compositions to date. While a fellow and regular member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 2014–2016, he developed the Orchestra's New Music Workshop, which continues today as the orchestra’s semi-annual Call for Scores.

He serves as the visiting assistant professor of clarinet at NIU, instructor of clarinet at Harper College, and a woodwind chamber music coach with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. Alongside the musicians of Eighth Blackbird, he was visiting instructor at the University of Richmond. In 2018, he collaborated with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma at the Youth Music Culture Guangdong Festival in Guangzhou, China as a teaching fellow, mentoring young musicians from around the world. Previously, he served as a middle school band director at the Chicago Waldorf School from 2015 to 2021. 

Zachary is a graduate of Northwestern University (DMA), Oberlin Conservatory and DePaul University. His teachers include Steve Cohen, Larry Combs, Richard Hawkins, Kathryn Montoya, Eric Nelson, Ron Samuels and Steve Williamson. He is the recipient of the 2021 Luminarts Classical Winds Fellowship. Zachary has participated in fellowships with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Aspen Contemporary Music program. Zachary is a D’Addario Woodwinds Artist.

For further information, visit Zachary's personal website.