About Me
Richard Zarou, a native of Centreville,Virginia, is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. Currently a Doctoral candidate at Florida State University, his education includes a Master’s degree in composition from Florida State University and a Bachelor’s degree in composition from Shenandoah University. His primary composition teachers include William Averitt, Ladislav Kubik, Mark Wingate, and Clifton Callender. He has also participated in master classes and lessons and with Ellen Taaeffe Zwillich, Chen Yi, Michael Torke, Martin Bresnick, Russell Pinkston, and John Anthony Lennon.
Richard has written over forty-five compositions including chamber music, orchestral works, and 5.1 surround sound studio pieces. He has also composed the music for 12 films, including the feature-length documentary Breaking the Silence. His works have earned many performances throughout the U.S. and garnered numerous awards, among them the New Music @ East Carolina University competition in 2002 for Fragile Wraths and again in 2003 for Upon a Child. A lullaby for women’s chorus, Upon a Child has been performed multiple times since its premier at the Kennedy Center of Washington, DC in 2002. In 2005, The Smell of Wet Dogs After a Summertime Rain, for bass trombone and CD, was commissioned by Gold Branch Music, Inc. and performed at thirteen universities in the southern United States. Aaron Misenheimer recorded the piece in 2006 as the title work for a commercial CD. Richard recently completed a collaborative work with choreographer Aline Wachsmuth of Florida State University titled Ad Vitam Aeternam. He is a founding member of CHASM, a Florida State student group dedicated to promoting new student works through festival performances.
Photograph for "Ad Vitam Aeternam" by Matthew Horick
Photograph for "Fragile Wraths" by Luis Vicaria
