Zerang, Michael

 

 

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Michael Zerang is a composer, percussionist and performance artist. He has been commissioned to write over 90 musical/sound compositions in collaboration with choreographers, theater companies, performance artists, new music ensembles, and film & video makers. He has co-founded and performed with Broken Wire, The Neutrino Orchestra, Trio Troppo, The Wonderfuls, The Blue Angels, Pappas New Instrument Ensemble, Frozen Lucy, The Quirt Quintet, Musica Menta, The Vandermark Quartet, Dream Cheese, The Sputter Ensemble, and Liof Munimula. In addition to these ensembles, Zerang has performed with many innovative musicians including AACM co-founder Fred Anderson, Mats Gustafsson, Evan Parker, Barre Phillips, Jim Baker, Hamid Drake, Glen Velez, Gene Coleman, and David Rothenberg. He has recorded for Okka Disk, Southport, Quinnah, Eighth Day Music, Garlic, and Platypus, labels as well as many others. Zerang has taught as a guest artist at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in performance technique and sound design as it relates to puppetry; rhythmic analysis for dancers at The Dance Center of Columbia College and Northwestern University, courses in Composer - Choreographer Collaborations at Northwestern University, and music to children at The Jane Adams Hull House. He has held workshops in Improvisational music, and extended vocal techniques. He teaches private lessons in rhythmic analysis, music composition, and percussion technique. Zerang founded the Link's Hall Performance Series in November 1985 and functioned as artistic director until 1989. Link's Hall continues to present experimental music, modern dance, traditional ethnic folk music, poetry and fiction readings, and performance art events. He also curated events at Club Lower Link's, a venue for experimental arts in Chicago from 1987-1989. Currently he curates experimental music programming at Urbus Orbis Theater. In 1995 Zerang received a grant from The Chicago Artists International Program and traveled to Stockholm to perform and record with some of Sweden's most innovative musicians. He has also received grants from The Illinois Arts Council, The Chicago Office of Fine Arts, Arts Midwest, and The Regional Artist Project Grant administered by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1996 Zerang received a Joseph Jefferson Citation for original music composition for his work on Red Moon Theaters mask and puppet version of FRANKENSTEIN that premiered at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago. 1