Faculty

Jazz pianist and composer Peter Zak has been performing and recording for more than twenty years, both as a sideman and bandleader. His credits include George Coleman, Jimmy Cobb, Ryan Kisor, Peter Bernstein, Eddie Henderson, Eric Alexander, Walt Weiskopf and Jon Hendricks, among many others. His eleven albums as a leader, including his latest recording, “Standards,” have earned consistent praise from publications such as DownBeat, JazzTimes, Financial Times, Jazz Journal, and the New York Times. As a composer, his awards include a $10,000 jazz chamber music commission from the Doris Duke Foundation, which he performed both at Smoke Jazz Club and the Jazz Gallery in New York, with drummer Al Foster, and bassist Paul Gill. He has played with various groups at every major jazz venue in New York City, including the Village Vanguard, the Blue Note, and the Jazz Standard; his current trio performs in New York, around the U.S. and at festivals and concerts internationally. He has been teaching at the New School since 1995.