Paul Zonn

Biography

Born in Boston on 16 January 1938, Paul Martin Zonn spent most of his youth in Miami, Fla., where an astute band director gave him a copy of Paul Hindemith's book on music composition.  Already busy playing in Miami Beach clubs, Zonn attended the University of Miami on scholarship and later studied clarinet in Baltimore and New York and earned advanced degrees from the University of Iowa.  Internationally acclaimed as an innvator in composition and clarinet, Zonn was respected and admired by a diverse and distinguished circle of friends and colleagues.  He appeared on stage as clarinet soloist at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, and Ravinia, and with the Lenox String Quartet, country music great Vince Gill, the Miami Philharmonic, the Nashville Jug Band, and the New Orleans Eagle Band.  Zonn taught at Grinnell College (1967-70) and at the University of Illinois (1970-1997), where he headed the Theory and Composition Division and led the Contemporary Chamber Players.  Zonn received honors and awards from the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, New York Composers Forum, the Berkshire Music Center, and the Fromm Foundation.  He was perhaps most pleased to have been named a Distinguished Alumnus of his alma mater, the University of Miami, in 1998.  Paul Martin Zonn died on 8 December 2000 after a long illness.  His papers are deposited at The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois. 

 

Heralded as an innovator both in composition and in clarinet performance, his musical influences and interests were diverse:

He appeared on stage as clarinet soloist at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood and Ravinia, and with many different styles of musical artists that include the Lenox String Quartet, country music great Vince Gill, the Miami Philharmonic, the Nashville Jug Band, and the New Orleans Eagle Band

He played mandolin at Lincoln Center and the Library of Congress with Julliard Quartet cellist Joel Krosnick.

He played saxophone and slide saxophone in performances and recordings of avant-garde jazz with Anthony Braxton, and was on stage with the Tennessee Dance Theatre and at Opryland playing traditional jazz.

He toured and recorded with fiddle legend Vassar Clements.

In writing about Paul Martin Zonn's music the press has been uniformly exuberant:

"Stretching the definition of music beyond Mozart's wildest dream..." - Colorado Journal

"Composes with virtuousity..." - The New Record.

"Robust enthusiasm, jazz-like passages and expanded tonal resources..." - Las Vegas Sun.

"Compositional standout..." - Chicago Tribune

"New sounds and experiences that evoke images of space and computers..." - Woodwind-Brass-Percussion World

"Inevitably mixed with surprise..." - Clarinet Magazine

"Deliciously artful..." - Musical America

 

 

Zonn was the recipient of numerous awards and honors including:

Three Ford Foundation Fellowships
A New York Composers' Forum
A Rockefeller Fellowship to the Center for Creative and Performing Arts at SUNY Buffalo
Two awards from the National Endowment for the Arts
An ACA/CRI recording award
A Berkshire Music Center Fellowship
A Fromm Fellowship
Appointments to the University of Illinois Center for Advanced Study
Several awards from the University of Illinois Research Board
Named Composer of the Year in 1992 by the Tennessee Music Teachers' Association
Named Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Miami in 1998

ACE Publications

89 title(s)
Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
Paul Zonn BEYOND DANCING Bass Clarinet and Piano
Paul Zonn THREE AMERICAN DANCES
Oboe, Clar/Sax, viola, mandolin, guitar, accordion
Paul Zonn VICTORY CELEBRATION FANFARE
orchestra
Paul Zonn TENNESSEE SECRETS fl, ob, cl, mandolin quartet, horn, perc/vib 2 vln, vla, vcl, cb
mandolin quartet and chamber orchestra
Paul Zonn ULTIMATE NIMBUS 3 Clarinets (E-Flat, B-Flat, and Bass)
Paul Zonn ONE BY ONE THE PHANTOMS GO cl, pf
Paul Zonn MIDNIGHT SECRETS Soprano Saxophone, Violin, Viola, and Cello
Paul Zonn ONLY THE WIND band: 2-1-eh-1-bcl-2, 4-3-3-1, timp, perc
Paul Zonn DESMOND DREAM Alto Saxophone and Piano
Paul Zonn RIVER DAWN Orchestra
2222, 4331, timp, perc(3), strings
Paul Zonn IN THE MIDST Cello and Vibraphone
Paul Zonn STRING QUARTET NO. 5
Paul Zonn MOBILES AND LOOPS
trombone quartet
Paul Zonn NIMBUS II
fl, bsclar, contrabass
Paul Zonn NIMBUS I
fl, clar, bass
Paul Zonn MEMORIES OF YOU vln
Paul Zonn SET FOR VIOLIN (Elegy for Paul Rolland - Memories of You) solo violin
Paul Zonn THOSE (NEVER-ENDING) MEMORIES
ob, vln, cb, guit, perc
Paul Zonn LET THE DANCING BEGIN
seven performers
Paul Zonn CONCERTINO FOR HORN AND 6 PLAYERS hn solo, ob, bcl, perc, hp, vln, cb
Paul Zonn FIVE CHROMATIC FANTASIAS Clarinet, Violin, and Piano
Paul Zonn CONCERTINO FOR HORN AND 6 PLAYERS hn solo, ob, bcl, perc, hp, vln, cb
Paul Zonn TWO ANTIPHONAL MOVEMENTS
trumpets, cornets, and flugelhorns
Paul Zonn SOMEWHERE BETWEEN
fl (4), hn, tpt, tbn, elec guit, perc, vln, vla, vc, cb
Paul Zonn YODELING IN THE GULLY
at least 3 players of different instruments

Additional Works