Zach Nicely

He is frequently called as a guest conductor and game music lecturer by ensembles, universities, and high schools across the country. He founded Press Start, a New York orchestra dedicated to programming video game music with classical favorites. Through his artistic direction, the orchestra presented two thrilling programs pairing Hollow Knight composer Christopher Larkin with Dmitri Shostakovich and Journey composer Austin Wintory with Samuel Barber.
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Zach was recruited by Mannes School of Music to develop such an ensemble for their pre-college program, establishing the Game Orchestra at Mannes Prep. His essay “Video Game Music: A Connection Beyond the Controller” was published in the Lexia Undergraduate Journal in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication by the first unanimous vote of the journal’s editorial committee.