Zach Nicely

He is frequently called as a guest conductor and game music lecturer by ensembles, universities, and conferences across the country. He founded Press Start, a New York orchestra dedicated to programming video game music with classical favorites, where he currently serves as Music Director. Zach was awarded Third Prize from The American Prize in Orchestral Programming for Press Start’s inaugural season. His work also caught the attention of the Mannes School of Music, who recruited him to develop such an ensemble for their pre-college program, the Game Orchestra at Mannes Prep. Zach actively advocates for the artistic programming of video game music. He was invited to lead a panel titled “The Case for VGM in Orchestral Programming” at the 2025 Super MAGFest and 2024 MAGWest conferences. 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. He founded Press Start Publishing to fill the gap of properly licensed sheet music preventing most orchestras from performing this genre of contemporary classical music.