Ian Zook, Assistant Professor
Ian Zook is an active orchestral and solo performer and has appeared in concerts throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He joined the faculty of James Madison University in 2009 and performs frequently with the Madison Brass and Montpelier Winds, both faculty ensembles in-residence at James Madison University. As soloist he has performed with numerous ensembles including the JMU Brass Band at the Kennedy Center, the Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra, the Virginia Baroque Consort, and most recently the Chamber Orchestra of Charlottesville in performances of Benjamin Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings.
Mr. Zook's orchestral experience is extensive and has included positions with the Princeton and Haddonfield Symphony Orchestras, and performances as a substitute musician with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Harrisburg, Richmond, Delaware, and Vermont Symphonies. He has performed under many of the the world's premiere conductors including Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Neemi Järvi, Michael Tilson Thomas, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Osmo Vänskä, David Zinman, Leonard Slatkin, James Conlon, and David Robertson.
Having also attended numerous international music festivals, he performed concerts on tour with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra for the Festival del Sole in California, Italy, and Switzerland. These programs featured solo appearances from artists including Joshua Bell, Pinchas Zuckerman, Mishca Maisky, and Barbara Bonney. He also performed with the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland on internationally broadcasted concerts under conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Mikhail Pletnev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Manfred Honeck.
Additionally, Mr. Zook toured as principal horn of the Pacific Music Festival in Japan under the baton of Valery Gergiev with concerts in Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo. He performed alongside principals members of the Vienna Philharmonic in both orchestral and chamber music, and also worked with principal musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Previously on faculty at University of Virginia from 2007-1010, he served as principal horn of the Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra and performed with the Albemarle Ensemble, the faculty woodwind quintet.
A proponent of period-instrument performance, he has played natural horn with the New York Collegium and the Washington Bach Consort. Mr. Zook was also a featured performer at the 2005 Northeast Horn Workshop playing trompe de chasse.
Mr. Zook holds degrees from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan, and is a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University. Additional experience was garnered performing both orchestral and chamber music at the National Orchestral Institute, Sarasota Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. During the summers he teaches at the JMU Summer Band Camp and the Reveille! Music Festival in Vermont.
Email: zookir@jmu.edu
Office: 540.568.3855
