Suzanne Zak

Suzanne Zak was born in Saratoga Springs, NY and currently resides near Doylestown PA, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Zak received her B.S. in Music Education from Cairn University and her M.M. in piano performance from SUNY Purchase. She completed her doctorate in Music and Music Education at Columbia University, Teachers College 2015. Trained as a concert pianist, she studied with renowned Russian pianists Vladimir Feltsman, Alexander Slobodyanik and Paul Ostrovsky at the Summer Institutes at SUNY New Paltz and continues to study with Edmund Arkus in New York City. As a music educator, Zak specializes in higher education E-learning, teaching online music at and Adelphi University. Her dissertation, Exploring the Effect of Asynchronous Video on Student Learning and Engagement in Music E-Learning, focused on the use of streaming video to increase student learning and engagement in music E-Learning.

As a performing pianist, she has performed solo and orchestral repertoire in the tri-state area, including a guest performance at her graduation. Despite suffering the loss of her left hand for several years due to pinched nerves, Zak, after corrective surgery, won honors in such prestigious competitions as the Leschitizky competition, the Carnegie Hall Competition, the Merkin Hall Concerto Competition and participated in the Jacob Flier International Competition.

In addition to performing in the greater New York (Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the SUNY Purchase College Orchestra), North Carolina and Pennsylvania area, Zak has performed solo recitals and orchestral works throughout the Delaware Valley, appearing several times with the Warminster Symphony Orchestra (Prokofiev Concerto No. 1, Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals and Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1).

Zak’s repertory includes a wide variety of solo and concerto pieces including such works as: concertos by Beethoven, Grieg, Prokofiev, Gershwin and others, and solos works by composers ranging from Bach and Mozart, to Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Scriabin and Rachmaninoff. A champion for classical music who enjoys bringing an understanding of music to interested audiences, Suzanne has developed a well-received series of concerts with commentary focusing on classical favorites and more challenging musical fare by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Debussy and Rachmaninoff as well as some popular works.

Zak’s passion for music education continues with her development of online courses for higher education music, E-Learning. As a research assistant at Columbia University, Teachers College, she was instrumental in converting face-to-face classes into online formats, connecting the global student body. These classes included Foundations of Music Education, Teaching Applied Music in College, and Teaching Applied music in the Classroom. Suzanne continues to develop and create her online courses. Her current list of online classes include Rock Music, American Music World Music, Music Fundamentals and Jazz Music.