Nancy Zeltsman (born 1958) is an international

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

soloist who has taught at the

Boston Conservatory Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded ...

and Berklee College of Music since 1993.

Biography

Zeltsman was born in 1958 in Morristown, New Jersey. In 1976, Zeltsman studied with

Vic Firth Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth (June 2, 1930 – July 26, 2015) was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company (formerly Vic Firth, Inc.), a company that makes percussion sticks and mallets. Biography Vic Firth was born June 2, ...

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

. Following her sophomore year (1978), she was a percussion fellow at

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...

. She took a sabbatical and returned to NEC in 1980 to continue her studies, graduating with a Bachelor of Music (percussion performance) in 1982. She then studied jazz improvisation with

Dave Samuels David Alan Samuels (October 9, 1948 – April 22, 2019) was an American vibraphone and marimba player who spent many years with the contemporary jazz group Spyro Gyra. His recordings and live performances during that period also reflect his p ...

for several years. She performed in a duo with violinist Sharan Leventhal in the mid-1980s through to the mid-1990s, and in another duo with Janis Potter after the former duo dissolved. She occasionally performs with Jack Van Geem, and a recording she made with him was released in 1994. In 1993, she was offered a Chair at the

and Berklee College of Music, where she teaches the marimba exclusively. The japaneses marimba players Eriko Daimo and Nanae Mimura stand out among her successful students. Zeltsman also directs the Zeltsman Marimba Festival (ZMF), an annual traveling festival that brings together students and faculty for two weeks of concerts, masterclasses, lessons, and lectures. ZMF commissioned 24 intermediate compositions for the marimba; twelve were written by internationally renowned composers including Gunther Schuller, Michael Tilson Thomas, Steve Stucky, and Paul Simon. The other twelve were chosen from entries in an international composition contest. All works were performed at ZMF 2009 in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Recorded works

"Marimolin" (''Marimba/Violin duo with Sharan Leventhal'')

* ''Marimolin'' (1988), * ''Phantasmata'' (1995, GM Recordings) * ''Combo Platter'' (1994, Catalyst/BMG)

with Jack Van Geem

* ''Pedro and Olga Learn to Dance'' (July 2004)

solo

* ''Woodcuts'' (1993, GM Recordings) * ''See Ya Thursday'' (1999, Equilibrium) * ''Sweet Song'' (June 2005, )

Published works

* ''Four Mallet Marimba Playing: A Musical Approach for All Levels'' (2003 Hal Leonard Corporation) . Contributor to ''Percussive Notes'' magazine; Associate Editor of keyboard articles from 1999 through 2001.

References

External links

Official website

ZMF New Music

Zeltsman Marimba Festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeltsman, Nancy 1958 births People from Morristown, New Jersey Living people American jazz vibraphonists Marimbists American percussionists American women percussionists