Professor
- Tuba and Euphonium
- Assistant Chairperson
Contact Information
Courses Taught
- Applied Tuba and Euphonium
- Tubaphonium Ensemble
- Music Technology
Degrees
Biography
Zach Collins is professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. At IUP, Zach teaches applied lessons to all tuba and euphonium majors, leads the IUP Tubaphonium Ensemble, and teaches classes in music technology. In 2019, he released his first solo album, Chronicle. Chronicle was recognized with the 2021 International Tuba and Euphonium Association Roger Bobo Award for Excellence in Recording for the best Solo Tuba Album.
In 2024, Zach released an album of hymn arrangements, Firm Foundation, with a five-part tuba ensemble, QuinTuba. Firm Foundation is available on Summit Records.
Zach performs with Eastern Standard, a horn, tuba, and piano trio he formed with Heidi Lucas and Jacob Ertl. Eastern Standard aims to commission and record new works for this unique instrumentation. To date, the ensemble has released two commercial albums, Eastern Standard and Wanderlust. Wanderlust was named a finalist in the Chamber Music Category of the 2021 ITEA Roger Bobo Award for Excellence in Recording.
In addition to Eastern Standard, he regularly performs with Brass Mammoth, the Keystone Wind Ensemble, Keystone Chamber Winds, Altoona Symphony Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras.
In 2020, Zach was named the Dean's Outstanding Researcher for the Indiana University of Pennsylvania College of Fine Arts. In 2015, he received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Creative Arts by IUP. In 2014, he was named a National Arts Associate by Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity.
In addition to his position at IUP, Zach also maintains a busy solo and chamber schedule. He has performed as a soloist or chamber musician at the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference (2008, 2010, 2014, 2016), International Euphonium and Tuba Festival (2018), Northeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017), US Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Conference (2010), and Western PASSHE Low Brass Consortium (2010). Recent solo and chamber engagements have taken him to Ohio, West Virginia, Washington, DC, New York, Texas, and Moscow, Russia. His interpretation of William Kraft's Encounters II for Solo Tuba was released on Cambria Master Recordings in August 2009.
Zach has written a number of works for brass instruments. His compositions and arrangements for tuba and euphonium can be purchased from Cimarron Music and Eighth Note Publications. Beginning in summer 2015, he began publishing a series of duets with scrolling music notation to YouTube. They can be found on the Bass Clef Duets web page.
Prior to his appointment at IUP, Zach had numerous freelance performing opportunities in Texas and California. He has performed with ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Festival Orchestra of the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, Riverside County Philharmonic, Santa Barbara Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Texas Chamber Orchestra, and the Texas Wind Symphony. In these ensembles, Zach has performed under the baton of conductors such as Bramwell Tovey, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Helmuth Rilling. In Los Angeles, Zach performed on several motion pictures, including Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, X-Men 3, Bobby, Next, Rocky Balboa, and Live Free or Die Hard. In 2007, he performed with the band Korn on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Zach Collins earned his bachelor of music in tuba performance from Texas Christian University (2003) and his master of music (2005) and doctor of music (2007) in tuba performance from the University of Southern California. While at TCU, Zach's primary studies were with Richard Murrow, a freelance musician in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. At USC, his teachers were Jim Self and Tommy Johnson, both studio musicians, and Norm Pearson, principal tubist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Zach Collins is a Miraphone artist and performs on the Miraphone Elektra F Tuba.