About — Zachary Good

Zachary Good is a Chicago-based clarinetist, Baroque recorder player, composer, arranger, and educator.

Zachary is clarinetist of the sextet Eighth Blackbird, a member of Ensemble Dal Niente, a founding Co-Artistic Director of the performance collective Mocrep, one-third of the clarinet/percussion/cello trio ZRL, and one-fifth of the ensemble Honestly Same. He has frequently performed with International Contemporary Ensemble, Music of the Baroque Chicago, and Manual Cinema. He has been a featured artist with the International Contemporary Ensemble, DePaul University's Ensemble 20+, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s All Access Chamber Series, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, and at The Phillips Collection. With Eighth Blackbird, Zachary has appeared as a soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the US Navy Band, and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. His discography includes releases on Moon Glyph Records, American Dreams Records, Carrier Records, No Index, Homeroom, Parlour Tapes+, ears&eyes, and more.

As a composer, Zachary explores contrapuntal possibilities on the soprano clarinet with close dyad multiphonics, creating the illusion of multiple clarinetists playing simultaneously. His music is quietly virtuosic, inspired by the intricacies of the clarinet and a love for Baroque nuance and form. As a collaborator, he has co-composed album/concert length works with Tonia Ko (Up High), Lia Kohl (Standing Lenticular), Ben Roidl-Ward (Arb), ZRL (Physics for Listeners), and Mocrep (I Like My Friends). Zachary’s Style Brisé project is an ongoing series of French Baroque harpsichord preludes arranged for bass clarinet. To enhance these arrangements, he has collaborated with Chris Wood to build a custom electronic sustain pedal to artificially recreate the resonance of a harpsichord.

Zachary is a graduate of Northwestern University (DMA), Oberlin Conservatory, and DePaul University. He is the recipient of the 2021 Luminarts Classical Winds Fellowship. Zachary has participated in fellowships with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Aspen Contemporary Music program.

Zachary is a D’Addario Woodwinds Artist.