Jonathan Zalben
Jonathan Zalben | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation |
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| Organization | First Frame Music (Owner) |
| Awards | "Classic" Award at SXSW Interactive Festival |
| Website | jonathanzalben |
Jonathan Zalben is an American music composer, supervisor, and media artist with extensive experience in film, television, and interactive media. He is the founder and owner of First Frame Music, providing music supervision, licensing, and original score composition services. Zalben has worked on numerous projects, including Oscar-nominated films and documentaries, and has collaborated with prominent directors and artists. He is also a professor at The New School and Brooklyn College, teaching audio post-production and sound design.[1][2]
Early life and education
Zalben began studying violin at the age of nine. He received early music education at The Juilliard School's Pre-College Division, where he studied violin and music composition. At Juilliard, he regularly performed at Lincoln Center and began composition lessons at 14 with Behzad Ranjbaran, crafting his first orchestral piece at 16.
Zalben earned a B.A. in music from Yale University. He also holds an M.A. in music composition from New York University. At NYU, Zalben gained experience in commercial underscoring studios, leading him to venture into scoring narrative and documentary feature films. He also became proficient in music supervision, working with industry professionals such as Sue Jacobs in NYC and Jonathan McHugh in Los Angeles.
Career
Zalben has a diverse background spanning music, film, television, and interactive media art. He is the founder of First Frame Music, offering music supervision, licensing, and original score composition services. Zalben has composed music for notable productions released by Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Classics, Discovery, and HBO.[3] His contributions extend to various films and TV shows, including the Oscar-nominated documentary "Redemption" (HBO), the Sundance award-winning short film "Alone" (NY Times Op-Doc), and the HBO documentary "There's Something Wrong With Aunt Diane." Moreover, his film music has been showcased at various film festivals, such as Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, and Tribeca.[4]
Zalben has received awards and grants from renowned institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences, NYSCA, ASCAP, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the US Navy. His multimedia works have graced esteemed venues worldwide, including the Hammer Museum in LA, MASS MoCA, Boston Public Library, Sony Wonder Technology Lab in NYC, and various art galleries. Notably, his collaboration in net art, "Compound Pilot," with Marshall Jones, received the "Classic" Award at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival.[5]
Zalben is also an expert in interaction design and physical computing. He holds a U.S. patent for a muffler that employs a series of tuned domes to reduce noise.[6]
Zalben is also an educator, having taught courses and lectured at such institutions as Yale University and Bloomfield College. He is currently a professor at The New School's Media Studies Master's Program and the Director of Media Scoring and Associate Professor at Brooklyn College's Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.[7]
Discography
| Title | Year | Category | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Gods of Circumstance | 2009 | - | Composer |
| The Other | 2009 | Short | Composer |
| The Cave Movie | 2009 | - | Composer |
| City of Borders | 2009 | - | Composer |
| Empire | 2008 | Short | Composer |
| House Poor | 2008 | TV Series | Composer |
| Bialystok Brooklyn | 2008 | Short | Composer |
| Relative Obscurity | 2007 | - | Composer |
| Divergence | 2007 | - | Composer |
| Hood of Horror | 2006 | - | Composer |
| The Perfect Life | 2006 | - | Composer |
| The Great Wars | 2006 | Short | Composer |
| Doubletime | 2007 | - | Composer |
| Off the Map | 2011 | Short | Composer |
| Hatched: A Tale of Great Egg-spectations | 2011 | Short | Composer |
| Goold's Gold | 2011 | - | Composer |
| Son of Morning | 2011 | - | Composer |
| The Absence | 2010 | Short | Composer |
| Futurestates | 2010 | TV Series | Composer |
| Thinly Veiled | 2009 | - | Composer |
| The Catcher Was a Spy | 2018 | - | Music Programming |
| The Clinic | 2018 | - | Composer |
| The Way It Was: Paris Restaurants in the 1970s | 2023 | - | Music Supervisor |
| His Three Daughters | 2023 | - | Music Editor |
| The Synanon Fix | 2024 | TV Series | Music Editor |
| One with the Whale | 2023 | - | Music Supervisor |
| Maggie Moore(s) | 2023 | - | Music Editor |
| How I Learned to Fly | 2023 | - | Additional Music |
| Covid Diaries NYC | 2021 | - | Music Supervisor |
| On Pointe | 2020 | TV Series | Music Supervisor |
| Salty Pirate | 2020 | TV Movie | Music Supervisor |
| Finding the Way Home | 2019 | TV Movie | Music Supervisor |
| Axios | 2018–2021 | TV Series | Composer |
| P.O.V. | 2018 | TV Series | Composer |
| The Burial | 2023 | - | Music Editor |
| One Good Reason | 2023 | Short | Composer |
| Landscape with Invisible Hand | 2023 | Short | Composer |
| BronX BandA: Arturo O'Farrill & The Bronx | 2023 | - | Music Supervisor |
| Nuclear Fallout: The forgotten veterans who cleaned it up and their fight for justice | 2023 | Short | Composer |
| Advanced Chemistry | 2023 | Short | Composer |
| The Queen's Flowers | 2024 | Short | Composer |
| The Atlantis Puzzle | 2024 | Post-production | Composer |
References
- ↑ "Jonathan Zalben". www.brooklyn.cuny.edu. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ↑ "Panelist Biography". www.imsta.org. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ↑ "Jonathan Zalben". Mondo. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ↑ Musleah, Rahel (18 January 1998). "An Otherwise Typical Boy's Passion for the Violin". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ↑ "Jonathan Zalben | The New School". www.newschool.edu. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ↑ "Sounding Movement, with a Light Touch: An Interview with Jonathan Zalben - ProQuest". www.proquest.com. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ↑ "Jonathan Zalben". The Society of Composers and Lyricists. Retrieved 20 June 2024.