Zach Bartholomew Piano & Jazz Lessons

Zach Bartholomew is an award-winning jazz pianist, composer, and music educator. He graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Music in 2009 and a Master of Music in jazz performance in the Spring of 2015. In the Fall of 2015 he moved to Miami after being awarded a full tuition waiver to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, which he will receive in May 2018. In 2016 and 2017, he was chosen as one of five finalists to compete in the highly acclaimed Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition and won 3rd place both years. In 2017, Zach was a featured Artist-in-Residence at the Jalisco Jazz Festival in Guadalajara, Mexico, performed at the Jazz Educators Network conference in New Orleans, and won 2nd place in the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Competition’s small group category.

In addition to touring across the country with his trio, Zach has performed with artists such as Brian Lynch, Dafnis Prieto, Dave Holland, David Liebman, Cyrille Aimee, John Beasley, Ira Sullivan, and Kevin Mahogany. Other professional experience as a performer include leading a jazz quartet on Princess Cruises, playing numerous jazz festivals and concert series, releasing an album, and winning 1st place in the Salett Arts Center Jazz Trio Competition in Raleigh, NC.

As an educator, Zach has taught at jazz camps for middle and high-schoolers, conducted workshops at high schools, taught as an assistant band director for extracurricular jazz band programs, and has been the instructor for college music courses in class piano, jazz combo, and applied lessons. He has over 10 years of experience teaching private piano lessons, both jazz and classical, to students of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels. He currently teaches at the Community Arts Program in Miami and is a Frost Teaching Mentor through the Frost School of Music’s Shalala MusicReach program. Zach currently resides in Miami, FL and is involved in a number of musical projects as both a leader and a sideman.

I love music and I love teaching. I really enjoy helping people achieve their goals when it comes to learning music and how to play the piano. I believe all of the many obstacles I have overcome in my playing make me a good teacher because I know how to explain most everything I do. I can take subjects such as piano technique, music theory, accompanying, improvising, etc. and break them down for my students because these are things that did not necessarily come easy for me at first, and I've had to spend time figuring out how to get better at each one.