Today we’d like to introduce you to Zachary Montasser.
Hi Zachary, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
For the last three years, I have been providing programming in elderly communities called Musicology LIVE! These programs are equal parts Classical Music performance and a history lesson. Believe it or not, it all started over a cup of coffee! Between gigs, I had decided to get a cup at a favorite coffee shop, and while I was in line a young lady kindly asked me what I was carrying on my back. I told her it was a violin, and she was delighted.
She said she was an event coordinator for an upscale retirement community down the street, and that she was always looking for enrichment for her residents. We then scheduled a time for me to come and audition for her and to meet the residents. I showed up, played some of my favorite pieces (a composition of my own, and improvised variations on a piece called “Ashokan Farewell”), and met some wonderful people who were thrilled to share their life experiences with me, and share their relationships with Classical Music.
Initially, I created programs that I called “Performance Conversations,” which were theme-related and open-ended conversation starters. My first performance conversation was called “Love in Many Forms.” It included a discussion on the different types of love (philia, eros, storge, agape), and pieces of music to bring another dimension of understanding to each facet of love.
The goal was to create a space where I could share beautiful music, have enriching conversations, and do my part to break down accessibility barriers that are inherent in today’s society. With the help of event coordinators along the way, I would go on to create a series of programming that resembles a less intense Lecture Recital that a doctorate candidate would present at the University.
After much deliberation, an event coordinator friend and I decided that Musicology LIVE! would be a great name! Three years later I am now presenting at elderly communities in Houston and present lecture-performances that detail Beethoven’s relationship with the Enlightenment (and Napoleon), Stephen Foster and the Civil War, Mozart and his development into Impresario, opera overviews of Verdi’s Trovatore and Bizet’s Carmen, among many others.
I just finished working on a program that features the violin concerto and other selected works of the great American composer Samuel Barber. Now, I perform at various “The Village” locations, Brookdale, Tradition Independent Living locations, and other private Elderly Communities in Houston, Friendswood, Katy, and the Woodlands.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Any struggles I encounter are eased with the help of wonderful friends and mentors. My current mentor, Wendy Adler, is an art docent who has been giving lectures in Houston Elderly Communities for 6 years or so. She is so patient with me and has been a guiding light for me. I confer with Wendy regularly, and we give joint lectures once a quarter they are super fun and dynamic. In March, Wendy and I will have a joint lecture about The Seven Deadly Sins in Art and Music, and I cannot wait!!
There are activity directors and event coordinators with whom I have created lasting friendships, and without whose help, I wouldn’t be doing what I do. Although some of these amazing people have transitioned from being event coordinators, people like Jaime Kalenik, Edward Craft, and Elizabeth Donnell are people who have shown me so much patience and grace, and have helped me in so many ways and helped me shape my lectures into what they are today!
I think the biggest struggle has been coming to terms with the limited amount of money that is allocated towards enrichment at the majority of the elderly communities I have visited in Houston. As well, as how wonderful directors burn out SOO quickly working for companies that do not recognize their worth and impact. Some people become engagement directors who are passionate about creating an enriched end-of-life experience, and who are incredibly caring and creative, and thoughtful.
These people decide to dedicate their time (a lot of which is not billable) and creativity and care to residents who need and love the enrichment and are so grateful for it. But frankly, these amazing directors choose to move on (sometimes to different careers entirely) due to the nature of the demands of the job and the lack of financial compensation and general appreciation. It breaks my heart.
I know for a fact that a lot of residents do not have the privilege of at-will mobility, but they are mentally acute and still want to learn and grow. I do my best to create new relationships with residents when I perform and to play and perform in as many elderly communities as I can.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a freelance violinist! This means I am hired by contractors or clients to make music for a living. I have had the immense pleasure of making music for a wide birth of audiences, all over the country. While most people measure their successes by the dollars in their bank accounts or the Corvettes in their garage, I measure mine by musical experiences!
Some of these experiences include performing Il Trovatore with Opera in the Heights, performing Latin American Music with Terra Nostra Ensemble and Venezuelan Virtuoso Eddy Marcano (and most recently with his Texas Latin Chamber Orchestra), performing Oliver! With Theater Under the Stars, performing and premiering compositions for a corporate retreat for VERY Technology, performing Barber’s Adagio for strings with the Westheimer String Quartet, learning how to improvise in contemporary church style with Christian Artist Wayne Watson, and so much more.
I am proud of a lot of my performances, although no performance is perfect. Right now what I’m most proud to do is to perform as much as I can in elderly communities across Texas. My commitment to bringing classical music programming to the elderly, and my enthusiasm to do so, might be something that sets me apart.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I am so grateful for the opportunity to share my story with Voyage Houston Magazine! If any readers would like to come to a Musicology LIVE! Performance Lecture, I post my lecture times and locations on my website, www.musicwithz.com. Also, if any readers would like to reach out to discuss elderly enrichment or classical music, or both, please feel free to email me at musicwithzm@gmail.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.musicwithz.com
Image Credits
Jeff Segura
