Zachary Bell

Appointed Fall 2026

Zachary Bell is a composer and lecturer of music theory from San Antonio, Texas who aims to speak to the hearts and minds of his audience through beauty, intensity and refinement of craft. Bell’s music has been performed/recorded by ensembles including Ensemble Linea, ~Nois Quartet, .abeceda, loadbang, Hub New Music, Unheard-Of Ensemble, VIRID Duo, And2 Percussion, the Baylor Wind Ensemble, the Baylor Symphony Orchestra and the Peabody Symphony Orchestra. He has been a winner of the Deleuze New Music Collective Call for Scores and a co-winner of the Baylor Composition Competition. His music featuring the trombone has been performed at multiple iterations of the International Trombone Festival by the Colorado University - Boulder Trombone Studio, the Ohio Trombone Quartet and bass trombonist Shane Stewart. Bell has also composed music for five short films and for a feature length film, breadcrumbs, by Tristan Sparks-McMahon. He earned his B. M. in composition at Baylor University and his M. M. in composition and music theory pedagogy at the Peabody Conservatory.

Currently, Bell teaches music theory at Johns Hopkins University, the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Maryland. Bell is completing a D.M.A. in composition at the Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with Kevin Puts, Michael Hersch and Felipe Lara.