About
Short Biography
AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa is an international lecturer, caretaker for her brother, a former competitive dancer, performed a composition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., played and learned the oboe is not her instrument, is presently partnering with Borealis Dance Theatre to choreograph “Angels Sang to Me,” has traveled to 32 states with her husband where she has taken up hiking, kayaking, and (yet-to-catch-a-fish) angling. She is also a female, BIPOC, violist, composer, and musicologist who lives with mental illness.
AJ has partnered with musicians of Minnesota Orchestra, retired Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Artaria String Quartet and other well respected Twin Cities chamber musicians including composing two pieces for soprano Maria Jette. AJ’s primary composition teachers include Randall Davidson and Linda Tutas Haugen, and she has participated in workshops with Stephen Paulus and Libby Larsen.
AJ has partnered with musicians of Minnesota Orchestra, retired Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Artaria String Quartet and other well respected Twin Cities chamber musicians including composing two pieces for soprano Maria Jette. AJ’s primary composition teachers include Randall Davidson and Linda Tutas Haugen, and she has participated in workshops with Stephen Paulus and Libby Larsen.
Full Biography
AJ as a Composer:
AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa began composing at age 13. At 14, she composed a piece for choir that premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Early in her career she was mentored by her choral and orchestral conductors. At 17, she began private study with Linda Tutas Haugen. She attended Junior Composers camps for three summers and participated in workshops with composers such as Libby Larsen and Stephen Paulus. Presently, AJ is studying with Randall Davidson.
In 2010 her String Quartet No. 1 placed second in the National Federation of Music Club collegiate division. Revised in 2021, String Quartet No. 1 has been selected by the New Music Initiative for Black Voices to be played, coached, and recorded by students at the McDuffie Center. It will also be performed by Crossing Borders Music "Celebrating Juneteenth!"
Other compositions by AJ include a chamber work for mezzo-soprano, clarinet in A, viola, and piano ("Alone"), a symphonic poem ("Ora"), and a concerto for viola and strings. In 2020, Isaacson-Zvidzwa was selected as a 2020-21 Cedar Commissions Artist to produce a song cycle "Angels Sang to Me" exploring her experiences with mental illness. In 2021, AJ wrote a piece for Voices of Hope, a piece commissioned by the Voices of Hope prison choirs.
Her current commissions include "The Sun Will Rise," a piece for vibraphone and string quartet to be premiered by the Artaria String Quartet with guest artist Eri Isomura, a set of 5 songs "Songs of Enchantment: 5 Poems by Walter de la Mare" commissioned by soprano Maria Jette, and a piece commissioned by the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet.
AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa began composing at age 13. At 14, she composed a piece for choir that premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Early in her career she was mentored by her choral and orchestral conductors. At 17, she began private study with Linda Tutas Haugen. She attended Junior Composers camps for three summers and participated in workshops with composers such as Libby Larsen and Stephen Paulus. Presently, AJ is studying with Randall Davidson.
In 2010 her String Quartet No. 1 placed second in the National Federation of Music Club collegiate division. Revised in 2021, String Quartet No. 1 has been selected by the New Music Initiative for Black Voices to be played, coached, and recorded by students at the McDuffie Center. It will also be performed by Crossing Borders Music "Celebrating Juneteenth!"
Other compositions by AJ include a chamber work for mezzo-soprano, clarinet in A, viola, and piano ("Alone"), a symphonic poem ("Ora"), and a concerto for viola and strings. In 2020, Isaacson-Zvidzwa was selected as a 2020-21 Cedar Commissions Artist to produce a song cycle "Angels Sang to Me" exploring her experiences with mental illness. In 2021, AJ wrote a piece for Voices of Hope, a piece commissioned by the Voices of Hope prison choirs.
Her current commissions include "The Sun Will Rise," a piece for vibraphone and string quartet to be premiered by the Artaria String Quartet with guest artist Eri Isomura, a set of 5 songs "Songs of Enchantment: 5 Poems by Walter de la Mare" commissioned by soprano Maria Jette, and a piece commissioned by the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet.
AJ as a Performer:
As a performer, Isaacson-Zvidzwa has experience as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, and soloist on both viola and violin. Her orchestral experience includes principal viola and concertmaster (violin) of the Augsburg Symphony Orchestra, substitute principal viola of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra, and viola in University of Minnesota - Twin Cities’ Symphony Orchestra. Currently she is playing first violin with the East Metro Symphony Orchestra.
AJ has performed with many chamber ensembles of various instrumentations. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Augsburg Symphony Orchestra playing the Bruch Double Concerto for Clarinet and Viola, and has given four full solo recitals. For more information on her performing, see Viola and Violin
AJ holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota under the guidance of Mary Budd Horozaniecki. She spent a year as a research fellow in musicology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, studying viola with Sally Chisholm. Her other teachers include Richard Marshall, Korey Konkol and Valerie Little. She has played in masterclasses for Nancy Nehring, Dr. David Arnott, Jane Capistran, Anthony Ross, and Kenneth Freed.
As a performer, Isaacson-Zvidzwa has experience as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, and soloist on both viola and violin. Her orchestral experience includes principal viola and concertmaster (violin) of the Augsburg Symphony Orchestra, substitute principal viola of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra, and viola in University of Minnesota - Twin Cities’ Symphony Orchestra. Currently she is playing first violin with the East Metro Symphony Orchestra.
AJ has performed with many chamber ensembles of various instrumentations. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Augsburg Symphony Orchestra playing the Bruch Double Concerto for Clarinet and Viola, and has given four full solo recitals. For more information on her performing, see Viola and Violin
AJ holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota under the guidance of Mary Budd Horozaniecki. She spent a year as a research fellow in musicology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, studying viola with Sally Chisholm. Her other teachers include Richard Marshall, Korey Konkol and Valerie Little. She has played in masterclasses for Nancy Nehring, Dr. David Arnott, Jane Capistran, Anthony Ross, and Kenneth Freed.
AJ as a Scholar:
AJ wrote an article titled, "From Clarinet to Viola: 'Awkward and Unappealing' Exploring the Transcription of the First Movement of Brahms’s Sonata op. 120, no. 1." Published in the Journal of the American Viola Society (JAVS) in Summer 2017, this article explores the changes made in the viola transcriptions of the Brahms' opus 120/1 including an annotated score showing the original clarinet part alongside the changes made when transcribed for viola. This is available to read under Brahms.
In fall 2017, she was a presenter at the 44th International Viola Congress held in Wellington, New Zealand. The YouTube videos from the lecture are available in Beyond Hoffmeister.
In the course of her scholarship, AJ has collected a list of 70 extant viola concertos by 41 different composers in the Germanic speaking countries from c. 1750-1800. These have been listed under Lesser-Known Viola Concertos.
Most recently, her article “The 18th-Century Germanic Viola Concerto: A History and Pedagogical Study of Four Selected Movements” will be published in American String Teacher (AST) Journal May 2022.
AJ is currently serving as a member of the American String Teacher Journal Editorial Committee (ASTA).
As a historical music editor, AJ's current project is working to publish a viola concerto c.1800 by Georg Schultz.
AJ wrote an article titled, "From Clarinet to Viola: 'Awkward and Unappealing' Exploring the Transcription of the First Movement of Brahms’s Sonata op. 120, no. 1." Published in the Journal of the American Viola Society (JAVS) in Summer 2017, this article explores the changes made in the viola transcriptions of the Brahms' opus 120/1 including an annotated score showing the original clarinet part alongside the changes made when transcribed for viola. This is available to read under Brahms.
In fall 2017, she was a presenter at the 44th International Viola Congress held in Wellington, New Zealand. The YouTube videos from the lecture are available in Beyond Hoffmeister.
In the course of her scholarship, AJ has collected a list of 70 extant viola concertos by 41 different composers in the Germanic speaking countries from c. 1750-1800. These have been listed under Lesser-Known Viola Concertos.
Most recently, her article “The 18th-Century Germanic Viola Concerto: A History and Pedagogical Study of Four Selected Movements” will be published in American String Teacher (AST) Journal May 2022.
AJ is currently serving as a member of the American String Teacher Journal Editorial Committee (ASTA).
As a historical music editor, AJ's current project is working to publish a viola concerto c.1800 by Georg Schultz.
More about AJ:
When she isn't researching, composing, or practicing, AJ enjoys traveling, hiking and kayaking with her husband.
When she isn't researching, composing, or practicing, AJ enjoys traveling, hiking and kayaking with her husband.