Zachary Lew
COMPOSER • VIOLINIST • LEARNER
Composing since age 6 with 200+ works across classical and jazz.
Winner of the Robert Avalon International Competition for Composers for second movement,
winner of the Simon-Fiset Composition Competition for roughly a sonata,
state winner of the MTNA Composition Competition for sketchy sketches,
and 3rd place in The American Prize National Competition for ap exams.
Violinist in Bellevue Youth Symphony (Assistant Concertmaster) and Redmond High School (Concertmaster).
Passion for physics, mathematics, and languages.
Music resume • YouTube • Noteflight
Select Compositions
second movement (2026)
Alto horn, Piano (score)
1st place, The Robert Avalon Int’l Competition for Composers; 2nd place, Simon-Fiset Composition Competition (2026)
The concept of “second movement” manifests a couple ways. The feel of the piece is generally that of a typical slow second movement; the interval of the second is integral to the piece (the main motif being made up of two seconds); the theme’s second interval (or movement) is a tritone, informing the piece’s lydian mode and the modulation; the piano’s pedal tone haunting the first half is the “movement of seconds,” or a clock’s ticking.
Piano Trio (“Evergreen”), mvt. 3 (2026)
Violin, Cello, Piano (score)
My part of a collaboration with two others in a Discord server I co-administrate, each of us writing one movement of a piano trio. The three of us performed the first two movements this last August. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to rehearse this movement. My aim was simply to write a fun and kinetic piece, playing to each of our individual strengths.
thinly veiled
(2026)
Violin, Cello, Piano (score)
A piano trio inspired by wayang kulit (Southeast Asian shadow puppetry). I attempted to capture less the literal sound of the ensemble behind the performance, but mostly the feeling of watching it. To name a few aspects, the hyper-dramatic emoting, comic undertone, and bright colors reflected in the coloristic and gestural writing.
roughly a sonata
(2025)
Violin, Piano (score)
Winner, Simon-Fiset Composition Competition (2025)
The title explains it all, really. Having studied sonata form for years, I wanted to try my own spin on it while keeping the “essence” of a sonata in mind - two themes, developing the material, recap, coda. I specifically wanted to focus on that development part- putting motifs in odd time signatures, inverting them, combining them in interesting ways. The result is an energetic, playful romp through keys, moods, and textures.
sketchy sketches for a tricky trio (2025)
Trumpet, Clarinet, Piano (score)
State winner, Music Teachers National Association Senior Composition Competition (2025)
This was a big experiment for me. In this piece, I wanted to play with colors, gestures, and nebulous ideas, less on concrete themes. This was also an experiment in writing for winds; I hadn’t written much for winds to be played, so I was grateful for the opportunity to do so. Lastly, this was also an experiment in form: it’s one of my first multi-movement works, so it was a fun challenge to toy with how the movements relate.
ap exams
(2024)
Violin, Cello, Piano (score)
3rd Place, The American Prize, The Charles Ives Award (2025)
I wrote this while procrastinating studying for them.
Performances
Senior Violin Recital
June 14, 2026
Recitativo and Scherzo – Fritz Kreisler
Grand Waltz from Cinderella – Sergei Prokofiev
Violin and Piano Sonata No. 2 – Maurice Ravel
g(ra)d(u)a(t)e – Zachary Lew
Violin Concerto in D major – Erich Korngold