Zoë Aqua is a violinist, composer and educator.
She was awarded a Fulbright research grant for the 2021-’22 and 2022-’23 academic years to study Transylvanian folk music pedagogy in Cluj, Romania. In 2022, she released a full-length album of original compositions recorded with Eastern European musicians entitled “In Vald Arayn” (Into the Forest). “In Vald Arayn” mixes influences from klezmer, Transylvanian music, Hasidic music, lautarească and more to meditate on the ways that Jewish and non-Jewish music from Eastern Europe are in conversation with each other. Zoë is a co-founder of klezmer bands Tsibele and Farnakht and served as the full-time understudy for the Klezmatics’ Lisa Gutkin in the Broadway production of “Indecent”. She has presented concerts in Germany, Austria, France, Hungary, Romania, and Turkey as well as the US and Canada. Long passionate about teaching, Zoë holds two degrees in music education.
Transylvanian synagogue tour
Our initial performances in summer 2024 were a success!
If you would like to help us do more shows, you can make a tax-deductible donation here:
upcoming performances
photo credit: Fumie Suzuki
Fall 2024 tour dates! Please DM me for details.
10.23 Graz, Austria — with Isabel Frey. Album release concert, more info here.
10.24 Vienna, Austria — with Isabel Frey. Album release concert, more info here.
10.11 Vienna, Austria — with Benjy Fox-Rosen and Klezzfour, part of the Klezmore festival. More info here.
11.13 Cluj, Romania — with my band! at Tranzit House. More info coming soon!
11.14-18 TBD, Romania — synagogue tour show with my band. DM me for more info!
11.20-22 Boise, Idaho, USA — with Anthony Russel and Dmitri Gaskin at the College of Idaho. DM me for more info!
12.21-26 New York, NY — teaching and performing at Yiddish NY, more info here.
Zoë’s BLOG
Hi! Thanks for reading my blog :) This blog is a place to record my thoughts and experiences during my Fulbright research grant during the 2021-’22 and 2022-’23 academic years.
Featured
teaching
Zoë holds two degrees in music education. She established the music department at Family Life Academy Charter School II, located in the South Bronx, and taught there from 2012- 2020. She taught elementary general music there, as well as a thriving after-school violin program.
In addition to her extensive work with children, she is a sought-after teacher of klezmer for musicians of all ages and instruments. She was the director of klezmer programming at the Brooklyn Conservatory from 2018-2021, growing the klezmer ensemble there and establishing the Klezmer New Leaders Fellowship, a training and mentorship program for women and gender-nonbinary musicians. She has presented engaging workshops at Klezkanada, Yiddish New York, Yiddish Summer Weimar, and Friling Tage in Austria, as well as coachings for the Cornell University Klezmer Ensemble, DC Klezmer Series, and many more community klezmer ensembles around the US.
Her educational interests include helping beginner- and intermediate-level players build strong musicianship skills in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere.
TRAINING & CERTIFICATIONS
Professional Level Certification, Music K-12, New York State Board of Education
Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Music Education, University of Michigan
Master of Music in Music Education, Ithaca College
Certified in Music Learning Theory General Music Level 1
Certified in Suzuki Violin Book 1
Website design by Signal Boost
Violin fern illustration by Thomas Bloch
Blue violin backdrop by Risa Aqua