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Joel Zigman (he/him/his) is a composer, musician, educator, journalist, and activist. He is currently a co-owner and teacher at Deeply Rooted Music School. 

 

His accomplishments include:

 

  • Professionally licensed K-12 music teacher in the state of Colorado. 

  • General K-6th elementary music teacher in Jefferson County Public Schools for two years.

  • Former music teacher at Girls Rock Austin, the University of Texas at Austin Youth String Project, LREI, and Creative Action. 

  • Level 1 Certification in Kodaly, Level 1 Training in Orff, and trained in Little Kids Rock and Responsive Classroom pedagogy. 

  • Master's degree in Music and Human Learning from the University of Texas at Austin with a portfolio in “Arts and Cultural Management and Entrepreneurship” and undergraduate degrees in English and Music Composition from Rice University.

  • Multi-instrumentalist with six years of electronic and contemporary classical composition training, eight years of classical piano training, and three years of community choral performance experience.

  • Announcer and programmer for several college and classical radio stations in Texas including KTRU, KVRX, KMFA, and Classical 91.7.

 

Joel Zigman is a passionate advocate for human rights and social justice. He was the founding chair of the Jefferson County Education Association (JCEA) LGBTQ+ Caucus, a founding member of the CEA LGBTQ+ Caucus, and received the 2019 JCEA Lion Award. He was formerly on the board of Girls Rock Austin.

 

As a Jewish, transgender educator, he is working to make Colorado schools a safer space for transgender staff and students. He was a co-founding chair of the Colorado Transgender and Nonbinary Educators Network, and an author of the “How to Be a Good Ally: Creating Safer Spaces in New Music” zine created for the 2016 New Music Gathering.

 

Originally from Jersey City, New Jersey, Joel Zigman lives and works in Denver, Colorado.

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In the News

303 Magazine: New Colorado Music You Should Know - June Edition (June 2020)

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OutFront Magazine: Local Artist Drops "Passing Problems" for Trans Day of Visibility (March 2020)

 

Westword: Transgender Composer Joel Zigman Quit Classical for Lo-Fi Synth Pop (December 2019)

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GLSEN Blog: What About Trans Educators? (November 2019)

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Chalkbeat: LGBTQ advocates to push for student and staff protections in Jeffco schools (June 2019)

 

Denver Post: Colorado teachers begin two days of protest, chanting “Stand up and fight!” (April, 2018)

 

NPR: Transgender Teachers: In Their Own Voices (March, 2018)

 

Publications /  Presentations

Denver Metro GSA Leadership Summit, Denver, CO 2019

     “Showing Up for Trans Educators” with the Colorado Trans/Nonbinary Educators Network

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LGBTQ-Inclusive Educational Practices Institute, Boulder, CO 2019

     “Out of the Margins: Supporting and Learning from Trans Educators” with the Colorado Trans/Nonbinary Educators Network

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Colorado Educators Association (CEA) Summer Leadership Conference, Breckenridge, CO 2019

     “Lifting Up LGBTQ+ Educator Voices” with the JCEA LGBTQ+ Caucus

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International Association for the Study of Popular Music-US, Calgary, Canada 2016

     “Save a Horse Ride a Cowboi: Building (trans)Masculinity Through Top 40 Country Music”

 

New Music Gathering, Baltimore, MA, 2016

     “Outsider and Ally – How Can We All Be Better?” panelist

 

Girls Rock Camp Alliance, Elmer, NJ, 2016

     “Next Level Music Writing Workshop: Incorporating composition, orchestration, music theory, and music notation into our teaching”

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Texas Music Educators Association, San Antonio, TX 2015

     “Gender Inequality in Music Composition: A Case Study of Instrumental Music Repertoire at UT-Austin and TMEA” poster

 

Semiotic Society of America, Pittsburgh, PA, 2015

     “Collective Agency and Embodied Feminine Spirituality in Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in d minor, op. 11: andante espressivo”