Dr. Evan Zegiel (he/him) is an active tubist, composer, and brass educator based in Michigan. He currently holds the position of Limited Term Lecturer of Tuba and Euphonium at Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW), and works at Interlochen Center for the Arts as Patron Services Coordinator.
 
Dr. Zegiel holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Tuba Performance from Michigan State University, a Master of Music degree in Tuba Performance and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan, a Bachelor of Music degree in Tuba Performance from the University of Michigan, and a Minor in Writing from the Sweetland Center for Writing. His primary teachers include Phillip Sinder, Dennis Nulty, Fritz Kaenzig, Toby Hanks, Aubrey Foard, and Dan Satterwhite.
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Dr. Zegiel has performed with professional orchestras such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (where he was the runner-up for the Principal Tuba position in 2020), the Baltimore Symphony, and the Erie Philharmonic, among others. Dr. Zegiel was also the Tuba Fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida during the 2018-19 season. His orchestral experience prior to joining NWS includes multiple summers performing at Brevard Music Center and with the Chautauqua Institution Music School Festival Orchestra. He has appeared as a semi-finalist in multiple professional orchestra auditions and he won Second Prize in the 2016 International Tuba-Euphonium Conference's Arnold Jacobs Mock Orchestral Audition competition.
 
An award-winning soloist, Dr. Zegiel has performed recitals in a wide range of venues and has earned multiple accolades. During the summer of 2023, he will perform a solo recital at the International Tuba-Euphonium Conference at Arizona State University. His ITEC recital will feature a program of contemporary works for tuba by Sofia Gubaidulina, Quinn Mason, and Brendan Ige which reflect upon the theme of "Lamentations." He was named a winner of the Jan and Beattie Wood Concerto Competition at Brevard Music Center, the Marquette Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Concerto Competition, and both the Tuba Artist and Tuba Student Division competitions of the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium-Tuba Festival. As a high school senior, he won the United States Air Force Band’s Colonel George S. Howard Young Artist Competition.
 
As a chamber musician, Dr. Zegiel performs regularly in varied settings. He is a co-founder, along with Anthony DeMartinis, of the tuba-percussion duo BrassTaps Duo, which has commissioned multiple new works for this instrumentation over the last few years. He has also performed alongside the New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet and continues to be active as a brass quintet tubist.
 
Dr. Zegiel is also an active composer and has studied composition with David Biedenbender at Michigan State University. His projects have recently centered on his background in heavy metal and his experience as a guitarist and bassist. In September 2021, he released a groundbreaking new concerto for tuba and heavy metal band, and also produced a new a solo piece for trumpet and heavy metal band entitled Omen. His newest pieces with heavy metal band include Event Horizon, which was composed for Dr. Jarrod Williams and Dr. Stephen Ivany, and Shark Attack, written for Dr. Brendan Ige. His trio for two tubas and piano, Piano Trio No. 1, was a Finalist for the International Tuba-Euphonium Association's Harvey Phillips Award for Excellence in Composition. His work for brass quintet, Scorpius, was named an Honorable Mention for the Mirari Brass Quintet's 2020 Call for Scores. Dr. Zegiel's piece for unaccompanied tuba, Climate Strike, won the 2020 Leonard Falcone International Tuba/Euphonium Festival's Call for Scores. His piece for tuba, piano, and percussion, Synchronous Fireflies, was commissioned and recorded by Dr. Chris Combest for his new album "Under Tennessee Skies" in 2020. Dr. Zegiel also wrote a new brass quintet piece for the New World Symphony: a short work to celebrate the 70th birthday of Board Chairman Edward Manno Shumsky entitled New World Fanfare.
 
Prior to his duties at PFW, Dr. Zegiel taught lessons and low brass sectionals at DeWitt Middle School and DeWitt High School (DeWitt, MI), Southeastern High School of Technology and Law (Detroit, MI), and the Spartan Youth Wind Symphony (East Lansing, MI). He also has maintained a small private studio of young tubists with a track record of excellence. Many of his students have gone on to win top chairs in the Michigan All-State bands, and they have consistently earned Superior ratings on their solo performances at annual Solo & Ensemble festivals. At MSU, Dr. Zegiel taught applied lessons, low brass methods courses, and music theory courses.
 
When he isn't playing tuba, composing, or teaching, Dr. Zegiel enjoys watching videos about Star Wars lore and astrophysics on YouTube, drinking coffee/tea while contemplating the scope of the universe, and hiking the numerous woodland trails of Michigan.